The fourth day of the hike involved a morning climb up Valle Frances amid shifting clouds to a stunning cirque at the head of the valley, and then back down and along Lago Nordenskjold. For the first time, it didn't rise above freezing during the day, which made my drinking water nice and icy. The Valle itself was spectacular, and brought me face to face with the snow field that had been avalanching all of the night before, casting off chunks of ice in thunderous explosions that shook the entire valley. I was never in any danger, but you wouldn't have guessed how tame the snow falls were from the sound. I could still hear it two days later.
When I awoke, I was surrounded by cloud, which led me to believe that the day might lack some of the visual punch of the previous three. However, I soon encountered one of my favorite experiences: hiking above the cloud to discover the world around me. Here you can see the cloud settled over Lago Nordenskjold, beside which I camped the night before.
As I climbed up the valley, it got cooler, yielding some icy sections of trail, above and below.
This is the snow field on Paine Grande that sent huge chunks hurtling downward every 20 minutes or so, resulting in a booming echo that sounded a lot like thunder. It lasted until I was out of earshot two days later, though I was never in any danger. I was able to see the crumbling a couple times, and it was surprisingly harmless, usually settling in dust in the bowl at the bottom. I stayed across the stream the whole time.
This amphitheater was at the head of the valley, and marked my turnaround point.
As I descended, it seemed to get colder still, as hoarfrost clung to mossy rocks.
These fungi grew in clusters on the occasional tree.
As the day progressed, the cloud that covered the lake in the morning began to rise up the hillside.
When I finally got back to the foot of the valley, the cloud had risen enough that you could see the whole expanse of the lake, which somehow managed to glow turquoise even under gray skies.
Click to enlarge this panorama, which accompanied my walk to the north, as the lake lay to the south.
As I walked briefly along one of several beaches on the hike, I noticed this creation.
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