As the days went by during my stay in Ushuaia, I slowly felt like I was running out of trekking companions. It wasn't that there weren't enough people hanging around the hostel, but rather that all the guests preferred to do the traditional treks, which I, of course, had already done. Finding a hiking partner was becoming difficult, but not impossible. Luckily for me, one of those days a Spanish guy arrived with whom I quickly became friends, and he had no problem going with me to those less-touristy spots in the mountains 😃.
The most popular treks in Ushuaia are Laguna Esmeralda, Vinciguerra Glacier, and Martial Glacier. Whenever a new guest arrived, these were the three things they wanted to do first, and very few people stayed more than three days at the hostel. But in Fernando's case, he had booked 10 days in total, so after completing all those treks on his own, he decided to join me on the remaining ones. One of them was a 12-km trail that took you to Sumbarino Waterfall and the lagoon of the same name.
The day we chose for this trek didn't have the best weather, but the lack of rain was enough for us. Fernando had told me he lives in a mountainous area near the Pyrenees, so he was already very accustomed to this type of hike. But what I had never seen was a beaver dam or the environmental disaster these animals cause. Beavers are a pest in Ushuaia. Artificially introduced just over 80 years ago, they have built burrows wherever they pass, and their presence is unmistakable.
The first part of the hike was peaceful, surrounded by forest and beaver dams, and about two hours into the hike, we reached our first stop: the waterfall. This waterfall is located off the main trail, in an area fairly covered in trees and surrounded by high humidity, so it was quite cold. Despite being the end of January, in the middle of summer, this climate wasn't felt at all at the end of the world.
We only stayed at the waterfall for a while, drinking water and eating some nuts, before continuing our trek further. According to our research, after the waterfall, we had to walk another hour to reach the lagoon. This section was considerably more difficult than the first, as there was a lot of muddy uphill, and at times, we had to scramble a bit with our hands.
I should also say that along this entire stretch, the trail isn't very well marked, so having offline maps was very helpful. Finally, we were able to reach the lagoon, which, despite the gray sky, had some very beautiful colors. Depending on where you stood, the color of the water changed. My favorite spot was one where the water was completely emerald green (even more emerald than the actual Emerald Lagoon).
The Sumbmarine Lagoon has this name because it's supposedly shaped like this vehicle when viewed from above. I took the time to look at the lagoon on a satellite map, and I think the name is a bit controversial. I think it takes a lot of imagination to figure out the shape, but I still think it's acceptable. What do you think?
Anyway, Fernando and I made our second and main stop here for lunch. Luckily, it didn't rain, but the weather was awful. The thing about trekking in Ushuaia is that you're warm the whole way, but five minutes after you stop, you're already freezing again. This lagoon was very beautiful, with its contrasting color against the almost snowless mountains, but the downside was that there wasn't much protection from the wind. This considerably shortened our stay there, as did the cloud that slowly began to stalk us 😂.
The return journey along the same path we had taken felt like a relief. Protected from the wind and cold, at least for me, my hands were starting to thaw. On our way back, we came across some curious shapes on the faces of the trees, surely made by other hikers before us. Of course, we didn't miss the opportunity to make our own faces and leave our mark on this trek.
The surprise we had before leaving was that we managed to see a beaver swimming in its dam (the video is below). That was the first beaver I saw during my entire stay in Ushuaia, even though I had been trekking regularly for over four months and had come across dozens of beaver dams. Seeing a beaver was the perfect ending to this trek, one I hadn't been able to do on my list and which, luckily, I didn't have to do alone. This was another great day in Ushuaia, where I couldn't possibly get bored 😃.
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 💕.
