Hey Everyone,
Finally have some time for a quick post. We´ve ended up in El Calafate in southern Patagonia and I decided to take at least one day to rest after going non-stop for so long. It´s surprisingly calm here at the end of the world (although the nights are considerably longer here). At times this place feels like a complete tourist trap, but the surrounding vistas with its amazing mountain ranges, lagoons, and glaciers make up for that. Also it makes it very easy (albeit expensive) for us to get around and see the sights before winter weather really begins to set in here.
As expected, we ran into a bit of trouble taking the LADE airlines (they have to be a little untrustworthy since their flights are so cheap) While they said they would e-mail us if there was a delay, we rushed to the airport to be on time only to find out we weren´t leaving for another 4 hours. As we got closer and closer to the new time, no one from the airline was showing up. Eventually our departure time changed to "ask agent".... ugh. When one of them finally showed up they told us we would have to wait till tomorrow for the flight! They were nice enough to give us a free night at a hotel (meals included). We were shipped back to Bariloche and got to stay a night in the nicest place we are probably staying our whole trip. The place was filled with rich elderly folks who were probably not planning on going the hike we had just done :-) The food was fine and we called it an early night.
After getting up early the next day only to find out our plane was delayed another 5 hours, we were finally on our tiny little plane preparing to head off into real patagonia. Carl and I were both lucky enough to get an excellent view. The landscape was like none I had ever seen. The whole ground was coverd with dust and sand with random lagoons the size of neighborhoods interspersed throughout. This stretched on in every direction as far as we could see. Sometimes we would catch a road below us, and so still felt we had a better deal than those taking the dreaded route 40. Up here we had a spectacular view, and didn´t have to dwell too long on the desolate land.
When we landed in El Calfate (finally!) we were lucky enough again to catch a bus going straight to El Chalten. The weather was so good and there wasn´t a cloud in the sky (which is the perfect time to see the mountain ranges there) so we hopped on and made it to a hostel before dinner. The town was mostly deserted and the normal population is less than thousand. It was clear they had made an attempt to organize the city for travelers, but only just enough. Two huge paved roads and random modern lodges made up the main streets while the rest was dust roads next to humongous mountains. I really liked this town though and the people were extremely friendly (locals and travellers alike). We actually met one of the coaches for Canada´s olympic cross-country skiing team.... he could do the hikes around the area in half the time suggested!
We heard that tomorrow would be just as nice, and so decided to hit the follow the path Monte Fitz Roy as it´s almost impossible to see in bad weather (the clouds can shroud it completely). The hostel got us a taxi to take us to a different part of the trail in the morning. The ride showed us stretches of river in the cold desert valley that seemed to go on for quite a ways. In some places the river was rushing and at others was at a complete standstill, the view was epic and a little mind-altering. As we turned around a mountain we started to see glaciers clinging to many of the surrounding mountains. Stepping out of the van in the crisp morning air to get a better look was a great feeling, it was a re-awakening me how awesome it was to be here, and how lucky we were to be able to see southern Patagonia this late in the season.
We started on the trail through a fairly dense forest, it felt even more lush than Bariloche, which surprised me. We climbed up onto the ridge of the valley where we could see a huge glacier in the distance, a great sight (my camera was and has been dead for some time sadly, but I´m sure there are tons of pictures online that can show you what it´s like!) The hike was easy enough this time as we didn´t have to carry much with us. We only needed one bottle of water for each as well since the streams next to the trail were completely potable (you can´t get much cleaner than glacial water!) After a few hours we finally saw the amazing peak of Monte Fitz Roy, we knew we had at least another 2 hours to reach the lagoon at the foot of it, but it already looked like we were right up against it, It´s peak was humongous but surprisingly smooth and colorful. As the sun moved across the sky, the rocks seemed to reflect different colors and when the sun rose and set on it, the view was particularly fantastic.
After a little strenous climbing we finally reached the lagoon. It was frozen almost completely solid, and even throwing a huge rock at it wouldn´t even crack it (as many people, including myself, tried to do so). As I started to walk around the lagoon, I heard a thunderous noise, and I turned back to see a huge crack on the icy surface. It was extremely cool to see the blazing sun have its effect and how powerful such a change could be. On the other side of the lake was an impressive water fallfrom which the water underneath the frozen lagoon escaped into a lake far below. We could see the water finally moving from this part, which was the mouth of the Rio Blanco back below us.
On our way back we got another excellent view of the valley with the desert lake, and even heard a few avalanches from distant mountains. There were huge boulders scattered across grasslands; it looked like some post-modern artist had placed them there. The views around us were excellent and the sun setting on the ridges made this place particularly remarkable. Even though it has been cloudy every day since, I still feel lucky that we got to see Monte Fitz Roy on our first try!
Next post: A little walk on a Glacier
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