We took the Saturday Night bus from Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate, Argentina. The border crossing was easy and the sunset across the sky provided plenty of entertainment. When we arrived in El Calafate, two things happened. First, the smell of meat cooking descended upon us from all directions because people were barbequing in every possible place. Second, we realized that there was some sort of party/festival going on and the whole town was out (at midnight when we arrived), including children of all ages. We set up our tent at the municipal camp ground (whose main attraction was enormous barbeques at every tent site) ground and got to sleep around 2am. The next day, we made our way by bus to the Perito Moreno Glacier, probably the most famous in all of Argentina. Although the day trip was expensive, when we got to the glacier we knew it was worth it. This glacier is actually considered “stable” because it is growing (by a few meters every day) instead of receding. Its position between two bodies of water (Lago Argentino and Channel de los Tempanos) actually makes for a dramatic viewing experience and a coastline that wraps around the glacier. Even when standing on the viewing platforms, the glacier is very close and its incredible size is apparent. The edge of the glacier, where gigantic pieces of ice are constantly breaking off is 240 feet high! Since we arrived in the afternoon of a particularly sunny day, it was no surprise when an enormous piece broke off its left side as soon as we pulled up. We sat in various places along the viewing platform (actually miles long) with our eyes glued to it. There was constant thundering as pieces broke off into the lake below, but about halfway through our visit, JJ noticed a crack forming in a large section directly in front of us and got his camera ready. Almost instantly, the biggest piece of the day broke off right in front of us! The pictures in the sequence he took speak for themselves! A few hours later, just as we were about to leave, I was taking a video and another huge chunk broke off! When we got back to town, it was already 10pm, but that is just about the time that it seems most Argentines have dinner. So, we decided to get some dinner also, at a Parrilla, a special meat grilling restaurant (that also served local trout for me!). JJ could not resist the meat sampler platter (of course, it was all you can eat) and about 2 hours later, we walked out after polishing off a bottle of red wine and eating more food than we could have imagined.
The next day, we took a very early bus to El Chalten, Argentina, to begin exploring Los Glaciares National Park. The weather was so nice when we arrived in town, the bus driver pulled off at a viewpoint so we could get a view of the famous Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre peaks the park is famous for. After planning our route at the Park Service Office, we headed to the market to get our supplies, where we just missed it being open. Every day, everything in the El Chalten closes from 1pm to 4:30pm, for lunch? siesta? Watching football (soccer)? No one knows why, but everything mysteriously closes! So we killed some time by eating as many empanadas as we could from a little bakery we found and JJ journeyed to some random field to hard boil eggs for our backpacking trip. After our 9 day excursion in Torres del Paine, we were happy to fill our bags with veggies and other tasty foods. Later in the afternoon, we began hiking on the trail to Laguna Torre. We passed over hills and walked through small valleys, although the clouds did not grant us a view of Cerro Torre until we reached our campsite for the night, De Agostini. We had a massive dinner of rice, lentils, beets, carrots, onion, garlic, and stock. JJ concocted this tasty, nutritious idea from a crazy Canadian guy, Cameron, we met in Torres Del Paine. Thus, the dish has earned its name, “Cam Slop.”
The next morning, we woke up to cloudy skies, but decided to walk to the mirador next to Glacier Grande, above Laguna Torre. We pretty much walked up and over the perimeter of the lake, to earn closer views of Glacier Grande. On the way back, JJ stopped dead in his tracks to show me an Andean Condor (probably juvenile, but still huge!) perched on a rock only about 20 feet in front of us. It was just looking at us! I could not believe how close we were to it, how big it was, and how lucky we were that they only eat things that are already dead! After a few minutes, it took off, and we were just awestruck. It is so rare to get that close to an Andean Condor and really, any wildlife in Patagonia. The terrain we have been in is similar in many ways to Alaska, but there is no wildlife to dot the scenery. We have met a handful of Alaskans that are kind of creeped out by the place because they can keep their food in their tent and nothing will take it, not even the other people at the campsite! After lunch, we hiked through the forest to our next camping site at the base of Laguna de los Tres and Cerro Fitz Roy, Poincenot, where we would base camp for two nights.
The next morning, the skies cleared and we began our hike straight up the trail to Cerro Fitz Roy. After quite a tough climb, we reached the base of Laguna de los Tres and awed at the steep rock formations in front of us. We decided this was a perfect lunch spot and made our ridiculous sandwiches with fresh veggies while we watched the clouds and light change around Cerro Fitz Roy. After we made our way down, we continued through the river valley, and over a field of boulders until we got to Piedras Blancas. Piedras Blancas is an incredible blue glacier hanging off a narrow cliff, with waterfalls coming off it. We decided not to go anywhere else, but to stay there lying in view of the glacier with the warm sun.
The next day was clear and perfect again! We hiked out of the campsite towards Laguna Capri. The spot was beautiful and the views of Cerro Fitz Roy were fantastic. We continued on the trail back to El Chalten, quickly set up our tent in a campground, grabbed a ton of empanadas and pastries for lunch, then continued to the Park Service Office. We began hiking towards Loma del Pilegue Tombado, where we heard you could get views of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy all in one place. The trail gradually rose uphill the entire way. We walked through several different types of forests, cow pastures, and finally onto a rocky field above the tree line. We were rewarded for our 3 plus hours of uphill with spectacular views of the two famous peaks and the entire Los Glaciares National Park! We continued hiking up a very steep mountain of shale until we felt like we were on top of the world. When we made it back down, JJ made a delicious spaghetti supper for us and we drank a bottle of wine, very happy to give our legs a rest after one of our longest days of hiking.
The next day we were planning to hike back to Laguna Capri to relax and spend the day, but the weather got so ugly that we decided to make our way back to El Calafate (the first of many parts to our journey back to Punta Arenas, Chile to make our connecting flights to Los Angeles on March 2nd!). We got really lucky with a few beautiful days here in Argentina, but now it is time to make our way back to Chile!
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