Cerro Castillo Liam The first day was mainly a flat walk in along double track which weaved in and out of the forest Finally breaking out of the trees at the Rio Turbio. The pass we’d be tackling the following day is the notch on the left How would we know when to take photos without these signs everywhere?! After a late start, we picked off the conga line of walkers on the climb to Portaluezo Peñón The pass itself was still filled in with snow Looking through to the other side The glaciers are only just barely holding on After some sketchy off camber snow, we descended down the rocky remnants of past glaciers Fixing the stove at our second campsite. Since a dodgy batch of fuel in Northern Argentina, the fuel line has needed cleaning multiple times a week Making sure we’re clean dirt bags, at least I nipped up the hill the following morning to catch the dawn Pink hour First light on Cerro Castillo First light (2) First light (3) No need to filter this water! Made it to Lago Castillo! Cerro Castillo, this time in full sun The lake turns famously turquoise when the sun hits it directly The route finding around the lake and up to the pass gets a little tricky as you pick your way through moraine Not much left of this glacier either Scrambling But pleased to be up here before the crowds turn up Looking south, following the Rio Ibañez down to the massive Lago General Carrera One last view of Lago Castillo Getting up above the glacier The hiking equivalent of BAAW A rare clear view to the summit of Mt San Valentin, Chilean Patagonia’s highest summit All of a sudden, the wind picked up as we tackled the hardest descent of the route The last camping area was next to a meadow, allowing us to watch the sun set and the moon rise On the last day, we did an out and back (without packs, hurrah!) up to Laguna Duff. There’s just something about the beech forest that feels magical Laguna Duff (1) Laguna Duff (2) Lots of interesting rocks bands A rare photo not behind the lens Plant textures The final descent takes you through more lovely beech forest down to the Rio Ibañez, before a 6km flat (hot) hike along a dirt road back to town
