Glacier Martial

Its Sunday so that means lazy, however there is a small glacier near here that is calling my name. I am a little slow on the draw having found the Irish pub last night. One of the ships, the Explorer just returned to port after a trip to Antarctica. That gave me a great chance to listening to everyone tell thier storys and ask a million questions about Antarctica...so the beer flowed!

I found it kind of odd that most everyone I met were from the Explorer was from Canada or the US. I was told that most people on the ship were from North America as well. Just a weird observation.

Today it was time to test drive the Merrells. There is a small glacier within walking distance of town, Glacier Martial. It is actually the reminents of one large glacier that receeded back from the Beagle channel about 10,000 years ago. This was worth a look.

I walked to the park from town in about an hour. There was a winding road that made the walk easy however there was a trail that took time off the walk but I would do that on the way down. My legs really have not fully recovered from Torres so its going to be slow and steady.

Forty five easy walking minutes brought me through the park to the trail head. This place had a little edge to it and I could see a trail that wound up to the glacier. My billygoat genes got all excited. There was a great stream that I drank from and an easy rocky trail that lead up to the mountains. There were very few people on the trail and most of the time I had the place to myself.
This place had a kind of odd feel to it. Not a huge challange as far as hikes go but there was a sense of old school strength and wisdom in the park and on the trail, if that makes any sense. I have not felt that anywhere else, but maybe I was just tripping.

The higher I got, the colder it got and fast. My new hat, gloves, jacket and shoes all got thier first chance to work as a team and they did not disappoint. Even my MEC rain jacket made a short appearence giving the Doite a rest. My sister Kelly will be pleased to know that not all the garments are blue.

Remember when we use to sew Canadian Flags on our backpacks and gear when we went abroad. Now those flags are few and far between as we are recognized by our MEC gear.

I have seen some odd signs along the way, many with funny uses of english. This one just cracked me up. You are watching the glacier. I guess if I sat there for a few years something might have happened but I do not have that kind of time or patience.

** Spanish has a verb Mirar - To Watch/Look and Ver - to See. I mix them up all the time so I will give them this one. **

The walk up was actually pretty tough as it was short but steep. It was also sand and scree so each step up reminded me of how difficult the walk down would be, but that was later. When I got as far as I could go without proper gear I just chilled and watched some trekkers hit the ice and snow up the right glacier. They were kicking it! I took some more water from a small pond, something I am finding addicting. I can not remember water tasting so good.