7. Snow, snow, snow.

24th Nov 2013

  We awoke at Dickson camp to the pitter patter of snow on our tent, I don't mind a bit of snow it is definitely preferable to rain when it is cold. It had been a very cold night and both of us needed our SOL Bivvys for extra warmth, these worked a treat but did result in condensation between the bivvy and sleeping bags fortunately this was easily shaken off. Andrew and I have over the years of camping developed a division of labour that made camping efficient with three children, this being the 1st camping trip we have done in 24 yrs without children the whole operation was quick and easy. Both of us setting up and pulling down the tent ( this use to be Andrews job with the assistance of available children while I was getting little peoples shoes on, hair and teeth brushed etc ), Andrew cooking meals and making hot drinks ( this time x 2 instead of x 5 ) me organising sleeping gear ( x 2 instead of x 5 ) ... this camping thing really is a breeze with just two adults. Now don't get me wrong I'm not complaining about hiking with kids, I love camping with kids it is hands down the best holiday you can take your children on, It was just...different without the kids. Anyway I digress - it was cold so as per the division of labour I stayed in the tent where it was warm and had my hot drink followed by quick oats with hot milk, in my opinion the best and only way to have porridge.

Todays route in pink, 21km - Dickson to Paso

     We get going early as we want to keep our options open, not sure how accurate the maps are but find that the timings are pretty spot on and we do the 9km to Los Perros in 4hrs arriving in time for an early lunch. Los Perros is a very unappealing camp site and it is particularly cold, so we have a very quick lunch of crackers and cheese and head out again to tackle the John Gardener Pass

Looking back down the valley towards Dickson

A common sight for me, Andrew would get ahead and find a comfy spot to settle down for a rest

Look at me!

I think we've been spending too much time together

Some of the river crossings were proper bridges - regardless all the crossings had plenty of character

Starting to get up among the glaciers

Los Perros

Shelter at Los Perros pretty unappealing place for lunch

Bridge with character

Bridge with character on it

A very familiar sight

Rest stop - and eating chips!

These muddy bits took some careful navigation - walking sticks come in handy in these conditions

From here on in we are hiking in snow

In among Glaciers

Some flora on the way up to the pass

So it's up

Up

Up

Up

And up we go

John Gardner Pass

    After 3 hours of ascending through snow we reached John Gardner pass and were rewarded with panoramic views looking down onto Grey Glacier, It is extremely cold and windy on the pass and I found out that I really should have brought skiing gloves as my fingers are freezing. Once we finished taking photos which is very challenging in high winds with freezing fingers we started out at a run to Paso hoping that the exertion will warm us up. For the rest of the days hiking we walk along through the wind stunted Patagonian forest looking down over the spectacular Grey Glacier. It only took us 2 hours to get from the Pass to Paso, including a lengthy stop to take some close-ups of a colourful caterpillar, having warmed up enough by then to could stop for a while without freezing.

Some tricky bits on the descent especially with tired legs

Uggg - more stairs

My turn to find a comfy rest stop

Dam right we're happy, only 1.5km downhil to camp

Hard to get any idea of scale to show how huge this glacier is

Macro time

Concentrating hard, I do not want to get wet

Camp Paso

      Ten hours after we set out we arrived sore, tired, happy and hungry at Camp Paso. This was my favorite camp on the entire trek,it is one of the free camps and the amenities are rudimentary, with small tent sites carved out of the hill side but it had the most wonderful view and we found a tent site that was tucked away like a kids secret club house.  We deserve a treat so its Roast Lamb for Dinner. We know we are in for a cold night as we are high above a glacier and there is a gentle snow falling as we crawl into our sleeping bags with all our clothes on. 

Andrew enjoying Roast Lamb dinner and yes it comes with mash potato.