Advertisement
Published: December 25th 2009
We want to wish you a mer-ry Christ-mas...unless your name is Mike-or-Jess! Well, I didn´t think it would be difficult being away from friends and family on Christmas but they really did put us through the wringer last night. Of course much of our poor luck was directly associated with poor planning, but none the less, I wish we would have been home enjoying some family time in a warm house or gargling some of Lance´s famous Cinnamonstrosity Sangria and stuffing our yule-tide stomachs with his vegan tamales. It all started when we decided to part ways from our farm where we have been volunteering, declining all of their pleading to have us share the Christmas spirit with them, for we wanted to get some time away from work and get a change of pace. Turns out instead we got the proverbial lump of coal from the cozy hostel we had been frequenting; we called late and they were booked. They were going to have a grand, superb Christmas Eve meal and when we asked if we could join them afterward for drinks at their quaint little bar out back, we were informed that it would be "weird." Weird? I INVENTED
weird! They should have had me MC the damn thing if they wanted weird. Who needs them anyway? Right Jess? Let´s just go walk around town where every restaurant is closed and only dopey travellers with their heads in the sand walk around like zombies looking for a free Christmas handout. Luckily for us we encountered a group of young Swiss folk and found the one place in Argentina that was willing to take us in for steaks, trout and wine.
Sitting down at the table with the four of them was a load off of our shoulders as we were beginning to define the phrase "blue Christmas". They spoke English and laughed at our jokes. I reflected as two of the men spoke quickly in Swiss-German, how to some, this scene would make for an odd Christmas Eve. I felt comfortable and amazed that I was sharing this dinner with not only my wife and dearest friend but also with four nice people from a home very far from ours and that we had much more in common than some would expect. The dinner was a success but we still had home on our minds. At this point
I will back up and fill you all in on our travels since our adventures in Torres del Paine.
After saying goodbye to the good folks at Erratic Rock, our adventure Hostel in Puerto Natales, we made our way to El Chaltén, but not before making a quick stop at the Perito Moreno Glacier outside of El Calafate. These places are back in Argentina. I will note here that there was a slight scare of deportation or maybe some jail time for me (no Mom, not literally) for neglecting Jess' advice to casually keep my apples in my backpack as we approached the boarder patrol station. I said no and that I was just going to throw them out and avoid the possibility of having the apples discovered and fines assessed. In turn, upon my surrendering of these forbidden fruits, I had to sign five pieces of paper, that I didn´t really understand, as some intimidating dude in a guard uniform explained that the fruit was to be incinerated. What? I was reassured by a helpful local that this was normal procedure. Those of you who have travelled to South America may be smiling when you remember the procedural
nuances that must be followed but don´t seem to serve a purpose. That said, with fruit having been sent to fruit heaven, we were on our way to visit the panoramic immensity of one of the world´s most magnificent glaciers.
The glacier is nearly 200 feet tall and 20 miles wide and has shelves of ice the size of cars peeling off it into the pristine waters below. The glacier alternates between periods of advancement and recession and can move in either direction as much as seven feet per day. We only had two hours to spend here but the highlight was the boat ride that took us right up near the wall of the blue giant and the terrifying sound of the ice cracking in the far rear of the glacier as if it was the earth about to split open and take you, the boat and the lake with it. Back on the bus and on our way to El Chaltén.
Our arrival to the small town of El Chaltén was rare. This windswept town is home to the spires of granite known as Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, among many others. Most days here
at this time of year are described as windy, rainy, and socked in with clouds. Our approach afforded us a glimpse of where the dinosaurs have been hiding. The granite backbone of mountains resembled the ridge of hardened plates of a giant Stegosaurus. We came to find out that the week before our arrival was constant rain and wind with the area completely shrouded by clouds. We were blessed with only blue skies and still air. We got situated and prepared our rations before we set out for three nights of camping among one of the world´s most sought after mountaineering meccas.
Day one involved a short hike of two hours before we were granted the undisturbed first glimpse of Cerro Torre, the spire of granite that provides vertical ascents for some of mountain climbing's toughest enthusiasts. We kept our enjoyment at a distance and preferred the peaceful camping site where we could watch the sun rise and illuminate the massif with rays of pink and yellow light as avalanche´s rumbled on the far side of the mountain range. After a short morning day hike we broke camp and headed in a round about way to Monte Fitz Roy,
the areas tallest peak. Currently the mountain is named after Captain Fitzroy of the
Beagle (Darwin´s means of transport during his initial adventures in Patagonia). Its original name from the native people of the area, the Tehuelche, was Chaltén, meaning peak of fire as it was thought to be a volcano. Here we spent two nights among the beech trees below this towering wonder. We hiked a grueling series of switchbacks to a nearby summit to get as close as we could to the peak without using an ice pick. A cystal clear sapphire glacial lake pooled at the base and reflected the scuttling clouds. We lay on our backs, marvelling at the rocky faces through our binoculars before beginning the descent and hike back to town.
Back down to El Chaltén to enjoy a homemade beer before setting off on the long journey up Ruta 40 to find our way to El Bolson, our current location, home of craft beer, artisan goods, fine chocolate, and apparently a lot of pixies and elfin creatures that adorn most everything in sight. We have been informed that the Piltriquitron Mountain range that borders the town is one of the world´s energy
centers, similar to that of our very own Sedona, AZ (where I proposed to Jess, might I add). You gotta dig on this hippie guru stuff, tough to avoid it! I will let Jess catch you up to speed on out time spent here in our next blog, coming to computers screens near you shortly...we hope. Big love to you all,
Mike
PS- Be sure to check out a few of our videos that we have finally posted on youtube:
Jess flying high in Rio:
A windy sunrise at Torres del Paine:
Advertisement
Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.041s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Andrea
non-member comment
your pain is our gain
I love the Superman's fortress photo - be careful of Kryptonite... we're not sure how it affects you yet. Try not to make other travelers uncomfortable with your presence... how WEIRD would that be?