Laguna De Los Tres via Mount Fitz Roy trail

 November 10

This morning we woke up and were out of the door at 5:15 for our hike.  We were on the trail at 5:22. Today we are hiking to Laguna de los Tres via the Mount Fitz Roy Trail. As we started, the sun was just rising at a far end of town. 

The scenery was incredible from the very beginning. The sky had beautiful colors of pink, orange and purple. The mountains were receiving enough sunlight to stand out with their greens, browns, and white snow fields.

We walked past this tall partially rotted out oak tree still holding a beautiful form and standing strong.

My water bottle was too big to fit under the faucet at our hostel, and I know I am starting this hike, pretty dehydrated. About a mile and a half in I found my first water.

This look out, Mirador Fitz Roy, unfortunately did not give as impressive as a view due to the clouds. I am hoping they will clear up as we get closer. 

As we continue further along the trail, we are in a wooded area that has occasional glimpses of the mountains and valleys around us .

Off in the distance the front of a glacier is  visible. Even from here, you can see the pale blue color of the ice within.

As I continue on, clouds occasionally somewhat clear from the top of the towers in the distance.

Soon we open up to a wide golden Meadow. There is a stream running through the middle that we will cross on a log walkway.

This foot bridge has a single person limit as you walk across. It’s obvious why it sags and bounces with each step.

We continue to get glimpses of the towers. the foliage is beautiful. There is a low growing ground cover known as Black Crowberry

We get another good view of the towers as we turn towards them and start up hill. As we go higher, the views just keep getting better.

It is chilly up here. Not only is there a glacier nearby, this Trailside plant has ice sickles hanging from it. The mountains around are topped with  snow and the trail has small snowfields as well.

We reached the top and look down on a frozen lake below. The towers rise sharply up behind it. There’s a bird sitting on a rock right at the top that does not seem bothered by us.

As expected, the views are nothing but astonishing. Nature has a way of reminding us how small we truly are.

We walked down to the Lakeside and got some pictures in front of it. We were about to leave, but decided we would go to the top of hill next to us. 

We are so glad we took this extra side Trail. it leads us to an overview of an unfrozen lake at the base of the towers

We headed back down. At one point we came across another one of the birds we had seen at the top. I was able to identify it by name. 

On our way up, there was a trail junction at lead to a nearby lake and then reconnected to the trail. We took the Vista route last time this time we are going back alongside the lake. Lago Capri. 

As we near the beginning of the trail, I can look up at the large mountain. We are hiking. There appeared to be some bird nests built into holes on the rock. 

With a half a mile left to go we have a great view of the city. What you see here is it in it’s entirety. 

Today’s hike was about 15 miles. I lost power on my phone for about a mile and while my trail progress is saved the section with no power does not get recorded. We had a total elevation of 3363 feet however, this trail has a pill the first 2 miles and the last mile before the lake the rest is relatively flat which means we climbed about 1100 foot per mile on our uphill portions. I definitely felt it.