El Chalten, founded quite recently as an outpost to further Argentina’s claims in a border dispute with Chile, has found a new purpose as the gateway to the northern section of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, but retains its frontier feel. It’s much smaller than El Calafate, and without the latter’s souvenir shops. Only the main streets are paved, and there is little action during the day, when most visitors are out hiking.
I had booked three nights in El Chalten, and was fortunate to have one beautiful, sunny day, as apparently it had been raining, and even snowing, for weeks. I had booked a double en-suite at the Albergue Patagonia, an HI hostel, with some doubts, and was pleasantly surprised by my comfortable room, and by the good bistro next door, owned by the same people. The only problem was wifi, as the whole town is run off a satellite link, and access was abysmally slow.
The day I arrived was cold and wet, and I only went out for lunch – a hot and filling bowl of lentil stew at the closest place that was open. It was also election day in the US. I had voted absentee before I left, happy to avoid the last three weeks of frantic campaigning (I live in a swing state), but had forgotten that I might want TV for the actual election. In the event, the one TV in the hostel was tuned to a rock concert, and I had no idea of the results until next morning, when I was able to read some of the news websites.
That morning I put on my warmest clothes (although not my thermal underwear), packed ear muffs and a woolly hat along with lunch, and set off in sunshine on the trail to Laguna de los Tres to take a look at Mt. Fitz Roy. (I discovered later that when it wasn’t raining you could actually see Fitz Roy from El Chalten, but it was nothing like the views from the trail.) The helpful guy on the desk at the Albergue Patagonia had offered me a “cheat” for this trail. A car would drop me north of the mountain and I could hike in along a river and then down, instead of up, the Laguna trail. However, he said it would take five hours, and I figured that not only would it likely take me significantly longer, once I started I would be committed. If I went in on the Laguna trail, I might start out uphill, but I could decide if and when I needed to turn back. (I had no intention of tackling the last leg, steeper and more difficult than the rest.)
The weather was so good, that, aside from the sections where the wind hit me, I was over-dressed, and shed layers. I even saw a few people hiking in shorts. But at times the wind felt fierce enough to blow me over. The weather was also so good, the view from the first mirador so clear, and I sufficiently out of shape, that I did not go on to the second mirador. Instead I took a side trail to a lake, where I found another good viewpoint. I had thought that the trail would be in full sun, but instead much of it was shaded by trees, and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk in the woods and the marvelous views. But there was no question that I was out of shape. I needed to get into better condition before coming back.
The weather forecast for my second full day at El Chalten was iffy, and I booked a tour to Lago des Desierto with the thought that if it rained I could at least look at the lake. Bad plan! After we reached the lake I had not gone far up the trail that would supposedly lead me to a view of a glacier when it started raining. And then raining hard. I retreated to the only shelter available, a small hut where an elderly woman sold admission tickets for the trail, and some drinkable coffee, but with no view of anything. Fortunately, I had taken my smart phone/iPod, and wasn’t as bored as I might have been. The other people from the minibus continued up the trail, but when they returned some time later conveyed (they didn’t speak English), that they hadn’t seen the glacier, it had snowed, and, with some indignation, that the trail was “periloso”. On the way back we drove through snow, and then rain, to return to a village enjoying sunshine….
Lovely photos, Kathy!
If you like photography, we’d like to invite you to participate in our next Travel Photography Competition. Here are the details:
http://hitchhikershandbook.com/your-contributions/travel-photography/
Happy travels!
Thanks for the invitation, but I refuse to use Facebook. I disapprove strongly of their attitude to privacy.
Fair enough, we understand. Unfortunately at the moment we only use Facebook to run our Travel Photography Competitions, but outside Facebook we have our little photo challenge which you might find interesting. This week “shop windows”. Find the details here:
http://hitchhikershandbook.com/2012/11/17/interesting-shop-windows-from-around-the-world-photo-challenge/
I agree, great photos. What make and model camera are you using this trip?
-Tim-
Tx. Same camera as last couple of trips. Nikon Coolpix S9100. I have it dialed back to 5 or 7 megapixels, don’t remember which, to save space, but make full use of the 18x zoom.