January 10 Lakes and mountains

One day we joined a tour to drive in the Fuegian forest via National Route 3. This route is part of the Pan-American Highway, the longest road in the world (they say) and goes over the Garibaldi Pass, the highest point of the road crossing of the Andes mountain range.

El Lago Fagnano and in the distance el Lago Escondido - 100 km long

It was a delightful day driving through old growth Fuegian forests dense with ancient Nothofagus trees - also known as the Southern Beeches. This is a genus of trees and shrubs native to southern South America and Australasia - same family as those that we saw growing in Tasmania. In the forests the layer of topsoil is so shallow that storms bring down the older, bigger trees. Like so many places in the world logging, once a thriving industry, is now prohibited.

The tracks were a bit rough. Wahoo!

This small lake was created by beavers

Valley floors were deep spongy peat moss

The floors of the valleys are matted with deep spongy peat moss. During winter they are blanketed with snow and they then become popular for Nordic skiing - people come from all over the world to ski these valleys.  We drove on dirt trails in 4x4 cars through the forest and came out at Lake Fagnano where we drove along the pebbly shore stopping for thermos coffee (there's also 'mate' - an Argentinian favourite herbal tea) and cake and to wander. The silence was broken only by the lapping of the water. Sheer heaven - a very happy place. 

Tall bright daisies lit up the dense shadowy green 

I poked around and found some pretties.

Many of the trees had balls of green which I think were a species of mistletoe (Top 2 pix)

A dreamy lake

Hey we're happy!

We drove further along side the lake before diving back into the forest to return for a late lunch at a husky lodge. Here we dined with an extended family from Colombia. Very interesting exchanging ideas.