Fitz Roy, El Chalten, Argentina

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After hiking for 5 days in Torres del Paine, the only logical thing to do was to keep hiking! We took a series of buses from Puerta Natalia, Chile to El Chalten, Argentina. El Chalten is a quaint little town where the internet is still dial up and the paved main street turns back into a dirt road at the edge of town. El Chalten is home to Fitz Roy Mountain, Poincenot, etc. which is a set of towering rock spires in the Patagonia Mountains that are regularly out of view due to heavy layers of clouds. Our first day in town was no different and we spent it hiding out in a tiny microbrew restaurant, La Cerveceria Brew Pub hiding from cold wind and rain ... secretly happy since our bodies were still aching from the past week!

The following morning March 26th was beautifully sunny with blue skies. So we talked ourselves back into our hiking boots and started out for a 16 mile day hike up to lake Laguna de Los Tres at the base of Fitz Roy and could view Glaciar Piedras Blacas. We met 2 other Americans who were spending their honeymoon in South America and joined them for the rest of the day on the trail. Fitz Roy did not disappoint, its jagged peaks were visible after about 1 hour of hiking and with every twist and turn of the trail provided a new angle for photos that seemed to get better and better. We came across a team of woodpeckers with bright red mohawks, who to our delight did not mind our presence while they drilled into thick trees in search of grubs. One feathered hunter found a grub the size of a finger!!

We dunked our heads in the streams and drank the water wearing only shorts and t-shirts enjoying the great weather until the last hour of the hike which was... all uphill. As we trekked higher we started putting back on the layers of clothes that we had shed earlier as the streams were now replaced by snow and the breeze now carried quite a bite. The view from the top was magnificent though, and we hunkered down between some boulders where we had a light lunch out of the wind.

The following day was my birthday. John surprised me with a slice of cheesecake decorated with a cute little candle. No idea where he found the cheesecake or found a birthday candle. El Chalten was quite barren when we arrived. We also had a wonderful steak dinner at Fuegia Bistro. It was a great birthday.

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Comments

[Mikey]

Bearded Wonder
Ah, I see the beard has made a resurgence.....I bet Chrissy loved a slice of B-day cake with a scraggly beard hair hangin'. Who knew Spencer was out hiking the Argentenian mountains. Looks great guys and much more spectacular than the Grand Tetons. Trough Trip is this wknd and Im headed out. Many good Bones stories will be told Im sure, you'll be sorely missed! Keep on Keep'n on guys and happy belated b-day Chrissy. Mikey