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Published: February 26th 2012
The 3 hour bus ride from El Calafate to El Chalten was a gorgeous drive. Between glaciers, Lago Argentina, wildlife, and the approaching mountains peaking through the rain clouds, I knew we were heading the right way. I just hoped the clouds would disperse enough for us to see the magnificence of Fitz Roy and other iconic Andean landmarks. Chloe´s bites were becoming an issue and traveling to another hostel, although we were to have a private, was not the best remedy. A fact brought to fruition on arrival to our designated hostel. From the front it looked decent, painted white with a grassy front yard and views of some mountains in a distant valley. The receptionist who checked us in could not have had less of a personality. Around our age, working at a hostel, one would expect some sort of enthusiasm or at least friendliness, but we got none. In fact, we received no friendly vibes from anyone in the room, guest or worker. Just a confirmation of our reservation and we were led to our room, which turned out to be the best part...
We were led outside the main building, across 10 meters of dirt, to
Home Sweet Home
Our´s was half of the right corner.a bright white, portable contruction office. It wasn´t even as big as a shipping container found on freight ships or trains. I gave the receptionist a look saying, ''You´ve got to be f-ing kidding me,'' to which I received a smile and the keys. Once inside, I found our room to be clean, but all but taken up by the double bed with a sink hole in the middle that they stuffed inside. Another beautiful addition to our newfound container room was that it was shared. They had installed a vinyl barrier through the middle of the container in order to maximize profit. On the other side of this barrier I could hear our neighboors breath, snore, or listen to an entire conversation. I knew at once that between the rain, Chloe´s irritable bites, and our semi private construction container, this was going to be the perfect romantic getaway in the mountains that I hoped it would be!
The following morning we woke up early, thinking we could get a jump on the day before the stoms came through. However, as a light rain pelted the metal container, we could see from our window that the valley and mountains
Container view
The only plus to our living quarters... in the distance were pretty well socked in. Regardless, we decided that we were in Chalten for a reason, and the weather is tempermental in Patagonia, so it could very well clear up during the hike. We geared up in wind and rain gear, ate breakfast, and were out the door by 7:30. We hiked no longer than 20 minutes when we ran into an open section on the side of the mountain where wind gusts threw rain into our faces at 30mph. We paused behind a large boulder that gave minimal protection, where an Israeli couple pondered the same dilemma as us - If the entire 15 mile round-trip trail was going to continue like this, is it worth it? We decided to take our chances of a break in the storm while the other couple turned back. The frequent parts of the hike that led us through dense vegetation and cyprus forests were beautiful, and provided the much needed break from the constant wind and rain that encompassed us. We passed a few miradores (viewpoints) that in theory would reveal the glory of Fitz Roy and other huge massifs, but all we could see was part of the
glacier that held at the base of them. We pushed on for 3 hours, until we reached an open valley that led to the base of the massifs, and hour away. At this point, the wind reached speeds up to 40 mph, stinging our faces and making forward progress a serious pain in the ass. From here, we could see Fitz Roy was not going to make an appearance so we make the executive decision to abort and turned back, walking 2 hours downhill to town. It wasn´t until around 7 pm that the clouds broke just enough for Fitz Roy to poke its head out for a few minutes. We definitely made the reight decision by heading back; waiting on the mountain in the windy rain for 6 hours to get a partial glimpse would not have been worth it. We made up for it by taking a short, flat hike from Chalten to a waterfall 2 miles away. The view up the valley along the river was pretty cool, and the waterfall itself was suprisingly bigger than expected. It really helped make up for the lack of sights in the day. We hung out at the waterfall and
read for a few hours before heading back to our humble aboad for the evening.
On our third day in Chalten, we woke up at 9 and could barely see out our window since it was raining so hard. The wind was howling as well, making it extremely unmotivating to get up and do anything. Since Chalten was a simple small town existing solely for hikers and backpackers, during terrible weather there is nothing to do but wait it out indoors. So, in our cozy container, we hung out and read and played cards, periodically running through the mud and rain to go to the was on bathroom. The heater they installed in the room was extremely impractical - either it was on full blast, turning the room into a sauna, or off, creating an ice box. Needless to say, the nights in the sunken bed with a disfunctional heater were not too comfortable.
By 2 pm, the rain had finally let up and we decided to make the most of it and geared up to trek to Cerro Torre, another big massif on the other side of Fitz Roy. After a steep climb through another big cyprus
forest, we arrived to the first mirador where again, one could see a line of big mountains and massifs (on a clear day), but all we got was the hazy small glacier at the base of these giants. Undeterred, we trudged along a flat valley mixed with small rises of forest, hoping that just maybe the clouds would lift for us something awesome. 3 hours later, we arrived to the glacial lake from which a supposed daunting view of Cero Torre could be seen. But not this day. We stayed for a short time and headed back quickly, since we knew the supermarket would close by 9, as well as the daylight, both of which we needed. The persistent wind and rain came and went during our entire trek, which by the time we reached town, had taken us 6 hours.
Back at the hostel, we faced the same situation as always for dinner. 1 stove with 3 working burners, placed next to the entrance to the kitchen, where 8-12 young Israeli girls came in and out constantly (they needed each others´ guidance to cooking as they had never cooked before), and a messy pile of dishes, pots and
Windy view
This was the open section where we decided to push on. Looks much more peaceful than it was. pans that needed to be cleaned in order to be used. This aggravating ordeal to eat was perpetuated further by the creepy old guys that worked with (but maybe not for?) the hostel and by the extremely uncorteous and disrespectful nature of the group of Israelis that were staying there. This group seemd to have no common sense when it came to sharing or being thankful when given a hand or even a bit of oil to use. The frustration that grew with staying at this hostel had reached a point where it was uncomfortable to eat, drink, sleep, or simply hang out around it. I can only hope this will be the worst we will stay at...
On our final full day we awoke to a windy, but decently sunny day. Although there are abundant trails leading from Chalten, day hikes are a bit more limited, so we chose to attempt our first hike to see Fitz Roy, but this time with the intent to reach the high point of Lago de Los Tres. When we passed the large boulder where we had hid and debated whether to continue the first time around, although the wind was still
El Chalten
The quaint town of El Chalten pretty strong, this time it wasn´t pelting us with rain, which was motivating. When we got to the first mirador, we saw everything we had missed the previous time - glorious Fitz Roy surrounded by smaller yet impressive massifs that jutted skyward from the glacier below them, matching the blue sky that enveloped the panorama. This was exactly the Patagonia we had come here for. Upon reaching the point where we had turned around before, the wind was just as strong, but the sun and the constant view were plenty motivating to continue. Crossing the open valley that led to the base of the climb to Lago de Los Tres proved to be the most frustating part of the hike. The constant wind would trhow gusts that would cause you to stumbe or push you off the path. Towards the end of this valley there was a wooden bridge that crossed a light blue glacial stream where exceptionally strong gusts would pass. Fortunately, there were hand rails on each side. Unfortunately, Chloe had her trekking poles in her hands. No, she didn´t get swept off the bridge into the stream but it was close! I was on the other side
with a camera making sure to capture the moment just in case. That´s what a helpful boyfriend would do right?!
Once we arrived to the camp below the final steep climb to the top, we read signs warning that strong winds could make the already difficult, exposed, loose rock path very dangerous. We decided to venture on and would turn back if it got too intense. The path was bascially a natural rock switchback trail of stairs that stretched for 1.3 miles, gaining 420 meters. Maybe the most difficult part was working through the traffic of people on the singletrack trail. The wind did not prove to be an issue as we assumed it would be. In fact, the climb caused us to remove layers down to t-shirts, the first time during our entire stay in either Chalten or Calafate! This didn´t last long though; as we crested over the last few rock stairs and climbed up a short talus slope, we were greeted by strong wind gusts which were inconsequential to the view we were rewarded by. We both agreed that this was the most breathtaking and awe ipiring 360 degree view either of us had ever experienced.
An impossibly blue lagoon contrasted by dirft, rock, and blueish-white glaciers that rose to the giant massifs of Fitz Roy and Poincenot, above which clouds and blue sky danced around each other. These dropped to shorter mountains without snow, whereupon the valley and other glacial fed lagoons fell sharply below, beyond which the greenish blue Lago Argentina could be seen far away in the distance. The shale talus slope we walked up gave ay to the windy green valley below, but rose again to white and reddish brown hills and the large mountains we had seen from our container window in town. The pictures from my point and shoot camera do a minimal job of the spectacular nature of what we saw.
After eating lunch and running down to the lagoon for some more photos, we noticed the clouds had begun building pretty quickly around the peaks of Fitz Roy and Poincenot, unnerving us a bit as we had a long way to decend. Our unease was quickly confirmed by winds of 50+mph. I had to put my whole weight into the wind to stay standing. This was our cue to leave. As we began our decent, we
noticed the clouds turning darker and darker, enveloping the peaks we had left behind. Within an hour, we were crossing the valley floor, basically being chased down the mountain by the storm that had developed. We felt sorry for all the people we passed that continued their attempt to reach the Lago; there was no way that they would see anything. We also felt fortuanate that we left town when we did; if we had started the hike a half hour later, we would have missed the opportunity. 7 hours later, we made it to town, accomplishing a solid 15.4 mile hike with 1540 meters of elevation gained/lost. Completely beat from the trek, we decided to treat ourselves with a break from the horrible hostel and ate out at a local brewery with hearty homemade food. After a great meal and some tasty beers, we settled into our cozy container, content to leave Chalten and begin our travel the following days up to Brazil, where warm weather and beautiful beaches awaited...
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Steve
non-member comment
Fitz Roy
Hey Jace and Chloe, looks like a killer trip you guys are having, I'm jealous. I saw Fitz Roy when I was down there, but from just over the boarder on Lago O'Higgins (lago San Martin in Argentina). Very awesome sight for sure. Did you guys try the Austral Calafate Cerveza? It's Chileno but flavored with the calafate berry, hopefully that wasn't the bad local brew you guys sampled. Hope Brasil is awesome. Cheers, que les vaya bien!