Activity Summary
Sunday 10th December - Day 432 (continued)
Travel to El Chaltén - day 1
Monday 11th December - Day 433
Travel to El Chaltén - day 2
Pasta and beer at La Cervecería
Tuesday 12th December - Day 434
Luke:
Loma del Pliegue Tumbado hike
Mirador De Los Cóndores hike
Nicola:
Mirador De Los Cóndores w/ Ciara
Reunited:
Dinner at La Lomiteria
Wednesday 13th December - Day 435
Los Tres Lagoon via Mt Fitz Roy trail
Piedras Blancas viewpoint 1
Piedras Blancas viewpoint 2
Laguna Capri
Steak dinner at Parrilla La Oveja Negra
Argentina president devalues currency by 50%
Thursday 14th December - Day 436
Luke:
Laguna Toro / Huemul circuit day 1 out and back
Nicola:
Xxx
Reunited:
Beers at Tap Zorro with James and Rachel
Friday 15th December - Day 437
Laguna Torre hike
Dinner at hostel
Saturday 16th December - Day 438
Brunch at Mathilda
Bus to El Calafate
Summary
El Chaltén
Called the day hiking paradise of Patagonia and can certainly agree with that. The hikes offer amazing views (weather dependent) and are all so easy to get to from town which made our time there so much less stressful, if not a little full on.
Town is bougie with nice restaurants that are expensive for Argentina (but not savage) and decent places to get beer.
Luke certainly loved it here. With more time and good weather he would have liked to have done the Huemul (so 7 days minimum in El Chaltén) but 4 was plenty.
Transport
El Chaltén
Taxi from town to bus terminal
27hr Marga Taqsa bus from Bariloche to El Chaltén
Walk to hostel
Note: the electronic tickets (and blogs) said the tickets needed to be printed, as we bought online, but this turned out to not be the case and showing on a mobile was fine.
Accommodation
El Chaltén - Hostel Rancho Grande
Number of nights - 5
Price per night per person - £11
Positives:
Cheap for the area
Comfortable
Warm
Great showers
Only 4 people to a dorm
Full size lockers for all our bags
Close to everything we wanted in town
Negatives:
Some weird roommates the first night
Kitchen was a bit shitty
The most god awful WiFi we have had anywhere but it was quite nice to be switched off from the world
Recommend?
Yes
Diary
Sunday 10th December - Day 432 (continued)
Our well thought out discussion after plenty of experience travelling on longish buses and on overnighters led to the decision that:
We can’t be upstairs because Nicola gets travel sick
Being further back in the bus is worse for Nicola’s travel sickness
So with this in mind, we chose the seats on the bottom deck and the front most seats.
Turns out Marga Taqsa buses don’t have a secondary door between the toilet / door and the lower deck unlike most busses. They also don’t have running water through them.
So we spent 27 hours on a bus being bombarded by wafts of chemical toilet smell. It started off bad, got worse over time and the only option of moving was upstairs. The toss up was therefore irregular toilet smells when people used the bog or Nicola getting travel sick.
At some point the guy seemed to clean the toilet and this did wonders for eradicating the stench. Just took him 4 hours to do so.
Minus that, the journey was pretty alright. The seats had plenty of space, we could put our feet up because we were in the front row and temperature wise it was fine. They even had a couple of extended stops for us to jump out, stretch legs and get some supplies if needed.
As it got later we tried sleeping but we’re only able to drift off quite late into the night. It didn’t help that the bus had a billion stops, a good proportion of people getting off at 4am which we didn’t envy.
Monday 11th December - Day 433
Day 2 on the bus to El Chaltén ended around 4pm. 27 hours and Nicola was fried.
El Chaltén as a town was quite surprising. It is very small with little there, bar a small town square and one main road. The 1.6km walk to our hostel ended up seeming very sizeable after the ride and with our big bags when tired.
Check in was easy and the biggest result was getting the exchange rate expected rather than the blue dollar. Accomodation in El Chaltén was a bit dear and with us spending 5 nights here we were terrified of the potential hundreds of dollars it could have been. Thankfully they played ball with near enough the actual FX rate. The currency mindfucks would escalate dramatically in a few days.
First dorm room in a long ol while and get rewarded with two of the worst people we’ve had. The small 4 bed box room was a weed cesspit, the two large older Argentinian men reeking of ganja and also happily grinding away as we walked in.
We looked at each other with despair and then Luke went down to try to change rooms. He tried to play it coy but the dude worked it out they were smoking weed, apologised that he couldn’t switch us up and reassured it was only for one night.
Luke, now back in the room, found the two guys had left and they didn’t come back all evening thankfully. The hostel worker decided to pay us a visit and was gave the same ‘o fuck’ reaction as we walked in then seemingly tried in vain to run after them.
Our only option was to leave the window fully open (thankfully the radiator was on permanently and it was a fairly decent weather day) and the room door open. The weed transition to the corridor was strong and made us look like stoners, the people in the room opposite quite often staring into the room to find little old us as the seeming culprits.
To cheer ourselves up we went for pasta and beer at a place called La Cervecería which caught Luke’s eye on the walk up, having its own microbrewery and being very busy at 4pm. It was expensive (UK price equivalent for food) but very tasty, the lamb ravioli being top qual. The £2.60 beer made Luke happy.
We were shattered so we spent the evening around the hostel barely doing anything, more because the WiFi was probably the worst connection we have had all trip. It just wouldn’t do anything and made trying to book flights from Iguazu impossible, Luke trying to do so from outside the pasta place and after 45 minutes freezing his tits off, giving up.
Our roommates returned at about 10pm and the only credit we could give them was they were quiet getting ready and into bed.
Tuesday 12th December - Day 434
That credit was short lived as the top bunk waster was a strong contender for the loudest snorer of the trip. He was certainly the most consistent and his fog horning didn’t abate all night. Surprised he wasn’t thinner for all his working out all night.
We had a horrible time trying to sleep. Nicola fared better but Luke and his low threshold for noise kept waking him up despite ear plugs. Bose headphones plus music was required to drown the guy out but it’s super uncomfortable.
After being woken up for the billionth time and seeing it was light outside, Luke got out of bed before 7am and decided to start his first hiking day.
The guys also had intentions of getting up at a decent time, having horrifically aggressive alarms go off that were akin to a radioactive breach siren which took a good while for them to react to and then just kept snoozing. One step too far for Nicola who ‘passively’ aggressively slammed the door on her way out to get them to shut the fuck up.
Luke story time:
Over the previous few days I was looking into doing the 4 day Huemul circuit that sets off around El Chaltén, loops around Cerro Huemul, across rivers, includes a tyrolean traverse and glacier walking with stunning views of (tiny sections of) the South Patagonian ice fields and glaciers. Previously I’d written this off but typical conversations about hiking with Sam Maunder got me over excited and was debating trying to do this 70km hike in 2 days.
What ultimately derailed this, apart from the fact I just should not be doing something so technical, long, in the Patagonian outback with very changeable weather by myself, was there was no clear 2 or 3 day weather window and I gave up on it. If we were in El Chaltén 4 days later? Would totally have gone for it…
So I reverted back to my initial El Chaltén plan and would day hike like a man on a mission. What was a very achievable target was to day hike to Laguna Toro, essentially the first day stop of the Huemul circuit.
I was under the impression I needed to check in at the National Park office by the start of the trail, which didn’t open until 9am and therefore I had to wait quite a bit to speak to someone. Turns out the reservation form is online so no need to speak to anyone. But it did prove very useful, finding out that river shoes would almost certainly be a requirement and if day hiking, a head torch (although I am a lot quicker than he gave me credit for).
At a little after 9am I was hiking to Laguna Toro and then made the great decision to change my hiking plans and go for my back up, Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. It was quite a clear morning and looked like the clouds around Fitz Roy would jog on as time went on so with that in mind and not wanting wet shoes for 4 days, Loma it was.
Reflecting on the 4 days hiking in El Chaltén, it was a really nice hike and probably my favourite. The route was wide so I could overtake people, there weren't many people on the trail at all and the views were quality throughout. Highly recommend the hike.
The hike is a pretty steady climb throughout, nothing too savage by way of big stepping up a mountain by more sloped climbing.
This side of town there is barely anything other than small scrub and rocks. Interestingly barren.
Occasionally there are small forest sections but they don’t last long.
Throughout there are views over the Fitz Roy mountain range which was just hella vibey. They were in cloud cover for pretty much the whole walk but it made any small shift in views exciting.
It was pretty easy walking up to the crossing between Laguna Toro and Pliegue. There was only one slightly boggy section which could be skirted pretty easily.
The steeper section was where the fun was at. The landscape was now truly barren, bare rocks and the occasional snow melt stream running down the mountain.
Could not contain my excitement walking up the mountainside with full views of the Fitz Roy range in full view throughout.
The first lower viewpoint was easy to get to, if not a bit annoying with the larger rocky surface off trail. It gave first views of Laguna Torre (another popular hiking trail) and its floating icebergs.
Commence fun hiking. The summit was a zig zag scree path that was nice and steep.
There were just as nice views over the valley below.
At the end of the scree path came a choice. Stop there and be disappointed (although you would never know having not summited) or continue up a slightly spicy bit to get to some banging views. There was a decent rocky section that required some scrambling, albeit pretty easy, and then a more spicy steep snow and ice ascent. Naturally I went for it, able to carve out footholds easily enough with my boots and knowing full well I was gonna end up on my ass going down. But it was only 20m and I met numerous people who gave up at this point - don’t!
Being quick has its perks and I was the only person up there when I had summited. It was absolutely amazing.
Fitz Roy and Laguna Torre were more or less out of the clouds by this point.
Cerro Solo with its strange flat sloped roof stood to the left of the main character's views.
Behind were clear views over lake Viedma.
And on the left of all was the magnificent ridge line and colours of Cerro Huemul.
I went further down the rocky summit to try and get a look out over Laguna Toro and the valley, managing to see a little nubbin of the lake and glacier far off in the distance.
With the trusty selfie stick I got my proof of conquest picture.
On the top I sat for a while eating lunch as various other people turned up before descending. Perks of the Pliegue summit is there is tons of space for people.
As expected, going down the ice wasn’t easy without poles and I unashamedly went down on my ass a few times. Some people were concerned enough to offer assistance which was nice of them.
Starting the hike at 9am and summiting at 11.30am was the right call. A lot more people were making their way up while I was descending and hadn’t timed it overly well, Fitz Roy now fully clouded over. It also seemed like this secondary group was the novice parade, every noob and their cousin stopping me to ask directions, timings, what the views were like and how difficult it was. Didn’t realise I had ‘pro-hiker’ written on my forehead.
The views over El Chaltén while near the end of the trail are pretty nice.
As I was done much earlier than expected, I figured there was a small chance I could catch Nicola and Ciara doing the Mirador De Los Cóndores loop which connected to the very start of Pliegue.
Sure enough we were reunited at the Mirador De Los Cóndores, me sitting on the rock on my tod eating lunch until I heard the distinct sound of my fiancées voice in the distance.
We had a brief reunification as Ciara ended up bumping into one of her many many friends she’d made while travelling (unlike us) and we were stuck talking to the guys mates who were not really our kind of people. Me personally I didn’t want to talk to randomers after walking for 6ish hours but we got amazing views of two condors flying close by.
I wanted to complete the loop so I took off by myself. The views of Fitz Roy were pretty decent throughout.
Mirador Las Águilas was a bit disappointing so quickly completed the circuit and returned back to the hostel.
Distance = 29.34km
Elevation = 1,376m
Highest point = 1,497m
Moving time = 5hrs 53mins
Elapsed time = 7hrs 40mins
Nicola story time:
After the 27h gruelling bus ride I felt like I needed a good easy morning. Thus, I lied in bed, relaxed and had a mooch around the shops buying a magnet until the 1pm meet time with Ciara (who was also in El Chalten via a different route).
She invited me to meet up with her and some of her traveller girlfriends (all Germans) which I greatfully accepted.
I met up with them all at the visitors centre and we all headed off on the Mirador De Los Cóndores hike. The hike was fairly busy and one of the German took lead on directions and I was happy to follow for a change.
The girls didn't seem overly friendly, or much like they wanted me there so after trying to make awkward conversation for 10 minutes, I settled into happily chatting away to Ciara.
The girls headed off on a route down the valley, which wasn't the original way I wanted to walk. Hesitating, Ciara and I decided to head up to the viewpoint carrying on our conversation about the world (I definately got carried away talking about geography).
Up at the viewpoint was when we spotted Luke and headed over. Three other Australian hikers Ciara also knew happened to be up there too so we all chatted away, watched Condors and chilled before Luke headed off on his hike again and Ciara and I headed back to town.
Reunited:
Back in the room we were joined by our new amazing roommates in James & Rachel, a couple from the UK, closer to our age and very easy to talk to. And after so long without sleeping properly we had absolutely no problems sharing a room. Absolute god sends.
The hostel kitchen was not overly conducive to multiple people preparing food and was poorly stocked. At this point, having spent so long cooking for ourselves, the mood was definitely to eat out despite it being comparatively very expensive for Argentina. For us it didn’t feel that bad because all our day hiking activites were free (fuck you Chilean National Parks).
What was needed after hiking all day? La Lomiteria answered the call by providing dirty bbq shredded pulled pork, bacon and cheese sandwiches with fries. Hole well and truly filled. At £8 each for such sizable portions we had no qualms.
We didn’t do much with our evening, nor any in El Chalten but the hostel was plenty comfortable enough to chill in.
Wednesday 13th December - Day 435
Luke’s use of maps, and specifically weather ones, has improved from no skill at all to a competency Mike Gatfield could be proud of. Today, by his assessment, was expected to be the ‘good’ day of our time in El Chalten and therefore the iconic Los Tres Lagoon via Mt Fitz Roy trail was our plan.
There was deemed to be no rush in the morning as the weather was expected to improve later on. We decided to pass on meeting up with Ciara and her friends who were getting an early bus about 15km down the road to hike the El Pillar route, up to the summit and back down into El Chalten.
Luke would actually recommend doing this if you can be bothered with getting a bus. It will give some great views of the Piedras Blancas glacier and give the walk a bit more variety.
We however liked the idea of not needing to get a bus and would just tag on the glacier viewpoint to extend the hike. It also meant Nicola had more time to fuel, who was still absolutely shattered with little energy throughout the day.
The trail is a busy one. Starting a little later meant there were a LOT of people going both up and down, most without a shred of hiking etiquette in letting people past or walking without taking up the whole path. Number 2 on Luke’s biggest hates on a hike (number 1 queuing for ‘insta’ photos).
Second big reason the hike wasn’t very fun was the savage amount of monster mosquitos. After carrying around bug spray for months without requiring use, Luke took it out of his day bag to save weight the day before and he will never make that mistake again. They were vicious as fuck, made walking very unpleasant and meant we couldn’t stop unless in a wind tunnel for defence. Nicola was absolutely obliterated, although the sum total of this attack wouldn’t come to light until a few days later. It was basically a mozzie orgy with Nicola as the post coital party snack.
The views for the first half were pretty sub par. The very first banger was a wicked braided river with the mountains as the backdrop but that quickly evaporated into tree cover for an age and mozzie attacks.
The only real decision to make is whether to walk via Laguna Capri or Mirador Fitz Roy. We opted for the latter first, the former on the way back. Pretty good views but cloud cover still lingered.
From this point we were at least walking towards Fitz Roy in full view most of the time which made it a lot more exciting.
Over half way in the good view vibes with some entertaining walking came in. Rather than have Fitz Roy views the trail looped across a plateau that stretched out over the Piedras Blancas glacier end of the range.
The change up in views was super nice, the sun was out and we were out of the trees so Luke was super happy.
They were even kind enough to put bridges in to bypass the pools of marshland. Pretty as well.
Nearing the steep ascent point were a number of campsites and small river crossings that made nice spots for a rest and here it was pretty clear how many people were on the trail.
Nicola was feeling pretty exhausted so was apprehensive about the steep climb to the summit. Initially we tried to walk to the Piedras Blancas glacier along the valley path closest to the glacier but turned around when we saw warning signs.
Instead Nicola figured she’d go as high as she could. Eventually the easily navigable path turned to loose rock and gravel, the kind of terrain she hates going up and down and it would also be the windiest conditions Luke has ever hiked in. Calling it when she did was the absolute right decision with the revised plan to go to the Piedras Blancas viewpoint along the El Pillar trail and meet up again at Laguna Capri.
Nicola story time:
I headed back down to the river for lunch, enjoyed the scenery and the weather window that opened up giving great views of Fitzroy and where Luke was! From there I slowly made my way over to Piedras Blancas viewpoint for glacier views, before slowly making my way to Laguna Capri (with many stops). On the way I spotted a woodpecker family feeding its young and lots of birds when walking at a slower pace. I waited at Laguna Capri until eventually Luke turned up (later than expected).
Luke story time:
A short way up I passed James and Rachel who had got off nice and early. Weather wise it wasn’t great for them, the peaks in cloud cover throughout their time at the top but there was no wind, it was sunny and they had a lovely hour chill with still amazing views. On their ascent there was also barely anybody ascending or descending so it was all super chill.
My experience was quite different. The route was pretty narrow for the most part and required big steps up large rocks for the most part.
Insert a bunch of hiking / general exercise noobs and the whole route was pock marked with pinch points and snail trails. Nobody was aware of what was going on around them and giving way to those who should have had priority was non-existent.
It was bloody painful getting up. It’s the sort of hiking I love doing, that one step before scrambling and being able to get a nice leg burn on before the summit. I managed to burn most by running around routes deemed less stable and in some instances was a bit of a prick.
The views over the valley below were pretty nice though.
Once up and past the narrow part the wind really picked up. The route flattened off across a wideish gravel path that a lot of people were struggling with.
The summit was something else. Probably the windiest conditions ever experienced, the roar was outstanding and the first thing I could see were people being blown all over the place. At least there was decent shelter from the ‘top’ viewpoint over the range.
Laguna de los Tres was near frozen solid. Super cool.
At this point I decided to walk down to the lake which proved to be quite a challenge. The wind was rip roaring and I honestly could have leaned into it without falling over.
The waterfront was beautiful but it was pretty challenging to stand and appreciate it. Wind was blowing gravel, ice and water into my face that felt like I was being shot and akin to my skydiving experience through a cloud.
The selfie stick did work but I wasn’t waiting around for better views.
To the left was another rock vantage point I saw a few people absolutely crawling over. Naturally I followed and realised why they were going so slowly. It was super difficult to get across but well worth it.
A smaller sub lake came into view with the most perfect royal blue colour and the cloud cover over Fitz Roy starting thinning.
The wind was so savage I had to sit down to take pictures and videos.
All done I retreated back to the protection of the summit mound and now with cloud cover very thin, got the best pictures.
The lower ice/snow covering of the range looked like it was in cloud cover but was actually being blown off the mountainside and straight into my face. Quite a painful retreat that one.
To top off my summit experience I got to witness a lot of people hit the deck in unison when a large gust of wind came bowling in. Very amusing and very sketchy.
The descent was a lot easier as it seemed there were less people and running around people downhill was a whole lot quicker. My good deed for the day came when telling an Aussie family carrying a small child on his back to turn around as it was straight up dangerous for most people carrying themselves, let alone those with a small human attached to them. Thankfully they took my warnings and came up with a revised summit plan for them.
I had spent a lot longer doing the summit than expected so in order to catch Nicola up without her being eaten to death by mozzies I had to get a big shuffle on.
Piedras Blancas viewpoint 1 along the El Pillar trail was really easy and gave the best overall views.
Piedras Blancas viewpoint 2 was a fair bit further and the view was blocked by quite a lot of trees but I was able to see the glacial lake and further up into the ice fields.
It was absolute vibes now, the clouds having left Fitz Roy and now strangely hovering over like some sort of halo.
It made the walk back to Nicola pretty great.
I was pretty pooped by the time I got to Laguna Capri.
Reunited:
Nicola had spent quite a bit of time slowing down her walk and chilling in various places so was eager to go when Luke arrived. Thankfully she was happy to sit down for a bit longer to allow him to eat something and relax for a bit post hustle.
One picture in particular gave an insight to the manhandellings that happens behind the scenes of our couple photos.
We had a gentle walk down for Luke to preserve the soles of his feet and were surprised by a Carpintero Gigante / Magellanic woodpecker who could not have given a monkeys about us.
We finished with the nice braided river views and the pleasure of debooting is always dreamy.
Los Tres Lagoon via Mt Fitz Roy trail + Piedras Blancas viewpoints:
Distance = 31km
Elevation = 1,121m
Highest point = 1,187m
Moving time = 6hrs 51mins
Elapsed time = 7hrs 59mins
Nicola’s bite count for the El Chalten trip totalled in excess of 50 and she looked like she had the plague. She kept getting bitten in the night, the only one to be, and by the second day we couldn’t even tell what was new and what was old. Not very fun for her at all.
The free Airbnb beers from Bariloche did Luke wonders in celebrating the end of this hike.
On Ciara’s recommendation we had our first steak dinner at Parrilla La Oveja Negra. The fat free lomo cuts, pumpkin mash and salad was divine.
It was here we found out by overhearing other backpackers talking about the Argentina president devaluing the currency by 50% a few hours before. Naturally we had absolutely no idea what this meant or that it had happened because we’d basically been internet free for a few days. After some cross table chatting and hearing about the horror story of one girl's accomodation cost doubling, we had worked out the basics.
The blue dollar rate is essentially the market rate
The official rate is set and controlled by the Argentinian government, and in effect means very little to us as tourists
All accommodation on booking is priced in ARS, translated to USD at the official rate and therefore is seemingly priced stupidly high
When going to pay however this is converted back down using the official rate so is actually much cheaper than initially expected, like what happened with our Chalten accommodation
With the official rate doubling to 1:800, the price of USD accomodation doubles hence the horror story from the backpacker
As Argentina is a closed economy, the impact on prices didn’t rise by 50% but they did go up over the next few days by 15-20%
The blue dollar rate, ie. the markets, didn’t react at all so our cash remained at the same value
Our tactic therefore was to burn through a lot of the large cash reserves we had, believing that the blue dollar rate would go up and therefore devalue the currency we took out.
5 days on it just seems that costs have gone up and we’ve had to bear the brunt of this. Everyone raves about Argentina because it’s so cheap for great quality but this could change for us.
——
Thursday 14th December - Day 436
It was pretty challenging to sleep deeply in Rancho Grande. The pillows were wafer thin and the curtains let all the light in so we never slept in past 8am.
Luke was up pretty early with James and Rachel and meant he could get off hiking early for his big day.
Luke story time:
With my feet somewhat recovered from the last two days, it was a day for take 2 for the Laguna Toro / Huemul circuit day 1 out and back. This time I was prepared with complete online form and water crossing shoes in tow.
The weather throughout wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anything like the previous two days. Cloud cover remained over the Toro valley and restricted views of the South Patagonian ice field but it was dry and not too windy. There was no flex in our schedule so I just had to make do and prioritise hikes based on expected weather windows.
The start was the exact same as Loma del Pliegue Tumbado and there wasn’t a soul around. Clearly no one wanted to be out at 8am on a not so clear day.
At the Laguna Toro route split it went straight into testing conditions that would recur throughout the 40km hike. The first bog section invoked my finest Takeshi's castle assault course moves and somehow managed to escape with dry feet. The sparse logs were very helpful but more were really needed.
This gave rise to one of the most enjoyable points of the hike, both out and back. A wide open flower meadow section had tons of birds fluttering around and singing which was so nice.
The route was basically one big ascent from the start until up and out of a forest section. I’d forgotten to steal Nicola’s hiking pole so ended up with a replacement stick to use if any river crossings got spicy. It would turn out it wasn’t needed at all.
The forest section was easy and any muddy and mashed up parts had other routes that could be taken to avoid the slop.
Exiting the trees lead out over a horrible wet and muddy marsh. I tried my best to navigate through without soaking my feet but this just seemed straight up impossible so I made the decision to switch shoes and just plough through the marsh. It was a good plan, if not a little unpleasant and on passing those returning from the Huemul must’ve looked like an absolute weirdo with my leg bottoms rolled up and wading through the water.
With the marsh over I was able to dry my feet, put the boots back on and got my first views of Cerro Huemul. It is a strangely beautiful mountain with the array of colours it has from base to top.
Behind was the expansive Lago Viedma.
The views descending towards Rio Túnel were the best of the day.
In the distance were the South Patagonian icefield, Glacier Túnel, Lago Toro & Rio Túnel. The glacier was predominantly in the clouds so I couldn’t truly appreciate its expanse but it was still cool.
At this point I started passing all the people on their last day hike. Some did not look very happy at all but their views were not of Cerro Huemul and a pretty dandelion field.
Conversely I only had 1 person pass me and on my return saw 4 people heading to camp. Clearly not the day for it.
Throughout I was going slow to preserve the soles of my feet which had taken quite a bit of a battering over the last few days in my not so comfortable replacement hiking boots.
At river level I was greeted with another marsh that had me changing back into my water shoes. The next few river crossings were small but it was worth keeping the trainers on. Jesus the water was cold.
Post those two rivers my hiking boots were perfectly fine. The next river had enough stones to jump it and the trickiest one had a river crossing already established.
This section was flat and easy. The surrounding mountains were cool but were largely submersed in clouds which was a shame.
When I reached Camp Toro there was only one person there pitching up a tent. It was an interesting camp, set in the trees with a wood fence to block out any adverse wind.
The emergency shelter was teeny tiny.
I went straight over to the lake and the trees faded away to desolate rock and rubble.
The one green part was a stream oasis that was cut in a mini valley and had a wealth of green around it.
Laguna Toro wasn’t all that amazing to be honest. The glacier above was set in cloud and only a slight overhang could be seen high in the rock.
I had a walk around the lake to see whether the views would change much but concluded without going over to the Tyrolese traverse, this wouldn't happen.
Content with having a spot of lunch by the lake I then turned around and kicked on back to town.
The flower and bird meadow was again amazing.
Interestingly the worst part of the hike was the last 3km into and in town. It was aggressively windy and my battered feet didn’t appreciate having to work harder walking into the gales.
Distance = 40km
Elevation = 1,267m
Highest point = 1,064m
Moving time = 8hrs 14mins
Elapsed time = 9hrs 13mins
Nicola story time:
I did nothing but eat and sleep all day. It was glorious! I did head out and get bus tickets, laundry and bumped into Ciara to say goodbye. But aside from that I got the rest that was much needed.
Reunited:
Dinner was round 2 of a dirty pork sandwich and fries for Luke while Nicola was more sensible with a cuppa soup having had a large lunch in the hostel restaurant.
We managed to make it out for an evening finally, grabbing some beers at Tap Zorro with James and Rachel which made for a nice evening. Turns out 3 beers and Luke is wavy with a headache the next day.
Friday 15th December - Day 437
The last day in El Chaltén was to end with Luke’s smallest hike. He needed a small one as the soles of his feet were pretty mangled and after 4 days hiking and not really sleeping much, he was pretty exhausted.
It was sadly still pretty cloudy for the whole day towards Laguna Torre, so the desired expansive views over the mountains and glaciers wasn’t top notch.
The first viewpoint was Mirador Cascada Margarita, overlooking the Rio Fitz Roy that ran into town.
The walk was alright, a bit boring for the first part and for once Luke was slowing Nicola down so he could preserve himself.
One of the more interesting parts was a forest view over a load of dead trees with glacier Torre in the background.
Once at Laguna Torre we were treated to an array of floating icebergs.
We sat and ate some lunch and took some pictures.
The Torre loop went up over the barren ridge line which gave nicer views into the two pronged glacier.
The return was hard fought for Luke and was very happy to be back at the hostel, straight in bed for a nap.
Distance = 21km
Elevation = 546m
Highest point = 681m
Moving time = 4hrs 31mins
Elapsed time = 5hrs 12mins
We had an early dinner at the hostel which boasted about serving the largest portions in town. Based on the lamb stew Luke for, we certainly weren’t going to argue that claim.
With James and Rachel now departed we got another round of interesting people to join our room. This time it was clearly a recently joined travelling couple where English wasn’t their first language and they were all over each other. Once they’d checked into the room they dropped their bags and didn’t return back to the room until around 1.30am, used the top bunk sheet to give themselves ‘privacy’ from prying eyes and continued to rustle around for a long old while in strange silence. Luke was pretty awake at this point and required earplugs and headphones to get back to sleep. More weirdly, they managed to fall asleep on the bottom bunk with one pillow…
Saturday 16th December - Day 438
We were happy to check out from the awkward room dynamic, neither of us acknowledging the other existed. The girl was French so not surprised she was like this.
We had brunch at Mathilda cafe, which we would not recommend at all as it was expensive and not very good although the interior was quite pretty, before heading to the bus terminal and travelling to El Calafate.
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