Four days in El Chalten.

The last four days have been unbelievable. I took a bus Wednesday morning for a long 4 1/2 hour ride over mostly dirt roads to El Chalten. It´s a tiny town, about 500 residents and 200 dogs according to a park ranger at the visitor center, that sits entirely within the Fitz Roy Section of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.

Coming in to El Chalten we had some fantastic views of Mount Fitz Roy and the surrounding peaks. Our bus driver was nice enough to stop and allow us to take a few pictures. During one stop, a French couple asked if I could take a picture of them with Fitz Roy in the background. I obliged and laughed as they made me pose for one with my camera. I hadn´t intended on getting my picture there, but it was a nice gesture.

I mentioned in my previous post that there was nothing there, I meant it. No bank, no ATM, a gas station with only one pump and a post office the size of a phone booth. The roads were, of course, unpaved and the sidewalks consisted of dirt paths running alongside them. There weren´t even any stop signs, though with the little traffic I imagine if two cars happened to be at the same intersection at the same time, the drivers would have gotten out and shared a laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

If you like the outdoors though, it´s a great place to be. Basically the only things to do there are eat, sleep, drink and hike. I planned to do all four.

After we got into town, I checked into the small bed and breakfast I was staying in and headed out to stretch my legs. I took a trail up to a viewpoint for Fitz Roy. On the way up I met an Argentine couple, Lucas and Pamela. They were vacationing down in Patagonia.

Unfortunately though, by that point, Fitz Roy was covered by clouds so the view we had on the way in was gone. It was still a great hike though and I made a loop of it by taking a side trail to a small lake.

Thursday morning I slept in a little and then headed out for what would turn out to be my longest day hike ever, 15.6 miles. I was taking the same trail up past the Fitz Roy viewpoint and then would continue on to a lake at the base of the mountain.

As I took the turn off for Laguna de los Tres I rounded a bend and saw the Frenchman from the bus, who upon seeing me raised his hands in the air and yelled ¨Viva Atlanta!¨

I got a laugh out of that. He asked where I was headed. I told him "I´m going up to Laguna de los Tres, but more importantly your wife is looking for you." I´d run into her earlier and she asked that I keep an eye out for him.

We talked for a few minutes and he peppered me with questions about my vacation until I finally had to cut him off and remind him that his wife at this moment was wandering around the mountains looking for him. He said "Yes, I should go find her." As he turned to walk off, he raised his arms in the air once more and yelled "Viva Atlanta!" Interesting guy.

The hike continued on through a river valley and I stopped for quick lunch before the final 1.6 mile and 1400 foot climb up to Laguna de los Tres. It was a tough climb and I met a Swiss couple on the way up. In between gasps for air we talked about our trips.

As we passed above the tree line we all started joking that this view had better be worth it. Just as we said that we climbed over the final ridge and our jaws dropped.

Before us towered Fitz Roy, over a vertical mile above our heads. It´s smooth granite walls seemed to go straight up. Glaciers hung in the saddles between the surrounding peaks and dropped down into the turquoise-blue waters of Laguna de los Tres. It was the most awe-inspiring view I have ever seen.

I stopped to take some pictures and then walked down to check out the lake. It was amazing. After that I walked over to a ledge and looked down at another lake, Laguna Sucia, which sat a near vertical 700´drop below. The view was nearly as amazing, but I didn´t go anywhere near the edge of that ridge.

Overall I spent a couple of hours there and then turned to make my way back to El Chalten. On the way I ran into Lucas and Pamela again. We exchanged greetings and then I took off.

Friday morning I headed over to do a trail for some views of Cerro Torre, the other main peak in the area. It was shorter, only 6.2 miles each way. My legs were thankful for that.

As I got to the end at Laguna Torre the peak of Cerro Torre was completely clouded over. It looked like it might clear so set up my tripod and waited a while. During the wait, I met an Australian named Guy. He was traveling through South America for two months and then on to the US for two and then Canada for two.

I asked what his plans were for the US and he said he would spend the entire time in the south, Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, etc. I asked, with all of there to see in the US, why did he just want to travel through the south. He just shrugged, laughed and said "I like the accent." I got a kick out of that.

After about an hour of waiting, Cerro Torre finally started to clear. The view was impressive and I got some great shots. I started shooting in black and white and I was really happy with those.

In all I spent about 2.5 hours at the lake, but it was worth it. I headed back to camp, and in what is becoming all too common, ran into Lucas and Pamela again.

Yesterday I finally got some clear views of Fitz Roy. I hiked the 2.5 miles up to the viewpoint again and got some great pictures. I then hiked around the lake again and back to El Chalten.

I still had the afternoon ahead of me so I walked two miles outside of town to a waterfall called Chorillo del Salto. When I got there, two people were climbing around the falls so I had to wait before I could take some pictures. They finished messing around and as they came closer I recognized them as, who else? Lucas and Pamela.

From there, I headed back to pick up my luggage and catch the bus to Calafate. I was pretty hungry so I stopped in for a bite at a small cafe and as I walked in I heard, "Not possible!" It was Lucas and Pamela...again.

The ride back was good. As I waited for the bus to leave a guy walked on at the last minute. It was Matias, our guide from the glacier hike on Tuesday. He sat down next to me and we talked for a while on the ride back. For as big of an area as Patagonia is, it´s a pretty small world.

So, I made it back to Calafate and planned on updating you all last night, but the internet service was down...for the entire city. It was pretty strange, but seemed to fit.

This morning I headed to Ushuaia, where I am now. It´s a pretty cool city and is the southernmost city in the world. I can´t wait to check it out.

Of course, one more funny thing happened this morning. As I was checking out of the hostel, I looked over at the dining area and saw...Lucas and Pamela. Unbelievable.