March 6, 2006
Not only did it rain tonight, it rained HARDER. And it was very windy all night. Notice I haven't mentioned anything about hot showers. They actually have showers in the park, but it's now very cold outside. I can't imagine getting out of my clothes for more than the time it takes to change underwear. So not one of our group has bathed, to my knowledge, and it won't be till tonight that this will occur (3 days off from feeling clean). Looking at my watch at 7:10 AM, I had to take a quick bathroom visit. It was probably in the upper 30's this AM, but when I looked outside the tent, I had to do a doubletake to comprehend what I was looking at. With our tent set up near a giant glacial lake, the mountains "were out" this AM. Despite the intense wind and misty rain, the most amazing sunrise I've ever laid eyes on was outside waiting for us. I yelled for Terri to wake up, which she begrudgingly did. The sky was fiery red in some places, purple in others, and a shade of rose behind us. Terri freaked out too. Running like a drunkman through the field to the shores of the lake, I squeezed off a few great shots. I will share upon return. So I turn around, and here comes Terri, also running wildly through the field to get to the spot. Her jacket was half-on, her shoes not even tied, and she couldn't see because of the wind and debris flying around. Pretty funny. We're still laughing about how ridiculous we both must've looked, but let me tell you, it was the rarest of displays. Despite this great start to the day, we had our (again) yummy breakfast in the driving rain an hour later. The mountains left us, although I was glad to have the chance to see them earlier. This park is truly magic, even if getting to see a portion of it. Being an outdoor enthusiast, there are a few spots I've been to that just drop your jaw. Alaska is one. Yosemite, for me, is another. This place clearly is among them, if not above. It's unfortunate for the weather, but what can you do? So after saying good-bye and tipping the staff, today's hike left at 9:30 for the Grey Glacier. This trail is famous for the wind, climbing up a steep hill for an hour and entering the wind canyon. It rained the entire time, although it was on-and-off and not the driving rain we had yesterday. The following is not at all an exaggeration. The Wind Canyon, in a storm, was one of the most intense displays of nature I've ever been a part of. It got from windy, to really windy to "knock you down" windy the further we went. At one point we had gusts well above 80 miles an hour. Most likely, some eclipsed 100 mph. I'm not joking. I was blown over once, as was Terri. I've been in a tropical storm in Florida, and that was nothing compared to this. We hiked the entire 7.5 miles INTO this wind. At some points, I was walking forward, but the wind would knock your step to about 1 inch length instead of 2-3 feet. You actually had to KICK your legs forward. The wind canyon only lasted about 1-2 miles though, so it was an amazing experience. Coupled with the wind, a condor also flew overhead for a major portion of the hike. Most of the time it glided all over, but at it's closest it was 50 feet overhead and we could see detail, the whites of it's tail and chest, as well as it's enormous 12 foot wingspan. Yes, it's bigger than the American Bald Eagle. By a lot. Paul, our British Bird Enthusiast, describes it as a large dog with a 12 foot door to fly with, as it's wings are rectangular. Crazy.Once arriving to the Grey Glacier, I'd about had enough. Terri and I stayed for about 1 minute. Literally. The weather was really nasty and we'd hiked for over 4 hours into the wind. It was a much shorter hike back (about 3 hours), as the wind now pushed us down the trail. It was a lot of climbing and dropping down into valleys and canyons, so after all the other hiking, this one took its toll. Today's distance was 15 miles in about 8 hours, now totalling 60 miles hiked in the last 6 days. Time for a break.We waited an hour in the lodge of our ferry to arrive. A thirty minute ride brought us to the awaiting van, with another 2.5 hour busride back to the hotel. It was now 10PM, and still no dinner after hiking 15 miles. The battle of "food vs. shower" was a tough one to decipher, but food won out. We headed right back to Don Jorge's, and a 25 ounce Argentinian steak found it's way to my setting. Of course, it was brilliant. We all ordered steak, and the table got REAL QUIET once it arrived. Anyway, after 4 days, the much needed shower did occur, and again, sleep arrived seconds within hitting the pillow. Good night!
No comments:
Post a Comment