After a restful night on soft grass, I was ready for a hike into the mountains, and the real start of the circuit around los Torres. After a gentle ascent that took me to a low ridge, I had lost sight of Lake Pehoe but gained a line to Lago Grey on the other side, along with pleasant little ponds resting in pockets of the rocky ridge. Heavy clouds threatened overhead, and I was just hoping it was cold enough to snow instead of rain. Cold is one thing, and snow can be brushed off. But cold and wet...not my idea of pleasant. Luckily I had a few minutes of snow on the ridge, and then not much else. This was the start of good fortune that would accompany the weather all week. Toward the end of the flurries, I caught sight of a large blue mass in the distance, which would be my destination for the day. As I approached, I was stunned by the immensity and power of the glacier parked in Lago Grey. I had seen bits of "glacier" before, but that was mostly snow that melted in the summer. This was a honkin' hunk of ice, rendered blue by light reflecting off the air pockets stuck inside. I stationed myself at the head of the glacier for quite some time, basking in its literal glow, and was lucky enough to encounter some afternoon sun, after which I worked my way back to the campsite, a wooded area next to a gushing stream. Life was good.
One of the ridgetop ponds that marked my crossing from Lago Pehoe to Lago Grey
And the first signs of snow, sprinkled over a frozen pond
You can see the heavy clouds in the distance, and chunks of the glacier that had broken off and were floating through Lago Grey.
And then my first view of the glacier itself, sending its two arms around the rock in the middle. The rocky outcrop on the right was my vantage point for the next picture.
A bit of sun graced my afternoon
Click to enlarge
This bit of edelweiss (below) was hiding in the cracks of the rock above.
As the clouds began to lift, the true expanse of the glacier showed itself.
As did the jagged peaks that were looming directly over me, which had been hidden until now. You can see the fresh snow on top.
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