Patagonia Part 2 - 3 Days Backpacking in Patagonia
Trip Start
Mar 17, 2005
1
99
124
Trip End
Mar 13, 2006
El Chalten,
Argentina
Monday, December 19, 2005
The mountains of Patagonia inspire imagination and wonder like few other places we`ve seen on this earth about how vast is the power and creativity of our amazing God. Jagged spires, sheer vertical cliffs, hanging glaciers, freezing glacial lakes with icebergs, and deep blue skies are just some of His handiwork that we were privileged enough to experience on an independent 3-day backpacking trip in The Glaciers National Park in Argentian Patagonia.
5 hours northwest of El Calafate is the little town of El Chalten which is at the base of some of the most famous mountains on earth. The logo adorning the clothing brand Patagonia comes from this mountain range as well. What is great about this place is that explorers of all levels can come here and find something amazing to do. Some of the best mountain climbers in the world come to attempt the technical summits of these mountains, and the novice day tripper or backpacker can also find their way to the base of the same mountains within a 3 or 4 hour hike from the town. For those somewhere in between lies an extensive area to explore via short or long-term backpacking and, for the risk seekers, ice trekking across glaciers.
Amy and I were instantly captured by the mountains that you can see from town, and knew that we just had to go backpacking to some of these spots, in particular the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy. It turned into an amazing 3 days where we witnessed one of the most amazing sunrises ever at Cerro Torre (see picture 11) and just loved being outside experiencing this place our creator created. Some of the quirks about this place include the time it finally gets dark (around 11pm), you can drink the water straight from the rivers and lakes, and you are close enough to hear a huge ice avalanche/rockslide that occurred in the distance on Cerro Torre on our first night. Unfortunately we can`t comment on what we are sure would be an amazing sky full of bright stars, it simply was too late to wait for the stars to come out when we were so tired from hiking each day!
As for what else we could comment on, we hope that the pictures we included can do the speaking for us. It seems so much more appropriate that way anyways...
¨For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.¨ -PSALM 95:3,4
