South America Trip - Day 15

Los Glaciares National Park Day 5!  Sadly, today’s hike to Loma del Pliegue Tumbado marked the last planned activity in our group itinerary.  It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in South America for almost two full weeks and that this phase of my adventure will end in less than 24 hours.  Focusing on the positive, I woke up ready to hike (0530), got my bags packed and went to the lobby for breakfast at 0630.  I was the only one there.  The hotel normally doesn’t open the buffet until 0700 but the clerk said I could start.  As usual, I had cereal, eggs, fruit and a ham/cheese sandwich.  Alvaro arrived soon afterwards and we chatted about the overall group mood.  Most everyone had expressed feelings of exhaustion but a few hardy souls wanted to get one more day on the trail. Those folks, along with a small group of moral supporters, arrived shortly afterwards.  I checked out of my room and received a note from the night clerk, Dondro, that contained helpful ideas about things to do in Buenos Aires.  By 0730, I met Luis, Alvaro, Julie and five other members of the group (Janice, Kirk, Tony, Kathy and Patty) so we could begin our hike.  First, we had to walk through the entire town of El Chalten, across the Rio Fitz Roy and another few hundred meters to reach the trailhead.  Along the way, we saw flamingos flying overhead - it seemed like a good sign.  We’d previously been told that the hike could be as long as 20 km but the odometer hadn’t even started!  Luis and Alvaro then explained that Active Adventures groups typically only climbed to a plateau about 2 km below the highest point and this made completing our hike seem more possible.  Actually, I would normally want to hike as much as possible but our bus back to El Calafate was scheduled to depart at 1400 - this made the pace an distance much more important than normal.  The temps were pleasant (50s), the sun was out and Cerro Solo, Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy were mostly visible.  As has happened many times on this trip, Alvaro shook his head about how nice our weather and views have been - apparently, such a stretch of “luck” is unheard of in Patagonia.  Regardless, I’ll take it!  Right at the entrance to the trail, we encountered an entire tree full of Astral Parakeets, chirping away.  Luis said that they like to eat dandelions on the ground and were waiting for us to pass.  We started a gradual climb after this and passed through low shrubbery for about a mile - Alvaro pointed out a particularly prickly plant he called the “Mother-in-Law Pillow" and we had a good laugh.  Nearby, Luis showed us some small, flowering plants called ladyslipper and anemone.  There were also Calafate bushes (minus the berries) everywhere on the hill.  Behind us, the full panorama of El Chalten and the Valle del Rio de Las Vueltas spread majestically below.  We next reached a grove of Lenga trees (very pretty) and learned more about the red-headed Patagonian Woodpecker.  They are quite territorial and will fight each other for control over an area of trees - today, one kept making a single knocking sound that indicated his displeasure about our presence.  Climbing higher, we saw huge balancing rocks, distant snowy peaks in nearly every direction and different angles of the nearer peaks.  Unfortunately, the clouds soon began to obscure our views of Fitz Roy and Torre.  The effect was interesting to watch but quickly diminished the entire purpose of our hike!  So, when we reached our first “official” mirador, we lost two members of our die hard group.  I wanted to keep going (and convinced a few others to follow) and was glad that Luis and Julie obliged.  In the front of the group, I walked close to Luis and learned about how the locals (with some help from the National Park rangers) manage forest fires and mountain rescues.  Luis happily described how, as a certified guide, he has authority to enforce park regulations.  In addition, he is very involved in the volunteer mountain rescue service in El Chalten - apparently, a major “skills” event was going to take place in town over the next few days and he was looking forward to attending.  Finally, we learned that many people - some he had guided but many more that he had never met - contact him for advice about the Patagonian backcountry.  In the typical fashion of the wonderful people who live in this region (“Hermanos en el Fin del Mundo”), he assists them all.  At about this time, we passed a sign that talked about being aware of “Vacas Salvajes”, which Luis explained were the local version of feral cows (grazing on the National Park since the land was privately owned).  Julie’s boyfriend (Pablo, a triathlete) came running by during this time and we marveled at his stamina and dedication.  Continuing on our hike, we traveled through an extremely deep forest that covered the lower side of Loma del Pliegue Tumbado.  When we reached the tree line, it became clear that we were definitely not going to see any more good views.  While we stood in a big clearing there, Luis pointed out many of the landmarks we’d seen during our visit to El Chalten and Los Glaciares National Park (Secciones Lago Viedma).  Since it was cooler (there was snow up there!) and rain appeared to be threatening, we began our descent.  As usual, our pace on the downhill was much faster - Luis, Janice, Kirk and I soon left the other three behind.  I’d asked Luis previously about how he got connected as a local guide with Active Adventures and he’d told me several details.  What he’d left out, however, was that he had designed the first Active itinerary and taken the company founder on the first trip.  He’d since taken many groups similar to ours into the wilds of Los Glaciares.  We all agreed that we owed our good times to him! After this, the rest of us continued talking about memories from our trip, Luis’ plans for the rest of the guiding season, movies and (mostly Janice and Kirk) plans after returning home.  On this last topic, I really had no interest in imagining being back in the USA.  However, my Canadian friends have truly made Halifax and the Nova Scotia northern shore sound very inviting and fun so I tried to live vicariously through their vivid happiness about work routines, date nights, outings with friends and holiday events.  Back in the field with the sign warning us about feral cows, we sat down to lunch (ham and cheese hoagie, lemon cake, “scooter pie” and trail mix).  The sun was still shining but clouds were closing in from all directions.  Suddenly, a group of hikers with huge backpacks and snowshoes came out of the woods nearby - the guide knew Luis and they talked excitedly for a little while.  To us, the other group’s guide sang Luis’ praises, calling him the “Emperor of Chalten”.  This isn’t the first time he’s gotten good reviews when we’ve encountered guides so I’m sure we definitely had “the best” during our visit.  Soon after that, we put our backpacks on again and continued down the mountain.  In a slippery place, I almost fell face-first in the mud (VERY close call) but I otherwise enjoyed the walk.  I’d gotten a few comments during the last two hikes that my boots looked like something was wrong with them - it appears I may have blown out the bottom left side of my right boot.  Fortunately, this was the last time I will definitely need them… Actually, though, these Ozark Trail Hikers hold up to a lot of wear and tear and logged more than 100 miles on this trip!  During the rest of the hike, we watched condors and kestrels soaring overhead, European Hares scampering, glacial rivers cascading and pretty mountain flowers swaying in the breeze.  We stopped at the National Park Visitors Center when we reached the bottom of the trail.  They had some information about the park there but the building seemed to be mostly just a place for mountaineers to register their climbs and for other visitors (on big tour buses) to learn about a short (10 minute) walk they could take to reach an overlook view of the town. Why anyone would come all this way to just do that one “nature walk” and leave immediately is beyond me…. Walking back to our hotel through town, I took some photos of signs and a giant wood carving of a backpack.  At one point, I took a left turn when I should have gone right and Julie (who had caught up to me and was telling me more about Buenos Aires) tried to steer me in the correct way.  However, she then checked herself and said it was ok for us to continue.  At first, I thought it was because all roads eventually must lead to El Barranco but she then started quizzing me about whether I had been in the area before.  All of this mysterious behavior became clear when we came to a corner and she said, quite matter of factly, “this is my coffee shop” (!).  None of us had realized that her guide duties were only part time and initially thought she meant it was her favorite.  However, we eventually came to understand that she was saying she OWNED it!  It was a cute little place and I felt bad we hadn’t known enough to visit it during our four days in town.  Next time!  By 1335, we reached the hotel (after completing about 10 miles of hiking) and that the van (for our trip back to El Calefate) had arrived and was already loading up baggage.  I sat down in the lobby to change shoes and my shirt and quickly got the feeling (mostly from the non-hikers) that we needed to get on the bus NOW.  I barely managed to get my bag, provide a tip for our two guides (1350), use the rest room and grab some snacks before the van (the biggest and fanciest we’ve yet seen) began rolling out of town (1400).  Still riding a high from getting one more hike before the trip was over - what a nice way to end my visit to this amazing town and region!  Our driver (Mariano, who we’d met during the excursion to Perito Merino Glacier) quickly drove us south, along the edge of Lago Viedma, on Ruta 23.  It soon started to rain (but not heavily)… We switched to Ruta 40 and made a quick stop at Hotel La Leona (1515).  Back in the bus after less than 10 minutes, we continued to the southwest.  I’d hoped to listen to my audiobook during the ride but found that my digital library loan had expired (dang).  Fortunately, I’d previously retrieved my Buenos Aires visitor guide and used this opportunity to review it.  Meanwhile, everyone else slept… After reaching Ruta 11, we drove west into El Chalten (1700).  Rafael and his staff were waiting for us at the Patagonia Queen Hotel and, within minutes, we were in our rooms.  I spent the next few hours getting re-packed for the next transition of my trip - fortunately, it was easy to separate hiking/not-hiking gear in my bags.  At 1910, our group met in the lobby to thank Alvaro for his fine attention in organizing our wonderful trip.  He made some remarks about how he was glad about the good group synergy we had and Rafael made videos.  I learned later that this was the first time the Active Adventures group had been able to do all the “normal” things (read: amenities) that Rafael likes to provide since the start of the COVID-19 restrictions.  We next adjourned to a small room in the back of the hotel that included a large oven - Mariano (apparently the local Jack of All Trades) was hard at work in there, cooking as much meat as I’ve ever seen on a grill.  This was the first time we’d been treated to a meal that was only for us and the resulting ambiance was quite nice.  Of course, the Asado was even better!  We had salad, potatoes, bread, homemade empanadas (ground beef with olives), sausages, “Meatza” (meat with cheese on top, sliced thinly) and several other delicious (and well seasoned and grilled) cuts of beef.  Our Canadian friends ordered some more Malbec and I tried some more - it’s growing on me… There were speeches and toasts and sharing of addresses - the kinds of farewell activities warmly shared between life long friends.  The feast was topped off by four flavors of gelato/ice-cream.  It was great to watch Mariano, Alvaro and Rafael (and the latter’s son, Tomas) working together to share a big slice of Patagonian hospitality with our group!  By 2045, most everyone started heading to their rooms (hugs all around) but I stayed at the bar for another 45 minutes with Kirk & Janice, Tony & Shelly and Shaowen.  For much of this time, we spoke about travel and family.  By 2130, I was in my room again, prepping for my flight to Buenos Aires tomorrow.  Alvaro stopped by to chat at around 2300 and we drank a beer (Patagonian Amber Lager) in the second floor recreation room while discussing good activities for my later visit to Rio.  I’m genuinely going to miss seeing Alvaro each day and I hope I’ll someday be able to visit and/or take another tour with him again.  I retired to my room just before midnight and went to bed at 0020.  What a day, what a trip, what an adventure!