Torres del Paine - Grey Glacier

I left Dickson Lake and followed the Los Perros River toward Los Perros Glacier. The trail meandered through beautiful old beech forests with occasional views of the mountains beyond. The river flowed swiftly, tumbling over its rocky bed. It was a welcome change from the wide-open terrain of the Steppe where the force of the wind can reach 100mph (160km/h) and literally knock hikers off their feet. With no landmasses to break the winds, the Patagonian Steppe is open season for strong gusty winds.

Sheltered amongst the forests, I enjoyed the peacefulness of the location listening to the river's flow, soothing my senses. The trail then opened up and the river forked. The left arm led to Los Perros lagoon that was fed by Los Perros Glacier which was spilling from the top of the massif. The right arm of the river, the route I took, navigated around the lagoon but I still had views of it and the glacier.

The trail led me back into the forest for a mile or so and when I surfaced, I was deep in a valley flanked by the gargantuan peaks of the massif. Ahead was the most strenuous hike uphill over the John Gardner Pass. The elevation gain was over 2,200ft (670m) on a rocky trail dotted with massive boulders. There were no trees or vegetation, it was grey and seemed desolate with the wind blustering away but, in this barren, almost Mars-like terrain, I could see the magnificence of this isolated place at the bottom of the continent.

When I reached the top of the pass, the grand Grey Glacier appeared before me in all its expansiveness. The glacier is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and it flows south into the lake of the same name. It is 17mi (28km) long, 3.7mi (6km) wide and 98ft (30m) high in a stunning shade of cyan-blue colour. I kept an ear out for any thunderous rumbling in case the glacier was calving but without success. Perhaps just as well because in 2019 two large icebergs broke off the glacier. The large one measured 8.8 hectares, that's about the size of 16 football fields or 12 soccer fields, and the second one was about 6 hectares. Fascinating as calving may seem, it is an indicator of rising temperatures that causes glaciers to retreat.

I found myself a place to rest and took in the majesty of the glacier as far as my eyes could see.

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