Patagonia W Trek - Glacier Grey
We emerged from the Refugio to the orange glow of the sun peering just above the mountains and across the lake. I told our guide on several occasions that his office was stunning. Our hike would take us along the left side of the "W" and to Glacier Grey, where we would board a boat for a closer view of the glacier. The wind promised to be strong, and if it decided to blow too hard, the boat would be canceled and we would double our hike.
Leaving the Refugio, we started to ascend the mountain pass, and were quickly shedding layers. At the top of the pass, the winds picked up, but the view was stunning. Laguna Los Patos (Duck Lake) greeted us and provided views of our first icebergs. The trail rounded the lake and flattened out as we made our way to Grey Lake.
The first lookout over Grey Lake was from a rock perch where we took off our backpacks before going out for pictures, the wind was strong! The rest of the journey was downhill to the next Refugio. We stopped for lunch at the Refugio before boarding a boat for a tour of Grey Lake.
To say that glaciers are incredible, again seems to fall short. We got almost close enough on the boat to reach out and touch one of them. The fact that falling into the water meant you had 5 minutes until everything went permanently black, kept me from leaning out over the railing. Glacier Grey raps around a small island and has two prongs flowing into the lake that we floated passed.
After rounding the glacier, we made our way across the lake to the shore. A walk across the shore brought us to a path to reach the parking lot where the bus waited to take us back to the EcoCamp. We made one unscheduled stop to try to find pumas before returning to the camp, although unsuccessful in spotting pumas, we did get some good pictures of the mountains.
Day 3 would take us to The Towers and bring snow to sparkle on the mountains, and provide some slippery conditions on the rocks. Patagonia does not disappoint and each day along the W Trek is unique. Steep Adventures organizes trips to locations like Chile to help nonprofits raise funds for charitable causes through adventures.
