Cerro Torre

Until a few months ago, the huge granite spire of Cerro Torre was all I knew about Patagonia and seeing it was enough to make we want to travel all the way down here. Finally, I got to actually see it. We make the 4 hour trek up to the base of the Torre Glacier, looking ahead at nothing but clouds where we knew the mountain should be. At the glacier, there was still no view of the mountain, but we hunkered down behind some rocks to block the wind and waited and watched and did our best to will the clouds away. Very slowly, the clouds lifted and parted, until over 2.5 hours later, we could finally make out the sharp top of the spire. What an incredible way to see such a huge mountain - shrouded in clouds that made it look so daunting. It greatly added to the respect that I have for the people that have climbed it. Wow.

I'm not sure if it was because it was Jodie's birthday or if the weather gods just knew how disappointed I would have been to have come here and not seen Cerro Torre, but we've been told that the day we hiked up to see it was the first clear day in almost a month! What luck!

Chris