At Laguna Torre I shared the camping ground among the southern beeches with about a dozen other tents. By 9 p.m. I'd already wriggled into my sleeping bag and had finished scribbling a few quick notes, yet the evening hadn't darkened enough to make the headlamp necessary. I dropped off to sleep immediately, woke often during the night but still managed the better part of about eight hours. At 5 a.m. I woke, got up and walked to the Laguna. Dawn had just begun to colour Cerro Torre and the cloud enveloping its summit. I watched and photographed until the first direct sunlight touched the mountain. Within a minute everything had turned grey.
I walked back to the camp. No one else had risen.
[Note: In light of the actions of a Red Bull film crew on Cerro Torre in 2010, I'd encourage you to boycott this company's products and events.]
[11 November 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 29 mm, ISO 100, 1/2 at f11]
All content © 2011 Pete McGregor
Thank you. A moment on the very edge of reality.
ReplyDeleteFor once words fail me. I'm just so GLAD for you.
ReplyDeleteStunning! A crowning glory near the end of a long journey... Oh the magic morning hour while everyone else slumbers on!
ReplyDeleteAll that's left now is that last bit at the Edge of the Earth, where the flatness ends and disbelief begins.
ReplyDeleteZhoen,it did seem unreal — sometimes I had that momentary feeling of wondering whether this was really happening.
ReplyDeleteRR, thank you :^)
Maureen, if I'd known some of the others in the camp ground, maybe chatted to them the night before, I'd have been tempted to wake them. But the light changed so rapidly they might not have been up in time, and I doubt I'd have been popular — it was shortly after 5 a.m., after all ;^)
Miguel, the journey south continues today. I've loved El Chalten, but now it's time to head right down south.
Perhaps the people who have fascinated more than any other are the Yaghans of the coastal Tierra del Fuego. Darwin thought they were "savages", but I find that they were some of the most adaptable people in human history. They "liked" living the way they did!
ReplyDelete... and look what we did to them, Miguel. How many cultures have been destroyed by the desire to "save" or "improve the lot" of the savages/heathens?
ReplyDelete