It rained A LOT that night in Dickson and we awoke that morning to some wet stuff under our tent vestibules. We also had left our fold-up camp chairs out. All we could do was pack up everything but the tent and move to the covered porch of the main building. After eating breakfast and drying as much as we could, we packed up the still-sopping tent. Some things stay wet all day – it’s all part of backpacking and learning how to pack all your gear so the right stuff staying dry is important. Our trusty Duck’s Backs kept our bags pretty dry for the most part. Duck’s Back by REI is a waterproof covering that is designed to strap around your pack like a glove.
Now, ready to head out around 9, we ran into our new friend Kate and set out together. The trail moved uphill pretty quickly just outside of the Dickson campground. I was following Kate and we were talking and keeping a pretty good pace most of the way up to the first mirador lookout. 45 minutes had already passed and for the first time I remember thinking “this is getting a little easier.” Later that day I was a little gassed, so small steps. Getting close to a mirador lookout point is always a dramatic exit out of the forest and into a vast gallery of astonishing views surprising you every time.
Walking amongst the clouds, overlooked by mountain crags topped with gleaming glaciers.
The path through the forest followed a white water river roaring around the mountainsides. The majority of our time walking through the valley’s forest was in light rain.
Break time to walk down to the waterfalls.
After the lunch energy boost wears off and you have been carrying this heavy ass bag all day, each mile seems longer then the last. I thought we would never get out of that forest! The last bit of our day was climbing up a boulder pile to this beautiful glacier lake:
Getting to this point in the day is the most rewarding I think. You get a nice grand finale on your hike and you know camp is close. Plus, how amazing is this place?!
Los Perros campsite is situated in the trees of a high mountain valley surrounded by towering peaks and scattered glaciers. Needless to say there are not a lot of amenities here – no hot water so no shower. Luckily, we got a good spot in the trees where all of the gear and clothes dried.
By this point of 3 days of being our own pack mules, we were ravenous for food. A tour group of older ladies who we’d seen on the trail the past few days were laughing at how much food we kept making that night in the kitchen common room. 4 bowls worth of food each! I think we just cooked and ate, cooked and ate on repeat for over an hour. Pasta and mashed potatoes and lentils. It all tasted amazing. And it was a good thing we loaded up too because we would need all that energy for Day 4!
Hoppy Purpose 