PATAGONIA-El Chalten 2

So this first paragraph of the post is going to be underlined because I can't figure out how to turn it off and I have no idea how it got turned on in the first place. We were still in El Chalten come Christmas and so that morning we went on a hike up to Laguna Torre. It is a 6-7 hour hike that leaves to the west of the town up to a glacier fed lake to the west of the Cerro Peaks. I does look cold out but the temperature was great and we were moving fast which kept us warm. This hike had three large valleys that you cross separated by ridges. The valley below had some swamp areas so the trail skirts the valley through the trees on the right.
The trail moves in and out of these great beech forests that block all the wind and are so quiet. These forests are very old and haven't had a fire in so long that huge dead trees lay everywhere with plants and moss growing all over them.
This is the third of the valleys we needed to cross during this hike. It is nothing but rock rubble left behind from the glaciers that moved through this valley. The geology in this area is so diverse, between the granite, shale and lava rocks it only added to the uniqueness of this place.
As usual the clouds were covering up the Cerro Peaks when we got to the lake but within 10 minutes a window of clouds opened up and we were able to see the peaks from the west. You can walk around the left side of the lake and cross the glacier to approach Cerro Torre.
Up by the lake the wind was blowing pretty hard and it got much colder. There were pieces of the glacier that were floating in the lake which had blown over to our side. Some other idiots at the lake were pulling the ice out and trying to take it with them because it was thousands of years old.

Obviously Liz was cold.
There were these hawks that kept on flying around us catching the updrafts coming off the lake.
A log path leading through the swamp areas.

As you come out of the mountains the landscape and plants change quite drastically. The river splits and one cuts through the canyon below and the other runs high then waterfalls down the mountains.
Liz being the good woman she is made sure that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent out of our 6 person to a room hostel and in a nice private hotel room. The hotels are not big, they are the same size as the hostels but they are very nice inside with private rooms, big beds, nice bathrooms and continental breakfasts. This was Christmas morning after Santa came, luckily he brought mostly silver and dulce de leche.