El Chalten

El Chalten is a very small town that provides access to the Argentina side of southern patagonia. It sits between the confluence of two rivers and a dramatic line of granite peaks. You can´t see the peaks in this photo because of the typical cloud cover on the left of the photo. This picture was taken on our last day in town. You can walk from your hostel onto the trails of Argentinas Glacier national park and we did just that.

We arrived in town late in the evening and stumbled into the only open camping we could find. The next morning it was clear and calm.
Lou and I both think their are many advantages to traveling during the shoulder seasons one of the big ones is there are less people to deal with. Our first day in Chalten we realized one of the pitfalls of traveling in the shoulder season, with less people the transportion can be spotty. We had planned to explore the park from Chalten for a few days and then hike\ferry our way back into Chile. To our disappointment the ferry would not be running again until April 10th and although we much liked the feel of Chalten two weeks was a bit much to spend there. So we reformulated a plan, packed our back packs and headed into the park for a few days. As I mentioned the first day was an incredible day, clear skies and great views of Fitz Roy and the surrounding ridgeline.

Here we are, all smiles, at our first good lookout. It was a great place for lunch. Did I mention there was no wind?! We hiked up to the glacial lake near the base of Fitz Roy and pondered how one would approach this granite spire to make an atempt for the summit. We were both stumped, it would be one hell of an approach.

Louie´s mom has a rock collection from all the places she has visited, and some from the adventures of others too. Lou found a rock for her at the glacial lake at Fitz Roys base. Since you aren´t allowed to take things from the park we took this picture for you Joan. Here is a rock memory from Argentinan Patagonia.

Second day in the park was again a fabulous sunny day without wind. We were really enjoying the calm weather after all the wind of Torres del Paine. We hiked all morning without seeing another person. The trail followed a river as it meandered to a wide valley surrounded by ice capped ridges.

In the afternoon we took a side hike\scramble up to another glacial lake. The boulders we crawled over and under were incredibly large. It was great fun. On the way up we were buzzed by an Andean Condor. They are second in wingspan only to the Wandering Albatross. Having seen them high in the sky so many times it was fabulous to get an upclose view of one.

Arriving at the lake Lou had to get a hold of some ice. We had seen so much that was out of reach over the last two weeks he was determined to get some this time.

Although this piece was to big to pick up he did break off a smaller one.

On our way down we ran into a group of Aussies that seemed to need assistance finding their way through the boulder field. A few moments later it became clear that they were fine, but a women who didn´t speak any english was just behind them and very distraught. Lou and I knew just who they were talking about. We had met here on the trail an hour earlier and had had a short conversation. Turns out she had gotten lost in the boulders and walked in a circle. This had made her very scared. We reassured her that she could walk with us and we´d show her the way out. She also was very upset that she could not physically make the scramble over the boulders to see the lake. We assured her she had already seen very similar lakes on her other hikes in the park.

All in all another great day. Enjoyed a trail all to ourselves, great wildlife sightings more on the later, and a rescue.

The next day we woke up to rain and wind. Time to go. We started the hike out. It was sunny by lunch and we took the time to dry out the tent before making the final decent into town.