Stunning Mt Fitz Roy !

It was the sort of everday descision that someone with years of safety experience took in their stride ! Descend along a steep rocky / boulder strewn stream bed with running water. Risk without a pole / roughly hewn walking stick = probable slip / fall resulting in broken bones / concussion / death ! Risk using a pole / roughly hewn walking stick = probable slip / fall resulting in broken bones / concussion / death & or Impalement !

Being much more befitting of an adventurer I chose the latter !

With "hero" points up for grabs we all exceeded our comfort zone on todays stunning trek. Henley achieved a 17km finish, not bad for a guy who could barely do a lap of the hotel a few days before, while Monika with her dodgy knee also did a similar distance - both great efforts ! 

In search of ultimate hero status though I took on a few extra kms that included a 1hr / 1km climb (30%) up to the iconic Mt Fitz Roy viewpoint and was now about to find out how many personal "bits"i might injure on descent ! 

After yesterdays rain / wind fest we set off early on the famed Laguna de los Tres trek with some degree of trepidation about track conditions following overnight rain. We need not have worried !  

The first section (1&1/2hrs) was almost entirely up hill as we climbed out of El Chalten on a well defined dirt path with lovely early morning valley views. 

Henley in particular looked every part the adventurer .... well every part except the carrying a plastic bag instead of a back pack part !

The second section (nearly 2 hrs) was mainly flat taking us through forest and scrub scenery along a rocky trail providing for early stunning views of sun bathed Mt Fitz Roy.

The view would have been collectively enjoyed if H and Monika had not turned off behind me and taken a secondary route (thankfully for them both routes eventually rejoined) leaving me mystified to their disappearance !

In the perfect morning conditions the jagged peaks of Fitz Roy and the nearby glaciers stood out like beacons providing an alluring and challenging destination

Having bumped back into Kev and Monika at base camp i continued on with the "ball busting" climb while the guys returned to El Chalten mission accomplished and lots of great photos taken

The difficult ascent was worth it as I finally emerged to the iconic view of the 3,400 metre Mtn right in front of me !

The wiseness of my decision to climb was a bit questionable when a quick look around established that most of those present appeared to be under 30 ! 

Taking in this incredible view I took lunch while snapping a 100 or so shots before then descending on the treacherous rocky & slippery surface.

Having had a dig at Kev and Monika for taking the wrong route on the way I nearly did similar having to retrace my steps after the scenery started to get very different !

I was busy working on my Hero acceptance speech on my return figuring that it might have to be given posthumously as with 4kms to go i'd run out of water and could barely raise my right leg off the ground having obviously strained my knee on the descent !.

Back at camp (our appartment) I arrived after nearly 10 hours and hobbled inside to be greeted by 2 equally exhausted adventurers but boy did we have a day to remember !

Start of the days climb

 

First view of stunning Mt Fitz Roy

The last steep climb

Face to face with Fit Roy

Magical Fitz Roy 

Selfie time

 

Henley goes off the beaten path ! 

The Wind Commeth !

With an afternoon forecast of something just under cyclonic wind strength (gusts of up to 130 kms an hour!) accompanied by torrential rain it wasn't too hard for us to make the choice of a morning climb leaving the warmth of our cozy El Chaltén apartment !

Despite the early cloudy conditions there was enough scenery around to show why El Chaltén is considered one of the premiere trekking destinations in Sth America. The whole town is surrounded by sharp peaks making for an impressive show.

We elected to take the short but steepish Miradores des Condors a walk that starts from the National Park HQ and climbs to provide outstanding views of El Chaltén and its surrounding hills and Mtns.

At the lookout we got a brief glimpse of the afternoons forecast with body slamming wind gusts that made it difficult to hold ones footage on the exposed rocky surface.

Glad to get back down it was time for a coffee in this Wild West looking town a place comprised almost entirely of young looking trekkers.

Our afternoon was predictably spent hunkering down with a good book to avoid the pm downpour / wind blast !

Our Appt

Downtown El Chalten 

Greta views down to El Chalten 

Climbing to the lookout 

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El Chaltén

If we (Kev / self) were worried about our Argentinian induced BFG's (big fat guts!) then we need not have as our mobile double decker bus / sauna transported us to El Chaltén over 220 sweat filled kms away !

Despite the cool outside temperatures and cyclonic type wind gusts that threatened to tip our bus over at any moment, the on board heating coupled with ambient heat glare threatened to have us arriving at El Chaltén in a veritable liquid format !

Our journey to the Northern end of the Los Glacieres National Park was a stunning one. A wide open landscape soon turned into a magical sequence of rising peaks, glaciers and deep blue coloured lakes as we motored on to El Chaltén.

Arriving we first had to attend a mandatory national park briefing which focussed on the types of walks, NP rules and the threatening weather conditions forecast over the next few days.

Once our talk was completed we were dropped off at the bus station. With an evident lack of taxis it was a fairly tough 1 & 1/2 km walk into a stiff headwind walking with our suitcases to our apartment style accommodation.

After raiding the local supermarket it was time to finally sit back and enjoy our beautiful albeit windy surrounds !

Approach El Chalten

Best seat in the house !

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Marco Polo !

After the previous days sensory overload today was all about taking it easy.

The finger test by H (sticking it outside the hotels front door) & the obvious outside wind strength and the snow covered hills clearly indicated the extent of last nights change !

With conditions improving after lunch we braved the long walk into town with H starting off by narrowly avoiding walking through the Hotels front full glass window !

En route the background snow dusted landscape impressed while the foreground left a little to be desired with a dry dusty open and ugly town landscape caused by a low annual rainfall (only 250 mm) and a pretty slack building code.

Apart from the abundance of roaming dogs H did his best to keep us entertained. Midway I asked him to read the name of a nearby hotel, "Marcop-olo" he replied. When I asked him again I got the same result. Try it slowly I suggested .... "ohh - Marco Polo" ! In Kev's defence they had left out the space !

A coffee in El Calafate sheltered by the wind was quiet pleasant in the afternoon sun before we headed back to our Hotel again by foot across the desert like setting.

After what seemed like ages we finally arrived back to our windswept hotel. Unfortunately by now Kev's Perito Moreno induced limp had turned into a real hobble !

Monika confused the Hotel attendant by asking for our room key which was still in the her bag before we retired eventually heading back into town for dinner although this time by taxi !

El Chaltén here we come !

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Perito Moreno Glacier - Wet & Cold !

Our journey to the Los Glaciers National Park was one of our main reasons for heading back down to Sthn Patagonia. This stunning location plays host to the amazing Perito Merino Glacier. At 250 square kms and over 18,000 years old it is one of only 3 glaciers in the world that is currently growing ! It is also one of the few that you can get up close and personal to as it calves off massive 100 feet high chunks into the glacial river !

Our 90 minute bus trip to the park was done in a race against the forecast pm rain and winds of up to 65kms an hour. If we had any doubt about what that meant we were soon to find out as the outside indicated temperature plummeted nearly 7c as we descended from the entrance to the National Park past some seriously WOW glimpses, to our bus terminus just short of the Glacier

Boarding another shuttle bus we were soon transported to the top of a hill to begin our incredible walkway journey.

We'd come prepared ... well at least some of us - H had decided against carrying water "It's too bloody hard to carry in my Diamonte plastic bag"; and was relying on his not so waterproof Ground Effects cycle jacket and his smelly full fingered Cycle gloves to protect him from the now beginning to get heavier drizzle !

We didn't worry too much initially though as the amazingly designed walkway soon took us to incredible viewpoints surrounding the Glacier.

One sign poignantly indicated there'd been over 32 deaths between 1968-88 from flying ice - we therefore decided that it was a good idea to keep to the well protected walkways !!!

The close up views provided for amazing scenes that included the deep blue hue of the frozen ice, the sharp craggy glacial peaks and the occasional roar and resultant mini tsunami from calved ice falling into the river

The stairways seemed to go on for km's as we took seemingly hundreds of photos as we looked on awestruck.

Pretty much soaked through by the time we'd completed the circuit we temporarily retreated to the Parks restaurant to dry out (impossible) warm up (nearly as impossible) and take in a hot cuppa while waiting for our afternoon boat ride !

Putting back on our wet gear we boarded a boat that took us out towards the face of the Glacier - it was almost like approaching the Wall on the Game of Thrones !

Although mainly frozen Kev and I soon occupied shielded positions on deck prepared to throw overboard anyone who crossed our space ! Henley was not in a good mood having already been thrown out of the "Shitta" as he calls it and having been asked to get out of the way by some photo taking tourist ! I felt that the next person to ask him to move was likely to end up overboard !

Despite getting more soaked (Monika included) we took in some spectacular scenery on our 60 minute journey although sadly without any calving ice to entertain (read scare the crap out of us !}

Back on board our bus the heaters were on full bore to help dry our clothes and bring life back into our frozen parts

Finally back in El Calafate there was time to reminisce on a fabulous outing before heading back into town late pm for one of those well deserved and famed Argentinian Steaks !

Kev trying to warm up ! 

Amazing !

It's wet !

Incredible landscape !

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El Calafate !

We'd seemingly only had a few hours sleep before leaving our "#$&@hole" of a hotel in Buenos Aires early a.m. to fly back down to Sthn Patagonia and the town of El Calafate.

Our 3 and a half hour flight (Argentina is huge !) was punctuated by a few mid air screams (apparently coming from Henley's direction) caused by some severe en route air turbulence.

No doubt the huge round of applause on landing was the Argentinian version of kissing the ground plus I think some historical reference to past decades of terrible Sth American flight safety !

First impressions of El Calafate were that the town resembled some Wild West landscape with barren terrain and widespread isolated housing ! Our opinions did however change as we wandered numerous kms from our lakeside hotel into town in the rain discovering as you'd expect a tourist driven landscape of shops, restaurants and cafes.

Having well acquainted ourselves with the surrounds and having established that the large packs of marauding dogs were mainly friendly we back tracked to our hotel with a $5 taxi all set for tomorrow's adventure to the spectacular Pereto Merino Glacier !

Our Hotel

El Calafate Airport

Dinner Time

Down town

Wild landscape looking from our Hotel !

Monika by our Hotel

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Back to Patagonia !

The transition from "thrillseeker cycling adventurer" to mainstream tourist, albeit in an isolated part of the world, is not an easy one and comes with its very own challenges !

Who"s going to wake me up in the morning, what if I can"t work out what"s on the menu, how will I not put on weight and who"s going to control Henley are just some of the problems that come to mind !

We started off by first driving out of the Volcano National Park to Temuco where we said goodbye to Pommie Kev and Julia at the airport before staying on a night in this not so glamorous city.

Henley at least got some exercise during our layover going down the 8 floors to the reception to change our following mornings departure by taxi from 5 a.m. to 7.30a.m. then going back down a 2nd time to change it back to 7.00a.m. when I told him that 7.30 a.m was too late and then going back down a 3rd time when I asked him if he had in fact changed the taxi time or the wake up call on his 2nd visit to 7.00a.m.!!

Needless to say next morning on our departure we were unsure of whether any bloody taxi was going to turn up !

Thankfully it did and we were soon winging our way to Santiago where we startled Pommie Kev waiting for his BA flight back to the UK by pretending to be some Chilean customs official.

A few hours later and after listening to a horrifying story from a fellow Aussie of having been held up at gunpoint on a tourist bus in Rio, we'd finally made our way back to Buenos Aires picking up a team substitute, self"s wife Monika who"d jetted in from OZ for the remaining 3+ weeks in Sth America.

A taxi took us back to downtown Buenos Aires where we  finally arrived at our hotel that on inspection appeared just worthy of it's 1/4 star rating with an air con unit that looked like it had last operated in the 1920's and a miniature sized room with all the fittings associated with a Soweto Slum !

Anyway while the room was cheap. the restaurant nearby was great (Henley scored an $8 steak) and we were all just too damned buggered to care !

Tomorrow we're on the go again back down to Sthn Patagonia and the stunning natural sights near El Calafate!!