DAY
1: U.S. / SANTIAGO
Evening flight from the United States to Santiago.
(Flights from the U.S. to Balmaceda, Chile are not included)
DAY 2: SANTIAGO /
BALMACEDA / LAGO LEONES
We arrive in Santiago this morning and transfer to a three hour flight
south to Balmaceda. Arriving in Balmaceda at midday, we board a bus
and drive three and one half hours, viewing mountains, lakes and rivers,
to the float plane at Lago General Carrera (the second largest lake
in South America). The scenic half-hour flight takes us through the
Rio Leones Valley to Lago Leones and our first camp on a peninsula
that protrudes into the green water. Looking east from the camp there
are beautiful mountains framing the lake (View).
To the west the view is even more stunning with precipitous peaks
jutting from massive rivers of glacial flow (View).
From camp the thundering clap of ice calving into the lake two miles
away
is a constant reminder of the sea kayaking adventure awaiting us the
next day.
DAY
3: LAGO LEONES / SEA KAYAKING
After an extensive sea kayak lesson, we board the two-person kayaks
and begin paddling. As we round the peninsula of the camp there is
a stunning view of icebergs, mountains and rivers of ice meeting in
a deep blue wall of glacier ice. (View).
The closer we get the louder the roar of calving ice chunks grows
and the taller the wall of blue ice appears (View).
Floating safely a quarter of a mile away, we wait anxiously for the
massive building size chunks to split from the 250 foot blue precipice
(View). With thunder-like claps
they tear loose from the wall, entering the lake with such crushing
force that splashes are transformed into a series of giant rolling
waves headed our way. Straightening our kayaks for the inherent meeting,
they pass harmlessly beneath, raising us ten feet in the air and leaving
one with a weightless sensation. In the early afternoon, we pull over
to the side of the glacier and hike a short distance to an overlook
for lunch. Sitting comfortably on rock ledges, we gaze into a spectacular
maze of deep blue 200 foot high towers and turrets. In the early afternoon
we paddle back to our peninsula camp.
DAY 4: LAGO
LEONES / SEA KAYAKING & HIKING
This morning we paddle in the general direction of the glacier. Before
reaching it we veer off past great slabs of granite that frame the
blue wall of ice (View). Pulling
over, we spend the next three hours hiking up the stream to a gorgeous
little lake tucked in a fold of imposing mountains. The views on the
hike of Lago Leones and the glacier are breathtaking
(View) . In the early afternoon we reach the*lake with water the
color of melted emeralds. Rising precipitously out of the water is
Mount Cerro Hyades with its imposing ice-capped peak towering 6,000
feet above. In the afternoon we hike down to the kayaks and paddle
back to the peninsula where we camped the evening before.
*NOTE: On the exploratory we started this hike too
late to reach the lake which is why there is no picture of it. The
lake has since been scouted from the air.
DAY 5: LAGO
LEONES / LAGO FIERO
Today we paddle five miles to the western end of Lago Leones passing
numerous waterfalls and icebergs (View).
Leaving the kayaks, we take a one hour hike up to *Lago Fiero (Wild
Lake). The kayaks and camping gear is flown up to Lago Fiero. In the
afternoon, we paddle three miles across Lago Fiero to its massive
glacier vent. Even taller than the vent on Lago Leones, the Fiero
ice wall is an errie brown color resulting from all the sediment it
has bulldozed over the millennia. Large chunks of ice are continually
breaking off in a thundering crescendo of sound and spray. Pulling
over, we hike up a gradual scree slope for a mile to see one of the
most impressive views in all of Patagonia. From this vantage point,
we can trace the river of ice up to the northern flank of rarely seen
13,500 foot, Mount San Valentine, the highest point in Patagonia.
Jutting into the sky like some misplaced Himalayan peak, San Valentine
is ringed by a glistening crown of ice an astounding12,000 vertical
feet above us. We return to the lake and paddle to camp.
* NOTE: Last year’s
expedition did not visit Lago Fiero. We have since scouted the area
by plane and prior to taking groups, it will be explored to find the
best camp.
DAY 6: LAGO
FIERO / LAGO CACHORRO
In the morning we paddle across Lago Fiero, hike down to Lago Leones
and board rubber rafts for the mile crossing to the other side. We
then take a one hour hike (View)
to our camp for the next two nights on Azure four mile long Lago Cachorro
(View). The camping gear and
kayaks meet us by plane. The view from the camp is stunning. Giant
mountains rise precipitously out of the clear azure water in nearly
every direction.
DAY 7: LAGO
CACHORRO
Kayaking away from camp this morning, we head for a narrow fiord like
arm three miles away (View).
After an hour of paddling the lake turns abruptly to the left at the
gates of Canon Cascada de las Nieve (the Canyon of the Cascading Snow).
(View) This amazing, mile long
fiord-like arm was discovered and named by Earth River on its exploratory
and is only accessible by sea kayak. Once inside this amazingly deep
canyon- like passage the vertical face of Mount Cerro Hydes rises
so precipitously from water’s edge that one has to lean way
back to see the very top, 7,000 feet up. As we paddle deeper, Cerro
Hydes on one side and a 4,000 foot granite wall on the other, pinch
even further squeezing the arm down to a few hundred yards. Countless
waterfalls stream off melting blue glaciers from dizzying heights.
As if trying to take it all in is not enough, every so often, with
geyser-like regularity, the roar of a dozen freight trains echos within
the canyon walls and all thoughts and gazes shift abruptly to the
spectacle of an avalanche racing down the mountainside. The roar is
so intense that the ground seems to shake under the explosion of broken
ice, snow and rock. Traveling at over sixty miles per hour, down sheer,
well worn chutes, it takes over a minute for the river of snow to
reach a 1,000 foot scree slope guarding the lake which acts as a giant
break, slowing the onslaught to a crawl and sheltering us from its
fury. There are few places on earth where the immediate vertical relief
out of water is so impressive and none other where one can watch avalanches
so intimately from a sea kayak with geyser-like regularity. We paddle
over to the far end of the drainage and take a two-hour hike up a
side creek (View). In the early
afternoon we paddle back to camp leaving the Canon of the Cascading
snow indelibly etched in our memories (View).
DAY 8: LAGO
CACHORRO / LAGO GENERAL CARERRA
A hike from camp this morning takes us up the spine of a dramatic
ridge on the other side of the lake. As we ascend (View)
through old growth hardwood forest, the ridge gets narrower and at
its loftiest point we are rewarded with a stunning aerial view of
granite walls, blue ice, azure water and dense green forest in all
four directions. To the left and east we can see the Cannon Cascada
de las Nieve, its sheer ice-capped face rising from the azure lake.
Directly behind, to the north and almost close enough to touch are
a series of massive spires towering 6,000 feet above us. Looking right
to the west we can see snow-capped Alp-like mountains stretching as
far as the eye can see and in front of us, to the south, Mount San
Valentine’s frozen blue crown often juts out above cumulus clouds.
After lunch we hike back down to camp to meet the float plane (View).
Rather than flying back the most direct route, we take a spectacular
scenic course passing directly over most of what we have paddled and
hiked to place the remarkable week in perspective. After 40 minutes
we land on turquoise, Lago General Carrera. We have a farewell celebration
dinner that evening and spend the night in comfortable cabins on the
shore of the lake.
DAY 9: LAGO
GENERAL CARERRA / BALMACEDA / SANTIAGO
This morning we drive three and a half hours to the Balmaceda airport
where we board the early afternoon flight to Santiago. In Santiago
we transfer to our international flight.
DAY 10: UNITED
STATES
We arrive in the U.S. this morning and transfer to our connecting
flights.
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