The Atacama Desert is much more varied than we thought, with lunar landscapes, volcanoes, wetlands and lagoons with lots of birdlife, including flamingoes. We climbed the 5,600 m Volcan Lazcar and would love to return to bag 6,000 m Volcan Pili.
Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia is a fabulous destination for trekking. The main attractions are the Valley Torres del Paine, Valley Frances, and Glacier Grey.
We had five nights in the park and really wanted to backpack the Grande Circuit (a full loop around the massif including ascending the two valleys). The shorter “W” just wouldn’t cut it, so it was the “O” in five nights!
We made an unplanned trip to Southern Chilcotin following a washout on the road to the trailhead for the Stein Divide. It was a fabulous choice and the ridge hikes around the Taylor Basin are spectacular and a welcome change from the Coast Mountains. A superb area for hiking, mountain biking and horse riding, if you can find it!
Escaped the crowds on the August long weekend by hiking into Mamquam Lake in the southern part of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Mamquam Lake is just 11 km beyond the super-popular Elfin Lakes, but is a relatively rough trail due to a washout on Ring Creek. There weren’t many people on Saturday night and we had the whole lake to ourselves on Sunday night. Fabulous!
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