El Chalten, Mt. Fitz Roy, Cerro Torres, Hielo Sur

Trip Start Jan 26, 2000
1
6
30
Trip End Jun 14, 2000


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Argentina  ,
Friday, February 11, 2000

After an inspiring day at the glacier, together with 3 people I`d met we decided to check out a typical Argentinian restaurant called a Parrilla. For $11 (well above my usual budget for a dinner) we got all you can eat lamb (they actually cut a whole lamb in two and slowly cook it over hot coals), followed by 3 types of sausage (including blood sausage), steak, spare ribs, chicken and if that wasn't enough we also had a salad bar and creme brule for desert! If looked like I wouldn't need meat again for a few days!
Next day it was on to a town called El Chalten and Los Glaciares National Park. I was going to complete a 4 day hike, the highlights of which were Mt. Fitz Roy, clocking it at 3441M (11500ft) and Cerro Torres, a needle shapes mountain famous to climbers around the world.
I set off alone, arranging to meet up with Liz, George and Beryl (the three people from the meat feast!) on my second day. It was an overcast day and the mountains I`d come to see were hidden away in the clouds. Early next morning I started an ascent which I hoped would give me views over Hielo Sur (The largest ice cap outside the polar regions) and the Mt Fitz Roy range. Again the day was fairly overcast and the best I got was a fleeting view of Mt. Fitz Roy for a maximum of five minutes and views of the very edge of Hielo Sur. The walk was well worthwhile though just for this and views looking down on top of clouds in the valley. That afternoon I hiked with a comical Swiss guy, Tom, around to another campsite where I met up with my meat feast friends again.
Day 2. Another early start! After waking at 6am to a clear starlit sky with the milky way and the shadow of Mt. Fitz Roy clearly visible, Beryl and I hiked up the 1.5 hour route to see the sunrise. Again like the sunrise at Torres Del Paine the colours (and finally a clear view of Mt. Fitz Roy) were absolutely fantastic and hard to put into words.
Later that day Tom and I hiked to another lookout which should have given us views of Cerro Torre, but by the time we got there the clouds had come in and all we could see was the mountains base.
Another early start next morning and I must have been blessed by the gods, there was Cerro Torre lit up by the rising sun, I could see from it`s sheer, vertical sides why it was such a difficult mountain to climb. The summit was not reached until 1970, and even then it was soon discovered the alpinist had used a portable compressor drill! I stayed around until mid morning and watched the clouds slowly engulf the peaks before they all disappeared again. That night it was back to El Calafatte for another meat feast before returning to Puerto Natales next day.
Print this entry El Chalten hotels