Argentinean Patagonia

The beautiful Fitz Roy mountains! 

Oddly enough, on the stop between El Calafate and El Chalten, we learned that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out in this area back in 1905.  It was weird seeing references to Rawlins, WY on the walls this far away!



 We arrived to El Chalten, the tiny town in nature's paradise, around 9:30 at night and didn't think much of it when the lights in the little bus station went out. However, we were soon walking through town by flashlight and no hostels or restaurants had lights, only candlelight, and it looked really , like something out of a post apocalyptic zombie movie. Thankfully, we found our hostel and lights were restored in another 20 or so minutes. Our first day, we hiked to Laguna Torres which was a relatively flat 12 miler round-trip to a glacier lake. We heard the previous 6 days had rain so we were happy for sunshine but oh that Patagonian wind! By the time we reached the lake, it was near hurricane force and I could only look at the lake, with its huge waves crashing over large ice chunks, for a few moments before being forced back down below the ridge.

 Thankfully, the weather was even better (slightly less wind and fewer clouds) for our hike on Day 2 to Laguna de los Tres where you get a spectacular view of the Fitz Roy mountains. This involved a lot more uphill but we first detoured en extra few km to see Piedras Blancas, another stunning glacier where we witnessed a huge section of ice crash down and send ripples across the lake towards out lunch spot.

The first view from the laguna 4 km in

 

We then returned to the main trail to start the arduous uphill climb of the last km. It was very steep but our breathlessness was rewarding with absolutely breathtaking views of these peaks and the shimmering blue lake in the front. We may or may not have taken 150 or so pictures up here. Thankfully, the clouds move so fast that we were able to get some great clear shots of the tallest spire in between times when it was shrouded in clouds again.

 

An hour or so later, we sadly said goodbye to this beautiful place and, since it was already 4, we quickly descended the 10 km all the way back to town.

The water was so clear (and potable right from the river still!)  I hear the fishing is good too!

Yes, I realize that some of this looks like Colorado.  It's hard to venture too far from the mountains!

 Our hostel is literally 300 meters from the trailhead (so awesome...and no park fee too!) So that was nice after 16 or so miles! We were so lucky to have two sunny days to explore this mountain paradise! The next day was a bit rainy and cold so we were happy for our sunny days.  We had a wonderful dinner with the Irish couple in our room and a couple from Vanuatu, an island in the South Pacific that I've never even heard about before.  They informed us about island life and were pretty nervous because a huge storm was poised to hit their island.  We hoped it wasn't as bad as was anticipated and now that we are in El Bolson with internet, I see the front page of CNN is about the post-cyclone destruction to their island.  So sad!  Wishing their families and everyone affected recovers from this tragedy.