Quick Update #2 from Futaleufú, Chile

Post date: Oct 16, 2011 11:21:42 PM

Hello again! Just wanted to write another quick update before leaving town. I'm in love - Futaleufú is awesome and it's hard to leave, but there are more amazing places ahead and I need to keep moving. Yesterday I got back from my three day trek to Lago Azul and I'm actually feeling pretty good today - my last two day hike did a good job of getting me in shape apparently. The hiking was relatively flat, but where there was a trail there was a lot of mud, and after branching off the main valley the trail vanished and a fair amount of bushwhacking was required. The effort paid off though, and I arrived at Lago Azul just in time to catch part of the glacier give way and the following cascade of snow down a sheer granite face. I stayed at the lake for more than an hour while there were more booms from the breaking ice, and the kind of cracking you would hear during a great thunder storm.

At least one tour company in town advertises trips to Lago Azul, but I'm not assuming that means they've actually GONE there, because getting through the thick forests wasn't easy (understatement of the year) and there were absolutely no signs that anyone had ever been there before. The fact that I made it to such a remote, unvisited place definitely added to the experience. I'd love to go back and check out the other lakes in the valley. A girl working in the area and living at the hotel I've been staying at has some contacts in town, and if I can get a job leading hikes or bike tours this tourist season, I'll definitely be back!

Futaleufú from Cerro de la Bandera The reason I stayed!

Lago Azul from Space! When I got back the first thing I did was check my GPS Logger to make sure I got to the right lake! (The white spots on the lake are floating ice!)

Snow cascade! This was happening just as I arrived.

First Cairn! I had to mark my territory by erecting the first cairn at the lake!