Calor y Frio

I have two pictures to upload today.

Two weeks ago I went to Laguna Toro, a beautiful lake surrounded with mountains and a glacier. To get there you have to walk 19 km from where I live, so I had to camp there the night. In total, I walked 52 km in two days (including some exploring I did around the place).

It is definitely one of the best places around here, but it is hard to go there. The trails is very long, with plenty of ups and downs, and to make it worse I had to wade a small river (5 m wide!) that I didn't know was there. Since I didn't have anything to put on my feet, I had to cross it barefoot, but with  the temperature the first day it was actually nice. Unfortunately, the next day I was in a hurry to get back (I had to work) and the temperature was very low, so putting your feet in freezing water is not my idea of a nice morning.

Aside from that, the place is beautiful. From camp you are only 1 km from the lake and 3 km from a glacier. I highly recommend it.

Sunset was very disappointing. The cloud were to thick to get any color on the sky, and they stayed there all night long so I couldn't do any strartrails. In the morning the sky looked equally gray but I decided to give it a try and went to a place I had found the day before.

Morena

Laguna Toro, El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

This image was taken 15 minutes before sunrise, and like one of the last images I took, it is a blend of two exposures (one for the sky, one for the foreground). Its not what I had in mind, but since the sky never showed any color, it the best I could get.

Calor y Frio

Laguna Toro, El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

This one was more accidental than the first. While I was returning to camp I was sunlight hitting some rocks and decided to take a simple shoot (to show once I returned) and saw the different color of the rocks. The ones in the foreground are being hit by the sun, but the ones in the back are in the shadow. and that gives them their different color. I led how the texture of the rocks turned out.

Its not much for such a long trip, but I had a good time and it was my first time there.

Now that the season is ending and I will have 6 month free, I certainly have to go back again, with better weather and more time there. In a few days I leave to Torrers del Paine in Chile, to get some equipment and try my luck in the "W" trail. After that, I have a few weeks here and then I am off to Buenos Aires to see my family. And once I am back, I will have plenty of time to go out.

See you around!
Santiago

Cordon Adela

Side note: I got a Daily Deviation for my picture "Arcoiris" in deviantART! Thanks!

Okay, after a (very) small delay I can upload the shots from the last time I went to Laguna Torre.

This time I slept in the town and made the 12 km hike before sunrise because I had to work the night before. The weather was very nice but on the way there I couldn't avoid thinking that it was going to be a very disappointing day as the sky was completely clear and not a single cloud was visible. Glad I was wrong!

Cordon Adela

Laguna Torre, El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

Just before sunrise a line of clouds appear behind Cerro Torre and started "spilling" over the top like an overflowing pool. A beautiful show to see and even better to photograph! Cerro Torre is always a beautiful mountain to see and photograph, but that morning it had the most beautiful color I had seen so far!

A few minutes before I had been trying to make something with the lake and the rocks on the shore, and found something interesting, but with the sunrise light the color didn't turn out so nice. If there had been some clouds above me, they would have given some light and color to the foreground, but there were none.

This one is 15 minutes before sunrise. Its a composite from two images (one exposure for the mountains and another for the foreground) and i used my headlamp to put some light on the rocks, just to give them another color and some texture.

Punta de Flecha

Laguna Torre, El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

I plan to get back there on a clear night. I really like the composition, but I need better light for it! With the light from the moon the foreground will show the texture of the rocks much better and the stars will look very nice on the sky. Maybe next time!

On the way back I also took some time to shoot some birds and managed to get some nice shoot of two new species to me. The first one is a Duicon looking into the rising sun.

Duicon

El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

The next one is an Owl called Cabure Grande. I would have preferred to have a nicer background, with out so many branches, but she was very comfortable and didn't want to move, no matter how may times I asked. The good news is that they usually stay during the winter so I might be able to get some shots of them on the snow!

Cabure

El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

The last one is a more simple image. It is a small piece of ice trapped in a river. I liked the shape of the water behind it, but it is to turbulent for me. I will have to try another time.

Deriva

Laguna Torre, El Chalten, Patagonia Argentina

See you soon!
Santiago