The plan
was to start late, breakfast at 0800 and departure at 0900 which meant getting
a good long sleep and still having time to pack everything before leaving.
We
started with a 200 meter ascent before reaching a saddle where we had the
option to climb one of the two small summits. A few stayed back and relaxed
during the one hour it took for the group to go up and down.
Afterwards
we had a very steep 600 meter descent on primarily loose gravel. It was
relatively fine, despite a fall which resulted in a bruised (and now sore) knee
and pride.
At the
bottom we had a river crossing; the river had gotten too big so we had to take
off our boots and cross in socks/sandals/bare feet. The water reached half way
to the knees and was really cold (go figure, considering it comes from the
glaciers) but all in all it felt quite good having the feet getting a rinse.
After
half and hour’s time of following the river we had lunch after which we were
looking at a 300-400 meter ascent. We were in a nice green area, but the path
soon turned into rocks, but never as bad as yesterday (I doubt it will ever be
as bad (unstable) as yesterday…). Turning a corner the narrow steep path with
rocks on one side and a river on the other suddenly widened to a huge open area
at the bottom of a glacier were we set up camp at around 1500.
Tomorrow
morning we are ascending the glacier, 700-ish meters with full equipment (this
included being tied together), before steeply descending 1300 meters. Due to
the unpredictability of the stability of the snow bridges (snow gathering on
top and covering the crevices in the glacier), which is why we are required to
be tied together, the walk up can either be an easy walk of 2 hours or a long
and exhausting of 5 hours or more. This has great potential of becoming interesting…
A view from the saddle.
Looking up from where we came from at lunch.
And looking down - not the way we were going.
The view from my tent opening - including a sock hanging from the roof, drying.
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