Hello
For all you Mark Twain fans…he obviously never spent a summer in Patagonia as he would not have said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco as the weather down here can be downright ugly especially with all the wind and clouds.
So when I last left you (almost 2 weeks ago—sorry about that but haven’t been around great internet connections) I was leaving Ushuaia. The 2nd apology is no pics as I have had no luck with the computers here recognizing my camera or card reader for some reason.
My flight and arrival in El Calafate were no big deal though had great views of the mountains and lakes in the area. One thing that did happen is that my flight was delayed about 2 hours so I got to say goodbye to Chad twice (once a the hostel and once at the airport). So most of the airports down here are tiny and normally only have 1 or 2 gates so it was interesting to see two large planes on the ground in El Calafate at the same time. I guess the other plane had to unload their passengers directly onto the tarmac.
So the next day I bussed it up to El Chalten which is the gateway to Parque National Los Glaciares and where Mt Fitz Roy and Cerre Torre are located. Now to say this was a town would be an exaggeration…probably 2000 people live there (and that number shrinks greatly in the winter) and the town has no paved roads…which made me laugh because on the main gravel road they had 2 speed bumps…who needs speed bumps on a gravel road?
So the reason I went there was to hike around the park and to see the famous Fitz Roy (famous at least in the mountain climbing world and probably the 2nd most famous park in Patagonia—this made it interesting because on the trail you had fairly series dayhikers right next to world class mountain climbers and mountaineers). Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre are both granite spires similar to what Chad and I saw in Torres del Paine. The real difference is that there is actually a series of granite spires essential along one ridge line and interspersed with more regular looking mountain peaks. This will all make more sense when I can post pictures. Overall the landscape there is more alpine with more trees, birds, and grasses than in Torres del Paine which is a lot more open and scrubland.
My plan was to do a 3 day backpacking trip and then a day hike. Unfortunately the weather and rental gear caused me to alter my plans. I rented a bivy sack (a small one person tent that is basically just a little long, taller, and wider than one person) so the advantage is it is super lightweight. The downside is when it rains you have nowhere to put your gear, cook, and if you touch the side of the tent it leaks and it can be very claustrophobic . Needless to say the 1st two nights it rained (and snowed at the higher elevations) and was very windy. So after the 2nd night I just called the trip good and headed back to town and then just day hiked the next two days. Luckily the weather cleared and I had a completely sunny and wind free day in the park with unobstructed views of both Cerre Torre and Fitz Roy (they are actually in 2 different valleys). All I can say is having good weather makes all the difference in the world because after the 1st couple of days I wasn’t that impressed with the park but after seeing the park in good weather I have a whole new appreciation for the parks beauty. Plus it made it much easier to complete the 20 mile day hike I did…next time I will need to look a little more closely at the map before I set off.
After feeling like I pretty much hiked everywhere in the park that I could that didn’t require mountaineering gear I headed up the famous Ruta 40. I don’t know exactly why it is so famous but it is one of those drives that the books recommend so that you can see what Patagonia is really like. So over the course of 2 days, I rode in a bus for 26 hours and experienced Patagonia in all of its glory…which means mostly flat, brown and full of scrub brushes. We did see a fox and nandus (about 3 or 4 foot tall flightless birds similar to ostriches). Actually between doing a lot of reading, watching the scenery which despite how it sounds can be pretty at times, working on some sadukus, and talking with the other victims (oops I mean passengers) the time went pretty quickly. And the last 4 hours or so were extremely pretty as we got out of Patagonia and approached the Argentinean land district.
Which brings me to today…I am currently in Bariloche the largest city (approx 130,000 people) I have seen in about a month. It is surrounded by mountains and sits right on a really pretty lake. It is also famous for all the chocolate shops (which I finally sampled today…the reputation is well deserved as they are delicious). One day I rode a bike to the top of one of the surrounding mountains with a couple of people I meet in the hostel. Since the day was beautiful we had great views of the surrounding area…that is after my legs and chest stopped burning…man it is hard work riding up about 2000 feet on a bike on a gravel road. Yesterday I decided to try my luck and go rafting again and once again ran into problems with too much water…so we mostly rafted on a class 3 rapids but it was more fun than in Costa Rica. Today I am just taking it easy and figured out my plans for the next week and I am going to a bar to watch the Bears playoff game (go figure Chicago teams continue to do well in my absence). Tomorrow I am going to go on a 3 day backpacking trip around here..this time I am staying in huts though so I won’t have any tent issues. After that I am taking a combination of 7 boats and buses and heading to Puerto Vargus, Chile through a scenic part of the lake district.
So all in all I am still keeping busy, having a blast, and getting the hang of being on my own again. It is definitely not the same not having a travelling companion.
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