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Published: April 9th 2010
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Valley view
The view after the first leg of the Laguna de los Tres hike We are in El Chalten now, which Simone's Lonely Planet claimed had no banks or internet, but that information, two years old now, is outdated. It's now one of the most touristed places I've ever visited. There are certainly more tourists than locals and the number of hostels and restaurants is astounding for such a small town. However, it's very well justified.
El Chalten is nestled in the foothills of the mountains in a bowl shaped valley. Above the surrounding hills snow covered mountains peek into the valley. The most famous is Fitzroy, an intimidating peak that looks like a multi-faceted black crystal. The sheer cliffs that make up the mountain lead to a summit at over 3400m and most of the mountain is free of snow, its sides being too sheer for the snow to adhere. The wind from the western side constantly launches clouds at enormous speeds up the mountain range and into the sky far above. It's a real shame that the mountains have such an effect on the climate - most of Patagonia looks just like the Negev Desert in Israel and it's only the foothills of the mountains that have any greenery.
Yesterday we
hiked 25km up and down to Laguna de los Tres - a mountain lake just below Fitzroy. I had a good time going up but down was a bit more difficult. The first leg of the trek was a climb that brought us to a lookout over the valley next to El Chalten's. The scenery looks very Alpine, although from up close the vegetation is a lot more Mediterranean looking. There are trees that look like our oak and a low bush that looks like sira kotzanit. We saw a local bird that looks like a crested sparrow and a woodpecker, but nothing else. The trail is well worn with many hikers going up and down, I suppose the animals know to stay away.
Everywhere in this area herds of Israelis go hither and yon. A distasteful beast as I'm sure you know. They are very loud, go around in large groups and keep swapping army tales. I am always surprised at how timid they are despite their belligerent attitude. They all seem to latch on simultaneously to the same set of attractions and insist on seeing them with an almost religious fervor. Here it's climbing up to a
camp site in the nature reserve, sleeping over and then waking up to walk up to the Laguna de los Tres at dawn to see the sunrise.
After the initial climb the land straightens out for a few kilometers and continues level until the final climb. The air is clear, the water from the glaciers flows in streams in which the water is drinkable and everywhere are green hills and low forests backed by white peaks. The last climb was difficult but the view at the end was certainly worth it. In the middle of a moonscape of broken rocks sits a small lagoon of deep blue, icy cold water. Above it the black teeth of Mts. Fitzroy, Poincenot and de la Silla pierce sky and clouds imperiously, towering above the rest of the range and easily asserting their dominance. To the south a river of ice flows down from the peaks from which the sun draws waterfalls that tumble down into another pool several hundreds of meters below.
I have to say that the knee damage was worth it:-)
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