Sort of. Today’s excursion was fly fishing. The location: a secluded lagoon in the Sierra Baguales area. Getting there required a 1 1/2 hour hike UP hill. The lake itself was remarkable. I’d say a little less than a mile across and roughly oval in shape. The far end of the lake abutted rocky bluffs. For the most part, the edges of the lake were a soft weave of grasses. Our fly fishing skills leave much for improvement. Cliff caught a large brown trout….which threw the hook just as he was bringing it to shore. Our guide was at the ready in waders with a net….but, the fish had other plans. I had a strong nibble, but in my excitement managed to pull the fly right out of the fish’s mouth. Even though we did not have a photo of a fish at the end of our excursion, we enjoyed the day thoroughly. (Perhaps not the “walk” in!) The guide Ben and his assistant JP were phenomenally patient and totally charming. The spread out a wonderful picnic on the shore complete with wine (of course!) which I declined knowing that the “walk” back was ahead of me. I’m wobbly enough going downhill without a glass of wine! Our guide’s name was Benjamin Vial, the director of Patagonia Lines fly fishing tours. We would highly recommend them. Check out www.patagonialines.com. The company is located in Puerto Natales but provides service as far north as Torres deal Paines national park.
The drive to our starting place was an adventure in itself, crossing two suspicious looking bridges and fording a stream filled with imposing stones and boulders. And in between, marshy spots with thick mats of green ground cover that oozed mud as we drove across them. There were several places where I was sure we would have to get out and push! But Ben gave precise directions complete with hand signals and JP got us in and back with only one or two ominous clunks from rocks. Sheep, cattle and rheas crowded the semi-flat road when we finally got to it. JP moved forward to get them moving and most often they just ran ahead of the car for quite a distance before abandoning flat road for the dry hilly terrain on either side. A rhea did a zig zag dance in front of us before finally heading off to a hill.
