The lakes of the Torres Del Paine seem to come in two colors: the milky teal-gray of the photo above and the brilliant rich navy of the photo below. With no guide to ask, the reasoning behind this distinction bothered me, until I met an experienced Patagonian hiker the first night near Glacier Grey.
The classic blue bodies of water dotting the landscape, while beautiful, are the less interesting of the two. It's the teal lakes that are unique to this and other glacier regions. Where the lake meets a glacier, far below the surface, the glacier is constantly grinding against the bedrock, filling the melting water with tiny pieces of rock. The particles are so small and light they never settle at the bottom of the water and are suspended throughout the lake. It's these floating sediments, the effect of the glacier scraping against the bedrock, that make the water appear cloudy.
