November 5th
This morning is very slow start. We spent last night in our tents that were rented along with sleeping bags and pads. It started raining this morning so we hung out in the restaurant all morning. We have a couple shorter hikes planned today. The rain eased up and we left the restaurant at 3 PM, our first stop was a viewpoint for the waterfall we will hike to on the other side of the lake. It is named Salto Grande.
We rounded the end of the lake and parked for our hike. We have good views of Lake Pehoe along the way.
After a short walk, we come to Salto Grande. The water is amazing shade of blue.
Once again, we have been blessed with the weather. The rain stopped just as we started the drive for this hike, so we will continue along the Lakeside to an overlook 2 miles away.
We continue on a hillside with beautiful views of the lake pretty flowers like the white trumpet shaped flower from Ifafa Lilly family, although I don’t know the exact species. The purple Seaside Pea is also beautiful. The Magellan Barberry has dark green leaves with yellow flowers.
The upland goose is hanging out beside the trail, but doesn’t want anything to do with us.
The route soon follows a slight uphill section providing beautiful views of the surrounding mountain sides and wide lake views
We reversed course and returned to our car ready for our next hike. We covered 4.1 miles with 636 feet of elevation. The views were spectacular as Alyssa enjoyed a snack.
Once we returned to the car we headed to our next hike, Mirador Cóndor. The trail starts right of the highway and quickly climbs 745 feet in only 3/4 mile. My first pictures are at the top, then more on the way down again the weather was good to us. We had some sideways rain for only a minute or so then it cleared back up. The wind on top in insane. We have to lean into do it doesn’t knock us over. The first 8 pictures after the sign are a 360 degree view.
The first picture is a panoramic shot of Lake Pehoe. The island in the 2nd and 3rd picture has a foot bridge for access. There is a hotel and we think a restaurant. When we get down we will check it out for dinner. The 4th and 5th pictures are a view of our campsite right in the center at the top of the roads curve.
We began our decent. And with the lakes now in front of us as we walked we had amazing views.
We walked by a cool erosion marked cliffside and returned to more spectacular lake views.
We reached the car and can look up to where we just climbed. It’s the tallest point in the center of the picture.
We drove to the bottom of the hill to the waters edge where we again parked and prepared to cross the footbridge to the hotel and restaurant.
We were happy to find that the red structure on the water was indeed a restaurant. We were seated at a waterfront window table and ordered a delicious meal, which included soup or salad, entre with rice or potatoes, dessert and a drink ($45 each)
After our meal we returned to our campsite for the night happy with what we were able to do despite not starting until 3:00 due to the rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment