The Day We Didn't See Gray Glacier

After Monday's hike we were ready for something easier on Tuesday. We chose the two-hour drive across the park, one-hour hike, and three hour boat ride on Lake Pehoe to view the Gray Glacier up close.

Weather is always a factor in southern Patagonia. It changes quickly and can be different from one side of the park to the other. Tuesday was exceptionally windy and we knew there was a chance the boat wouldn't run.

The day was clear at the camp and the van drive afforded some exceptionally great photo ops which I will share here.



We found out at the last minute it was too windy for the boat to go, so no glacier viewing that day. 

Plan B: We visited the park museum which was interesting. We had a picnic on the lawn in a sheltered little alcove so the wind wouldn't blow our lunches away. I saw several people get their glasses blown right off their faces!

We went to a few more viewpoints to take photos.  We saw lots of guanaco,  the prey of the prized puma, which we did not see. The guides had stories of puma sightings,  even close to camp, but none showed up this week. It was nothing like the parks in Africa with their abundance of wildlife. 

Back to the weather.  We had great weather all three days. No rain, until last night and this morning as we were leaving. Lucky us because they do not cancel the hikes and activities for rain, only for wind. It was much warmer than I anticipated. I never wore my base layer, ear warmers, gloves or puffy jacket. Short sleeves were usually fine plus a wind breaker at times. The whole country has had the most pleasant temperatures. 50-70 degrees F. mostly. Only in Atacama were days warmer than that. It's summer here and it's daylight until 10:30 pm.





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