Wednesday, Feb. 22
As I am writing my rough notes, I am having supper at the Rancho Grande Youth Hostel where I have eaten every night that I have been here in El Chalten. There is a buzz of activity among the young people from around the world that are staying here and I am amazed at the number of young women who travel by themselves throughout South America. I also wish I could stay in a hostel because the price is right but with my snoring problem it is not a good idea. I found that out on the "El Camino de Santiago" in Spain a few years ago when people were complaining about my snoring.
The day I arrived I looked into bus connections to leave. No, not because I did not like it here-on the contrary-but because the daily bus that runs north on the Ruta 40 operated by Chalten Travel fills up quickly at this time of year. As it was I got the last spot and even then ,only to Perito Moreno and not to Beriloche which is what I had wanted. My next bus connection would be on Feb. 28 from Perito Moreno to Beriloche. As it turned out if I had simply taken a ticket to Perito Moreno I could have moved on with another bus company from Perito Moreno to Bariloche. Unfortunately, one often does not have all the information to make the best decisions-but such is life. It is not my mentality to use a travel agency for an extended section of the trip, but perhaps it is the best option to avoid these type of problems.
Now About that world class hiking:
Thursday, Feb. 23
Destination: Laguna Torre the glacial lake for Cerro Torre
Level in Meters: 250 meters
Duration One Way: 3 hours Excellent View of Cerro Torre and its range
As I was leaving for the trek I crossed paths with an Italian trio-- Antonio, Roberta and Christina from Genoa, Italy that I had met previously at the Casa de Grillos in El Calafate. We somehow ended up doing the trek together and despite language limitations we managed to communicate in English, Spanish, French,Italian and had a great day. Languages are always a great source of fun for me.
On the way back they invited me to join them for "chocolate" at the end of the trip. I was puzzled at what they meant and it turned out to be "La Chocolateria" located across from our hosteleria that specializes in drinks, snacks and particularly its own chocolate. We managed to nail down the upper loft which is a kind of tower with panoramic windows on one of the oldest buildings in town. With the conversation we were having in various languages, fuelled by "cervecas", it seemed more like the "Tower of Babel" to me.
The overall trek took us 7 wonderful hours.
Friday, Feb. 24
Destination: Laguana de los Tres Lagos
Level in meters: 750
Duration One Way: 4 hours Describes as: A very steep trail with excellent views of Cerro Fitz Roy
Indeed it proved to be very steep, especially the last kilometer which was downright treacherous both up and down.
I reflected on my lack of foresight in not bringing a tensor bandage, tape etc. to prepare for a twisted ankle or a shoe repair. One sees no evidence of First Aid or other help anywhere and one has the impression of truly being on your own.
After a strenuous four and a half hours of hiking, the view of the glacial Lagos with their "Peyto Lake-type-of-emerald-blue" hue at the foot of Cerro Fitz Roy was stunning in its clarity of colour and definition of landscape. I lingered for more than an hour savoring the moment of being at the foot of Cerro Fitz Roy which continued to be partly hidden by swirling clouds. To me this was a goal I had wanted to achieve for a long time along with Ushuaia, Glaciar Perito Moreno and Ruta 40.
The satisfaction of the long difficult trek with beautiful sunny weather is priceless and once again I looked in envy at the young people who took the trekking one step further by hiking to the wilderness campgrounds in the upper elevations and therefore were able to do treks of several days. I know I can no longer do that considering the amount of effort it took for me to just do the hike without a heavy backpack.
In total it was a nine hours trek for me, the longest that I can remember and the bife churizo, salad, fries and a half bottle of wine at the Rancho Grande Youth Hostel that evening was a great way to end the day.
Note on Photography
Having traveled a lot and having accumulated large numbers of photo albums that are almost never looked at I had given up on photography a long time ago.
Then finally I relented and bought a digital camera-Pentax S60 Optio-which has greatly increased the joy of traveling in the same way that keeping a journal has done.
The photograph keeps an incredible visual record of the voyage and allows for reliving the fabulous scenery many times. With the digital camera there is no hesitation in taking a photo of anything since it can be reviewed and edited. One can take a photo several times to get it just right. A great source of fun is playing with the portrait option since I hate asking anyone to take a photo of myself even when they ask me to take a photo of themselves. With a 1mg memory card I can take about 800 photos, download them to a CD and send them home. This is not news to most of you but it was for me.
More thumbnails ...
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