Los Glaciares National Park Day 2! I slept well and was awake by 0630. However, our group didn’t need to be ready to go until 0900 so I took my time packing and prepping for the day. I went down to eat at 0745 and enjoyed another one of the Patagonia Queen’s breakfasts. After that, I settled my bar tab from the previous night (0805). Just under an hour later, I met the rest of our group and we boarded our travel van for the ride to El Chalten. It seemed like we’d only been in El Calafate for a short time but it’s nice to know we’ll get another chance to visit before we leave Patagonia. We headed east from the town and made our way to Ruta 40. This road took us a lot of the way to our next destination but, like we’ve seen during other drives across the Pampas, everything is REALLY far apart. The day featured clear skies and pleasant temperatures (50s). After only about an hour of driving, we started to see the top of Cerro Fitz Roy - wow! Alvaro said it was extremely unusual to see it so early in the drive - from there, though, the view got even more spectacular. I listened to one of my audiobooks along the way and the first part lasted almost all the way to our mid-point stop at Hotel La Leona (1015). We explored the place for about 15 minutes and learned the area was once used as a hideout by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Back on the road again, the Andes Range views got progressively better. A short time later, we arrived at the edge of Lago Viedma (huge!) and switched to Ruta 23. From there, our course was to the northwest - directly towards Fitz Roy. We stopped briefly at the entrance to the National Park (Seccional Lago Viedma area) and then rolled into El Chalten at around 1200. The place reminded me of several ski towns (Conway, Vail, Aspen) I’ve visited over the years but it billed itself as “Trekking Capital of the World.” We checked into our hotel El Barranco and were issued an old fashioned key that was quite difficult to use. After getting settled, we met back in the lobby so we could meet our local guide, Luis. He gave us a briefing about the town, the park and the activities planned for the next few days. There was actually a hike (of about four miles) planned for 1300 but we convinced Alvaro to let us eat our box lunches (quiche, salad, fruit, nuts, brownie) first. After that, we left the hotel and walked west on a gravel road. Before long, we reached the trailhead for the Senda a Laguna Torre. Luis told us about all the stops that were possible along the 9 kilometer trail but added that we were only going to visit the Cascada Margarita and Mirador del Torre (2.5 km away). The hike from there wasn’t too stressful or difficult but it felt strange to be in the woods again after several days in town… Almost immediately, the six of us who had hiked the W Trek in Chile had left the other seven well behind. Luis kept stopping to wait for the others and I’ll admit this was slightly frustrating. We learned about the wild Huemules (endangered Patagonian deer) who live in the park and saw some early blooming yellow orchids. About midway up the climb, Luis must have decided that some of us didn’t need to go slowly and he let us walk to the viewpoint alone (1445). The vista was spectacular! From left to right (south to north on the compass), we saw Cerro Solo, the three peaks of Cerro Torre and the seven peaks of Cerro Fitz Roy. Most had puffy clouds around their summits and several had glaciers on them. We probably spent about 20 minutes taking in the view and marveling at yet another amazing stop on this unbeatable tour. Several members of the group have told me all about their trip to Nepal and likened some of the views to things they’d seen there. We reluctantly started back towards El Chalten and all expected to use the same route. However, Luis steered us on a side trail that climbed a bit higher but also brought us back to town from an angle with a view of the entire Rio de Las Vueltas Valley below. Along the way, he pointed out condors, upland geese and large hares. We saw people scaling huge boulders (“glacial erratics”) and learned about climber culture of the town. By 1630, we descended into El Chalten and used gravel streets to reach the hotel. We were allowed about two hours to get cleaned up and rest - I used some of this time to submit my laundry for washing (at the front desk) and practice my Spanish with the clerk. Some other members of the group went shopping. At 1830, I met Alvaro and the rest and we walked over to Patagonicus, our restaurant for the evening. They weren’t expecting us until 1900 so I bought everyone a round of beer (1855) - the only choices were IPA and Amber but everyone was happy to try another new drink. After we were seated, Alvaro offered to order our dinner because the house specialty was pizza - no one objected and he made several excellent choices. Alvaro claimed that he’d “invented” (by ordering it specially at one time) the one we got with fried eggs on top - he seemed genuinely hurt that the restaurant hadn’t called it “The Alvaro”… Most of the conversation involved the difficult hike (13+ miles) scheduled for the next day and I learned that several members of the group had already decided against going. Actually, the early dinner was apparently planned as such to give everyone time to hydrate and rest before the challenging trek. As a result, everyone was on their way back to the hotel by 2030. I chatted with Klaus, Alvaro and Shaowen until about 2100 and then did some reading before it was time for bed (2230). Today was another awesome day of exploration and spectacular views - the itinerary on this tour has been wonderful!
