Chile - Patagonia - Jorge Montt Glacier - 2008/02/13 - 8 miles

Leaving our little cove

The next morning dawns as another beautiful Chilean day - grey skies, low clouds, rain squalls mixed with rare and brief patches of sun. The winds are quite light however as we paddle north past the west side of Isla Vargas. At least it is a lot warmer now that we are away from the glacier.

Rain of powdered water

About half way up the side of the island a smaller chunk of rock makes for a narrow passage that Kate and I decide to take. Julio stays on the outside in the more open passage. We will meet at the far end. The water is a milky aqua marine. The widely separated rain drops look more like fish feeding on the glassy surface. An osprey's shriek echoes off the steep walls. It is incredibly quiet. Just the soft plink of the paddles as they dip into the water, pulling the boats forward and then the gurgle of a stream of water drops rushing off the underside of the returning paddles. The clouds are so low one feels like ducking.

Hard shore

We stop in a small bay clogged with the trunks of long dead trees. It makes for a tricky landing and precarious walk to the shore. A quick walk over the only really open ground we have seen brings us to the north end of the little peninsula. The deep mosses are spongy. it feels like walking on a trampoline. From there promontory we can just see the very tip of Isla Theresa - our destination for the night. The mountain tumbles hard into the deep waters, promising a difficult passage to anyone traveling in harsh conditions. But this day is easy and we will have no trouble.

Cloudy passage

.Back in the kayaks we soon paddle along the very same steep wall we saw from our rest stop. The winds are quiet as is the water. There is nothing to reflect off the steep rock walls to make our passing remarkable.

Lovely weather eh?

The clouds thicken and rain is once more our world. Drips roll down the rim on the front of my hat and blow onto my chin. The world is grey above and milky green below, viewed through the dimple lenses of the water droplets covering my glasses

Under the tarp Camp 10

The beach here is no wider than the kayaks are long and this is only half tide. Our tents are pitched right up against the impenetrable and steep rock face. Soon the rain comes down that much harder and Kate must move her tent to get away from the little stream that appeared and flowed right under her tent..

More rain

It is 3 PM but it could be just about any time. The sun is so filtered by the thick cloud cover that it could be five or six in the afternoon as far as we could have determined without our watches. Wave after wave of rain sweeps in across the open water as we sit under the tarp and watch. many little hummingbirds are flitting along the shrubs behind camp. We see probably twenty of the little speedy hoverers working the flowers for their high octane fuel.

A break in the clouds

A little later we get a break in the weather - haha - when a little sun appears. Encouraged we paddle the boats down past our first camp site for a couple of miles then head back to camp as the rain comes in once more.

Still raining

Through dinner it rains. During desert it rains. All that is left is to brush our teeth and go to bed. It rains all night leaving us in a steamy tent.

Continue the trip..............

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