12/1: Catamaran Ride on Patagonia's Lago Grey to Grey Glacier

This shot was taken from our room at the Pampa Lodge where we stayed for the first two nights and the last night of our five-day trip to Torres Del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia. What a spectacular sight to wake up to!

From the lodge, we drove north to the middle of the park to Hosteria Pehoe on Lago Pehoe to find out if we could check in there a day earlier than planned so we wouldn't have such a long drive our last day from there through the park and onto the airport which was about three hours south of the park. We'd tried repeatedly to get through from the lodge to the hosteria but discovered when we arrived that the primitive lodge rarely had any internet or phone service! Fortunately, we were successful in switching around our reservations so we heaved a sigh of relief knowing we wouldn't have to travel so far on our last day from Pampa Lodge toward the airport.

The hosteria was located on a tiny island only accessible by a narrow wooden footbridge. It had to be the most physically beautiful location of any place we'd ever stayed as there was nothing else on the island apart from the hosteria.

Views from the hosteria of the sea-green Lago Pehoe:

From the hosteria we drove well over an hour on one of the worst dirt roads imaginable toward Lago Grey so we could go on a catamaran ride of the lake and see the glacier.

Diane: How you would have hated walking across this rickety wooden bridge that a maximum of six people could be on at a time! It reminded me of the ones you and I were on last year in New Zealand.

We hiked along a dry lake bed a good distance to a catamaran for its second trip of the day on Lago Grey toward Grey Glacier.

This pretty swish hotel by Lago Grey was where we'd parked our rental car and began the relaxing stroll through the forest to the lake bed.

Icebergs visible from the lake bed:

Since we'd only just returned about a week ago from a fabulous ten-day long trip to Antarctica, Steven and I had been in two minds whether we really wanted to go on this short cruise on the lake to see another glacier. But, after reading reviews, figuring it wasn't much out of our way, and thinking this was probably the last opportunity to see more glaciers, we decided to give it a go.

Even though we'd seen some gorgeous blue icebergs in Antarctica, we were in for a treat with more on Lago Grey. The bonus here was that we didn't have to traverse the dreaded Drake Passage two days in both directions to see them!

We learned the icebergs had only melted from the glacier at the other end of the lake a few days earlier.

The weather was a little foreboding with a light drizzle and winds but none of that was enough to make us stay inside the cabin for long. Plus, the 'free' pisco sour warmed us up!

Ii asked one of the crew about the lake's color as it was so different than the gorgeous bluish green colored lakes throughout the national park. The reason for the much darker color was due tot he sediment and silt from the glaciers.

A few facts: The lake was 500 meters deep, its water temperature ranged from 0 to 3 degrees Celsius, and the mountains were 12 million years old.

The Chilean flag:

Chunks of ice some of the crew picked up from the lake from melting icebergs!

The boat stopped briefly to pick up people who had gone ashore on the earlier ride so they could go kayaking near the glacier.

Grey Glacier in the distance:

I was on the upper deck taking most of these photos.

What fantastic formations, huh?!! Seeing these icebergs made me so glad we ended up taking the two hour trip on the lake.

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The clouds lifted briefly enabling us to take in the remarkable 'pebbly design' in this iceberg and its reflection in the lake.

After almost an hour of going around the lake, we finally reached Grey Glacier.

If we'd had more time and elected to hand over a significant chunk of moolah, we could have spent hours hiking on the glacier itself. I'm sure that would have been a helluva experience but we long ago realized we couldn't do and, more importantly, didn't want to do everything.

At the time, we were both so focused on the amazing glacier, I at least didn't take time to also admire the cloud formations that were also so appealing.

Our entire time on the lake, the water was absolutely calm with nary a ripple except for the ship's wake.

After the cruise ended, Steven and I chose to walk along the waterfront instead of the dry lake bed so we could look more closely at the small chunks of ice.

These chunks of ice were just a few feet from shore.

Three years ago, the temperature increased to 27 degrees Celsius which resulted in the lake's water level so much there was NO beach here at all. 

On the way back, there was a park employee monitoring how many people were on the wooden footbridge so it didn't collapse - a good idea, I thought!

It took close to two hours to return to Hosteria Pehoe. We stopped first at the pretty and pretty tiny  Gruta Virgen Lourdes or the Lourdes Virgin Grotto located just across the lake.

A view of the incredibly scenic Hosteria Pehoe from the grotto:

I was sure glad our bags were no heavier as there were several gaps in the long footbridge en route to the hosteria!

From the hosteria across Lake Pehoe:

One of my favorite photos:

Never had we paid so much period for any accommodation anywhere in the world as we did for this room at the hosteria. To add insult to injury, the room was far more basic than any Motel 6 and needed a thorough cleaning and paint job!

Next post: When I wrote at the bottom of the last post about even more spectacular scenery you'd be seeing in this one, I erred as I'd forgotten we spent most of this day getting to, and traveling on, Lago Glacier. It was indeed a very pleasant day but in no way as remarkable as the next one when we traveled to the northern reaches of Torres Del Paine National Park and gazed on guanacos galore amid what I would argue was among the most stunning scenery in the world. I hope you will agree when I get to writing that post in a couple of days.

Posted on January 16th, 2020, from Littleton in the middle of finalizing details on our Taipei itinerary. One city down - oodles more to go on our upcoming Asia adventure!