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Published: February 10th 2008
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Well, It's been a week since I returned I still a little hung over from my trip. Dang it was a long week. In fact, this past week seemed longer than my entire seventeen day trip. Anyways,....
Our trip started with a four hour flight down to El Calafate. El Calafate is a very touristy town with nice shops and restaurants. For our group it was really more a stopping point than a destination. It owes it popularity to it's proximity to Perito Moreno Glacier. This well renowned glacier was famous for being one of only two advancing glaciers on the planet. Well, it is no longer advancing and can only be classified as stable. (Insert malicious global warming comment here) Thirty meters tall and 30 km across, the one thing that stands out about Perito Moreno is that it is enormous. People stare at it for hours, waiting for that slight crackle which precludes a big chunk of ice falling into the lake. The bottom part of the glacier is a deep blue color due to the compression from the weight above. We had the opportunity to see the glacier up close on a boat ride, going up and
Fitz Roy
Joe, Di, and Ted in front of Fitz Roy down its full length.
Okay, enough of the touristy stuff. That same day we had a four hour drive to El Chaten, which is the launching point for some of the best hikes in Los Glacieres National Park. El Chaten is a true backpackers town, no paved roads, no affluent shops, and a grittiness which gives it a certain charm. It is here where we took our first big hike to the Fitz Roy massif. This eight hour, twelve mile round trip hike was by far the groups favorite hike. It had everything from spectacular valley views, gorgeous alpine lakes, cool river crossings across shaky bridges, and of course, the majestic beauty of Fitz Roy itself. As an aside, when you go to Patagonia you expect a lot of cold, rain, and wind, which is normal here even during the summer. Even the guides were saying that there are only about ten sunny, warm days a year. Well, on our trip I think we took up all ten days. In fact, it was so hot that many people in our group had heat stroke after the second day. Here we are lugging around all this cold weather gear and
we barely even touched it. On the second day in El Chaten, everyone split up and did their own thing. Half the group went ice trekking on a local glacier. Joe and I decided to do an easier hike to the Cerro Torre massif. Well, in typical lazy American style we didn't quite make it. We made it half way to the view point, and due to a lack of food, fatigue from the previous days hike, and that age thing, we decided to make it a half day hike and went out for pizza and beer instead. To make us feel even more pathetic, we were passed by a couple carrying there four year old child in a backpack, and later, soon after we started heading back we were caught up to by Coline and Bertine, who had started an hour after us. All I can say is that beer and pizza was really delicious.
That evening we headed back to El Calafate. Joe bought a bunch of empanadas at the local store for three pesos (about one dollar) apiece, and said they were some of the best that he had on the trip. I wish I had
Great Lunch Spot
Ted, Coline, and Masumi enjoying the view bought some too, because dinner that night was lackluster and overpriced. In general, food was pretty good overall. I did get tired of eating out all the time, and one of the most satisfying meals was when the Dutch girls, Masumi, and I broke away and cooked our own meal. For you vegetarians out there, Argentina is not the most accommodating place for you. It is a meat culture with Argentinian beef being so popular. That being said, the Gouri and Shyla, who are vegetarian, were able to survive, even though there options were very limited. Di's favorite thing was the Dulce de Leche. It is this sweet caramel like spread made from condensed milk. You can put it over pancakes or waffles, or you can just eat it straight. On a sad note, Di had the jar of Dulce de Leche that she had bought to take home confiscated by the dumb airport security. American paranoia strikes again. Di also liked the traditional Argentinian pastry, alfajores, but in my opinion those things are worse than Krispy Kream donuts.
After another night in El Calafate, we headed out early the next morning on a six hour bus ride to
Puerto Natales, Chile. After collecting more passport stamps at the border, we had a chance to relax and explore the city. Chilean cities definitely had a cooler cultural feel to them. That feeling that you are some place different and not just at another tourist trap. It was also here that I tried to do more exploring alone and away from the group. The one really bad dynamic about traveling in a big group is that is leaves you less opportunity to meet the local people. In fact, this is one of the few trips where I didn't really connect with anyone local. Too bad because my Spanish is getting better and better.
They call it the "W". It is the circuit in Torres del Paine National Park which takes about six to eight days to complete. Thankfully we ended up doing the little "w" which consisted of three different hikes, one which was the full length of one of the legs of the "W" and the others about half way. The first hike to the actual Torres del Paine massif was probably the most difficult hike on the trip. The last part included about 20 switch backs up a boulder field. The view once again was well worth the effort. I got a little sick up the trail on this hike, most likely due to lactose intolerance issues, but felt fine afterwards. On the way back, to pass time, I encouraged everyone to sing their national anthem. Like I said before the Dutch girls sounded really good in harmony singing their national anthem, and they went on to sing a bunch of other songs too, but the winner of Patagonian Idol was Eduardo, the Chilean guide, who belted out the Chilean national anthem in this deep baritone voice. We were all very impressed.
Our campsite that night gave new meaning to the idea of luxury camping. Our North Face expedition tents were already set up for us, we had a great meal, and there were hot showers. The meal was also Joe and Di's first introduction to Pisco Sours. Now I still consider Piscos more of a traditional Peruvian drink than Chilean, but that might be due to my initial experience with Pisco Sours in Peru. Anyways, the battle between the two countries over who claimed it as their national drink first rages on. Joe liked them so much that he drank the others of everyone who didn't want theirs. For the first time, mosquitos were an issue that night, but lucky for me I got to room with Brian, who did a good job of killing all the mosquitos in our tent with his bug zapper.
One of the highlights of Torres del Paine was the boat ride from one campground to the other. It gave us panoramic views of the entire mountain range especially the world famous cuernos or horns of Torres del Paine. The second camp ground wasn't as interesting in my book. It was a little more crowded and more touristy. There was a building with a cafeteria which kind of cheapened the whole outdoor feel. We had two hikes that started from this campsite. The first was to Grey's Glacier which was only four hours round trip and easily the easiest hike of the trip, and then the second into the French Valley. It was on this second hike that the weather finally started to change. It was very windy and rained sporadically. Anyways, it was our last day of hiking together so I tried to enjoy the most of it.
Joe says hiking in Patagonia reminded him of hiking in Yosemite. I would have to disagree and say that Patagonia hiking is on a much grander scale due to the size of the rock formations, the greater number of lakes and rivers, and the overall remoteness. Even Robert, who spends days hiking in the Canadian rockies was very impressed with Patagonia.
Next time, penguins, Ushuaia, and back to Buenos Aires.
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