It felt very strange to hear Mark suggest "let's go hike Martial Glacier" at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. For any hike, both of us are accustomed to early morning starts, with plans to finish well before the sun dips behind the mountains. Like, at 3 o'clock. Of course, being in Ushuaia during the summertime, the sun sets after 10:30pm so after a reinvigorating nap we grabbed a taxi to get there. Again, very strange: grabbing a taxi to get to the base of a hike. It feels so chique. But cheap. The taxi driver wished us luck as he peeled out on the dirt road.
Looking toward the peak, the four of us started our hike right past the non-servicing chair lift. Deets was nearly out of sight running up the trail, collecting sticks and rocks. Margo needed a little more encouragement but eventually got with the program after I started singing camp songs non-stop to distract her from well... everything. We followed the path of the glacier melt, into and past the tree line before we got our first handfuls of snow 3,444 feet above sea level. The view of the rocky white peaks above the blanket of brilliant green moss was astounding. So much so, it took me 45 minutes to remember to turn around and look at the sea below with an equally impressive view: Chilean mountains on one side, Argentinian on the other.
By six o'clock it was time to head down and it took a lot of convincing to get the kids out of the snow. Tears were shed over the sad departure but we rewarded ourselves with drinks and cookies at the Casa de Te, an overtly pink and frilly tea house/lodge located at the base of the climb. Mark and I showered the kids with praise and encouragement knowing they'd be hiking much more in the days to come.
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| Lost in his own world. |
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| So fresh. |
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| Roaring glacier melt. |
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| Glaciar Martial, Tierra del Fuego |
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| Beagle Channel and Chilean Tierra del Fuego mountains behind us. |
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