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Published: March 7th 2007
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The tiny village of El Chalten (1000 inhabitants in the summer and only about 200 in the winter) is big on the itineries of all trekkers, climbers and mounteneers. In the language of tehuelche (a South American tribe) El Chalten means "Smoking mountain" as they thought the Cerro Chalten mountain was actually a volcano for it was covered with clouds/smoke most of the time. El Chalten is at the base of Fitz Roy which is famous among the climbing comunity (apparently) due to its sheer granite faces and challenge it presents to those who scale it.
This remote village with unpaved roads and only a few restaurants is unbelievabely charming, for now catering mostly for backpackers, but getting ready for the more comfortable crowds. As soon as we got off the bus and saw the stunning location of our free campsite (Campamento Madsen) we knew there is something very special about this place. We can´t really describe it, it was one of those places, pure balm for your soul. The sunshine of course just added to the already amazing scenery. We were in paradise!
With a shop in El Chalten we did not have to live on dry food
Camping in El Chalten
Free camping in a beautiful setting. Even the worlds most horrific toilet couldn´t spoil it and could take the "al fresco" dining to the next level. That evening the famous Chef Andrew challanged our little stove and dished up an amazing pasta with Chorizo in a red wine/tomato sauce. Sitting in front of the tent, sipping wine and feasting like kings, watching the show that the clouds put up just for us, turning into various colours and shapes.... yes, we were in Paradise and free as birds. The cloud formations here are like nothing we have ever seen, with waves and bizzare dusty shapes.
We went to sleep with the sun and were looking forward to our next day. The night brought us back to reality, as it was cold... very cold...
Nevertheless, as soon as you stick your head out of your tent and the sun welcomes you back, you take a deep breath of the mountain air and you can feel it again, that is life! We decided to go for a walk to the Laguna Torre. With El Chalten being not too far from all the destinations it is possible to come back each night, not having to pack and unpack the tent and carrying everything with you. The trek
Cloud Formations
The never ending Patagonian sky was relatively easy - but remember you are talking to Torres del Paine qualified trekkers now 😉 - with delicious water ready to drink on the way. Soon we reached the mirrador and enjoyed the breathtaking view of the completely clear Cerro Torre and Cerro Chalten also known as Cerro Fitz Roy. A further hour and a bit brought us to the bottom of the glacier. We had to pass the vast moraine to reach the grogeous lake in front of it. From here you had a very good view of the Cerro Torre. We spend a bit of time having a picnic and asking ourselves how on earth people attempt to climb this vertical piece of granite. Then, from absolutly nowhere, the wind picked up and the sand was swirled through the air, imagine that and worse, hanging of a 3,128 metres vertical wall. The weather is just so unpredictable in Patagonia that you have to be ready for anything while trekking and climbing in this region. We took it slowly on the way back, just because we had plenty of time, enjoying the views and finally A CONDOR!!! Too far away to capture on a fotograph but it
The roads in El Chalten
Not a piece of tarmac in sight. When the wind picks up, so does the dust storm was there, flying his round before he dissapeared behind a hill. Finally we had caught a glipse of the famous flying turkey, and wondered what all the fuss had been about really.
Back in Chalten we went to the Microbrewery to taste the local beer. The brew was totally delicious and came in 2 types, the Pilsner and the Bock, with both varieties being cloudy. You can really taste the pure mountain water and ingredients in the stuff, it is beautiful. Yum! To improve the beer further (and make you drink more) they serve it with salty popcorn and peanuts in the shell. The place had a real family run charm to it too, if you come to El Chalten you have to pay the place a visit.
For dinner we had another session of "al fresco" cooking while enjoying a very tasty argentinian Malbec. That night we though we will be clever and we filled our nalgene bottles full of boiling water and took them to bed with us. All good until about 1 am - we both woke up in a sauna! Giggling like children as we envisaged our tent steaming outside the cold night air,
Chief Thompson
Another dish to make the camp envious. Keith Floyd eat ya heart out. and steam shooting out of the top of our tightly tied sleeping bags like in a cartoon. Even after all the baking that night, Andy still managed to wake up chilly, seems you just can´t win when camping.
On our last day in El Chalten we booked ourselves on a rock climbing lesson. We have done it once, in an indoor gym back in UK with friends from work but this was REAL ROCK! Our teacher, Marcelo Fayer from Patagonia Magica, was excellent, showing us all different ways to climb a rock. It was an unforgetable experience and possibly Josie´s new hobby, she liked it that much. Andy on the other hand wasn´t so confident on the rock and didn´t really like the whole getting down thing. Perhaps he doesn´t have as much monkey DNA left as Josie 😊
That day we endulged in the local cuisine as it was our last evening. We had a pizza at Patagonicus and their microbrew, after the climbing lesson, which was delicious. That was topped off in the evening with some lamb ribs and trucha, in a less than impressive bistro. Luckily all we had done that afternoon was lounge in
the sunshine chilling out, so it wasn´t too bad. Last beer in the Microbrewery made us feel all reflective and kind of sad leaving this unique place. But who knows what other magical places are also out there waiting for us?
El Chalten has a magic like no other place we have visited in South America. It really has a great Patagonian spirit which we are sure it won´t have as soon as they finish paving the road in and around the town. The place is so laid back and natural it is seems unreal. We are sure the improvements are all in the best interest of the people who live there, and who are we to say that improving their lives and income is wrong. The plan is to turn it into a true alpine town, like Chamonix in the Alps. We can´t help feeling the spirit of this magic little place will be lost along the way. We suggest you get here before all the El Calefate tourists do, and the place turns into another tourist trap.
Next morning, armed with a dozen of empanadas we left our favourite spot in Argentina for our next stop,
View from the Mirador
You can see Cerro Torre (middle) and Cerro Fitz Roy (Right) Bariloche!
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Jack
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Fantastic Pictures
I've been looking at your pictures and reading your story and it's just great! How long would you recommend going for? I want to go :) J http://www.studentuniverse.com