Since I found the Condor Trail challenging, we opted for a short and easy hike. It was short but it was not easy by any means. We have lots of ups ands downs but what made it most difficult were the 40 mph gusts that came at us randomly. I had to stop and get my center of gravity lower several times. That is not a huge issue on its own but when it happens on the edge of a 40 foot cliff without railings, that makes it scary. Of course 90% of our trail was safe and reasonable that other 10% was a real eye opener. We are not "hikers" in the traditional sense of the word but we will have to remember that flat to a professional guide is never going to be Florida flat. It was just us two and our guide Marielle so we did not feel rushed and we could take out time and look closely at everything. As I have said before as long as we get a great story of of our experience, it was time well spent.
An old man's beard lichen
A type of symbiotic plant found in the trees
The white parts of the cliff is where Condors have nested
This white horse looks fake but he was real!
A fine horse indeed!
Wild blue berries
The porcelain orchid
So very beautiful
Not a bad place to take a hike
The lake in the middle
We had to wear our raingear to block the wind so you can barely see Leslie
On the windswept hills it is hard for trees to get a foot hold, so it is just bushes
A few railings were placed on the trail, but not many
This hike was a great opportunity to see lots of the plant life.
Perhaps and armadillo lives here
Lilly of the valley like flowers
Watch out the for the wind blowing
A very different type of flowering bush
Cool branch
The told us that it takes a long time for things to decay in Patagoia
Yellow flowers 1
Yellow flowers 2
A family of ducks
Yellow flower 3
The duck family in the background
Flowers and ducks
Look at the red flair on the wings
This was a mom and a baby. The mom would feed the baby
Down for a bite
Up to feed
The trees are permanently bent but the winds coming off the southern ice fields
A fuzzy coating of the old mans beard
The close up shot makes it look like an animal
Marielle saw an old classmate of hers from the university who is now a ranger. She was able to say hi to him.
The birds are always hungry
The southern goose male and his fuzzy babies
It was definitely duck duck goose
A fine pine cone
There was a googology garden
This was quartz
With sparkles in it
The shale rock that is the dark layer on top of the pinnacles
There were 20 or so examples of local geography
There is a green patch on the wings
A chip off of the old block
The female has a green patch as well
The other baby had to hunker down in the wind for a while and is trying to catch up to mom
Lupines!
