Chez, Rowan, Michael, Tudor and I met at the hostel at 9:30
and made our way down to the bus station to catch a bus to the beginning of the
trail.
The trail started in the forest before opening up to Beaver
Lake where we could see clear evidence of beavers but unfortunately didn’t manage
to spot any. We then continued walking up to Laguna Esmeralda. The scenery of
this hike was actually better than the previous one. When we got to the lake we
were all struck by its colour. The water was an emerald colour and was
surrounded by snow capped peaks. After enjoying the view for a while we made
our way back to the bus stop.
When we got back into town Chez, Rowan and I grabbed some
lunch and then made our way up to Glacier el Martial. Before even making it to
the start of the walk we walked up and up and up again. Eventually we made our
way past the chair lift and continued walking up and up and up. Looking back we
could see Ushuaia covered in cloud but the further we went it looked like the
sun was trying to break through.
Eventually I got to the top (Chez and Rowan got there long
before me) and it was such a feeling of accomplishment. We played around in the
snow for a while and looked at the glacier (which was covered in snow so was a
little disappointing) before heading down. From stopping at the top for so long
we were starting to get cold so decided to run down which was so much easier
than the way up!!
When we got to the bottom of the trail we tried to get a
lift back into town (we were sick of walking by this time). There were no
willing lift givers so we started our walk and after about 5 minutes e managed
to get a lift with an Argentinian family who dropped us off at Dublin so we
could enjoy a victory drink!
As we tried to open the door we noticed that it wasn’t open
yet... Now, where do we go for that drink? We walked down the hill and didn’t see
anything so made our way back up past Dublin to restaurant that was on the
corner. As we passed Dublin they were opening up so we stopped there to grab
some food and a few beers. Notice how I now don’t close pubs I open them...not
sure if that is good or bad?!
Michael joined us a little later where we had a few more
drinks before wishing him a happy birthday and then made our way back to the
hostel for some well deserved rest...