Cerro Castillo
From the volcanoes we travelled south by ferry from Puerto Montt to Coyhaique (well you have to catch a bus the last little bit). It was advertised as a 26 hour ferry ride but as we were delayed 14 hours it took considerably longer. No one seemed the least bit anxious or surprised about the late departure so (as the only two gringoes on the boat) we tried out best to play it cool.
Coyhaique has been our base for a couple of weeks for checking out hikes in Central Patogonia starting with the jewel in the crown, 5 days around Cerro Castillo. A group of massive granite rock outcrops dotted with cascading glaciers that somehow cling to the sheer rock faces. It´s hard to get a feel for scale when you´re standing at the bottom but looking at the map some of them go straight up for a kilometre. The hike was more demanding than Volcano Villarica but also more rewarding. A bloody site colder too. We were hit by a particularly early patch of southerly weather. It kept the rain away though as the campsites were quite high so the views were perfect. The two high passes gave great views of the glaciers and the alpine lakes and glaciers near the appropriately named "Camp NeoZealandes" were particularly spectacular, the glacial silt making a green to blue colour gradient in the water. Hopefully the photos do it justice. The wildlife count also improved on this hike with several soaring condors spotted around the castillo and then a group of woodpeckers put on a show in the forest during our descent. Other hikers were limited to one cheerful German chap for the first 3 days, and a few Israelis who looked like they hadn´t eaten in days. In two words ... bruddy marverrous.
View of the Andes at sunset onboard the ferry from Puerto Montt to Coyhaique
Abandoned Blair Witch cottage on the track to Cerro Castillo
A rugged up Brett makes his way tentatively down from a chilly pass under a precariously perched glacier
Brett takes in Laguna Cerro Castillo
Where´s Nick? Trying to give some sense of scale to the granite peaks near Camp NeoZealandes.
Coyhaique has been our base for a couple of weeks for checking out hikes in Central Patogonia starting with the jewel in the crown, 5 days around Cerro Castillo. A group of massive granite rock outcrops dotted with cascading glaciers that somehow cling to the sheer rock faces. It´s hard to get a feel for scale when you´re standing at the bottom but looking at the map some of them go straight up for a kilometre. The hike was more demanding than Volcano Villarica but also more rewarding. A bloody site colder too. We were hit by a particularly early patch of southerly weather. It kept the rain away though as the campsites were quite high so the views were perfect. The two high passes gave great views of the glaciers and the alpine lakes and glaciers near the appropriately named "Camp NeoZealandes" were particularly spectacular, the glacial silt making a green to blue colour gradient in the water. Hopefully the photos do it justice. The wildlife count also improved on this hike with several soaring condors spotted around the castillo and then a group of woodpeckers put on a show in the forest during our descent. Other hikers were limited to one cheerful German chap for the first 3 days, and a few Israelis who looked like they hadn´t eaten in days. In two words ... bruddy marverrous.
View of the Andes at sunset onboard the ferry from Puerto Montt to Coyhaique
Abandoned Blair Witch cottage on the track to Cerro Castillo
A rugged up Brett makes his way tentatively down from a chilly pass under a precariously perched glacier
Brett takes in Laguna Cerro Castillo
Where´s Nick? Trying to give some sense of scale to the granite peaks near Camp NeoZealandes.
posted by Jane, Brett & Nick at
7:53 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home