Old Man Haworth was struggling with a hurty foot so we took it easy for the hike up to Glaciar Martial. The W-Trek combined with our sprint up the Guanaco yesterday no doubt played a part. We were recommended to take a taxi to the base of the old chairlift and hike from there. Instead we took the scenic route and walked up the winding road past some premium hotels and restaurants.
One hotel in particular seemed to be colossal, but deserted. There is a kind of eerie-ness about the place, like the set of a Bond film that time forgot.
The area had once been popular for skiing but now the fast receding glaciar and poor snowfall in winter seems to have dried up the flow of money into the place.
A bare rocky moraine-like slope was evidently an attempt at a ski slope, instead we turned to the fast flowing stream where a track wound its way up the valley.
Bridges here are built heavy to stand up to the snow-melt surges that can happen in glacial areas.
We rose steadily up the valley, in and out of dappled shade, on our way to the top of the chairlift.
The chairlift has been out of order for some time and there seemed to be little urgency to fix it. Chairlifts always look so strange in the summer months.
Beyond here we got into a familiarly lunar landscape, similar to the Cordillera Guanaco of yesterday.
The receding glacier was a sad sight, clinging to the ridge of the mountains it appeared very much on its last legs. I wonder how many years it has left?
Strange to think that it once filled this valley and stretched down into the Canal Beagle.
The walk down the hill gave us some great views east towards the other mountain ranges that we hope to visit.
The town of Ushuaia is rough and ready, but everyone has been friendly and helpful when we have questions. The local slang is hard to grasp, much like the UK I suppose where people say things differently in every corner of the country.
Tomorrow the Beagle Channel and Los Pinguinos!