Couch Surfing, Trekking and Biking Bariloche

The past five days I have spent hanging out in the city of Bariloche, Argentina. It has been a wonderfully relaxing way to spent some time following my big hike in Torres Del Paine.

I arrived in Saturday afternoon and had my first experience with an organization called ¨couch surfing.¨ Couchsurfing.com is a website similar to myspace or facebook that connects people across the world. The major difference with couch surfing is that part of that connection is offering up your couch (or extra room or floor) for the other person when they are traveling to your area of the world. My host in Bariloche was Santiago, a Columbian cook living in Argentina. His apartment is located in the center of town on the eighth floor, with a view that is indescribable. Also surfing on his ¨couch¨ (he actually had three extra beds) were Barabara, a Polish girl and Christina, a German girl. That night Santiago invited us to join him at a party on the beach by the lake with all of his friends from work. We all tagged along and had a wonderful evening drinking beers by the fire watching the stars shine over the lake.

That next day we all went our separate ways for the morning, each of us with different tasks we hoped to complete. For me it was running around town figuring out bus tickets, updating the blog and sorting out how I would spend the next few days. In the afternoon we all met back up to relax on the lake beach in town followed by a group dinner at Santiago´s place.

The view from Santiago´s apartment

My new friends at our group dinner

The following morning, Barabara and I had planned to start on an overnight hike in the nearby mountains. Joining us would be Mateo (a friend of Barbara´s from France, studying in Buenos Aires) and Nuria (a girl from Buenos Aires Mateo met in his hostel). The hike was up to the Refugio Italia, about an hour bus ride and four hour hike from Bariloche. After a final steep ascent we all arrived up to the Refugio in time to spend the afternoon relaxing there and taking in the scenery. During this time we also met up with another hiker, Nir, a guy traveling alone from Israel, who ended up joining in on our group.

On the way up to Refugio Italia

Nuria happily arriving at the top of the long ascent

A view from the top

Me diving in for a quick swim in the very cold lake outside the Refugio

That night we cooked up a wonderful dinner of rice and pasta and drank the two bottles of wine we worked so hard to carry up to the Refugio. After dinner we finished our wine sitting out by the lake watching the sun go down. One interesting thing about the experience, that we realized while sitting out by the lake, was that all five of us came from different countries that spoke different languages. The opportunity to meet so many people from so many different cultures is one of the aspects of traveling that I really love.

Drinking wine by the lake

The sunset over the lake

After finishing off the wine we all headed inside the refugio to listen to some live music (played by those who dragged their guitars up to the refugio) and met lots of other people staying there that night. I actually ended up getting in on a poker game with some guys from Buenos Aires I had met earlier in the evening. We played tournament style with rocks we found outside. I of course lost my 10 pesos (like 3 dollars) fairly quickly but it was fun none the less.

That next morning Nuria, Nir and I all hiked back down the way we came up, and Barbara and Mateo were headed further along the trail to another refugio. We took our time coming down, taking lots of breaks and enjoying the outdoors. I didn´t arrive back into Bariloche until late in the afternoon and decided to take it easy that night and rest up for the big bike ride I had planned for the next day.

The bike ride I did is called the ¨circuito chico¨and it involved riding from Bariloche out to and around some lakes and then back to Bariloche. There was an option to rent the bike out by the lakes (skipping the ride out there and back from Bariloche), which I did consider doing, but in the end I decided to do the entire ride, which ended up being about 70 kilometers.

I decided to take my time on the ride and make it a whole day event. So I stopped often, once for lunch on a lakeside beach and another time to do a chairlift up to a mirador that overlooked the mountains and the lakes. I was pretty excited when I finally arrived at the ¨loop¨ part of the trip because it meant that the traffic would lessen significantly but the scenery would only get better.

A view of the lake from just outside of town

One of the amazing views from the top of the chairlift

The ride involved a few fairly steep and long hills and while taking a break at the top of one of them I met a girl from Germany who looked exhausted and frustrated. I asked her how she was doing and she didnt seem to happy. She said it was her first time riding a mountain bike with multiple gears and was having a hard time figuring it all out. I took some time to explain to her the bike and gave her some hints on how to get up the hills, and we were off. I decided that I would hang out with her for the remainder of the ride, as I was starting to worry about her a bit. She ended up doing great, but was still very relieved when she was done (she had rented the bike at the loop, not in Bariloche). I finished my ride back to town and immediatley rewarded myself with a nice cold Fanta (my drink of choice on a hot day in Latin America).

A break spot on the top of one of the hills

Me at one of the major panoramic vistas along the trip

Unfortunately last night, 5 hours of so after finishing my ride and having dinner, I ended up getting sick and spent the majority of the night either lying awake in pain or throwing up in the hostel bathroom. It was the first time I have gotten sick during my travels in the last 3 months, so I guess it was about time. Hopefully I have 3 more months before it happens again.

I had already booked a bus ticket out of of Bariloche for this morning, and it took all the energy I had to drag myself out of bed and make it to the bus station. Originally my plan was to spend the entire day in El Bolson, a town 2 hours south of Bariloche, known for being set in the 60´s and full of hippies. I wanted to do a day hike in the mountains around the town before catching a late night bus into Esquel this evening. Because I was still feeling very ill this morning, I opted to change my ticket to Esquel and left much earlier, only spending a few hours in El Bolson. They have a really cool market there a few days a week and fortunately I was able to muster up the energy to walk around a bit and make a few purchases.

I arrived into Esquel early this evening and found myself a hostel for the night. While on the bus I met Michael, a sea kayak guide from Michigan, who it turns out knows a lot of the same people I do in the kayaking world. We ended up grabbing dinner and having a nice evening in Esquel.

Tomorrow morning I will be catching the 8am bus out of here and headed back to the Futaleufu in Chile. I am very excited to be spending a few weeks on the river and getting back in my boat again. Its been over a month now since I´ve been kayaking and I am beginning to have withdrawals. The plan is to help Jon out with an NOC trip for the next ten days or so, then spend another week or two exploring the area for myself.

By Sunday I will finally be paddling on what is known to be one of the best whitewater rivers in the world. I can´t wait!

The Torres Del Paine ¨Circuit¨ in Five Days

This past week I visited the Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile to do a multi-day trek called the ¨Paine Circuit.¨ The trek is basically a big loop around the Paine massif. In addition to the loop, there are also a few side trips that you can do that are part of another, shorter trek often done called the ¨W.¨ In the map below the black line is the ¨circuit¨ and the red line is the ¨W¨ It is recommended that you take 8-10 days to complete the entire circuit plus the side trips of the ¨W¨. I did the entire thing in 5. Here´s the story....

A map of the park showing the trek that I did

So prior to starting the trek I had been in contact with Ted, a guy who was planning on renting a car from El Calafate and driving it straight to Torres Del Paine to start the circuit. He was looking for someone to share the ride and a trekking partner as well. I decided to join him for both the ride and the trek, since I was currently without transportation or a trekking partner.

Last Saturday afternoon, after flying in from the states, Ted picked me up at my hostel and we were off to the park. The drive should have taken us about 4 hours, but due to some missed turns, closed borders and gravel roads, it ended up taking us more like 7. We arrived in around 3am, threw our sleeping bags out on the refugio beds and crashed for the night.

Day One (35.5 km) : The Day that got Ted
Hosteria Las Torres to the Torres Lookout and Back, then to Campamiento Puesto Seron

Upon waking up that first morning, Ted and I took a hard look at the maps and realized that if we were going to finish the trek in the six days we had available, we would need to start off with a pretty long day. The advantage to making the first day a long day was that we could hike up to the Torres Lookout (one of the side treks) without our packs, then head back to the car, grab our gear and make it to the first campsite by dark.

The Torres Lookout hike was very beautiful, but also involved a good bit of climbing and I was loving the fact that I wasn’t lugging my full pack up the mountain with me. We made it to the top in time to catch an almost completely clear view of the Torres before making our way back down to the car. At this point Ted started mentioning that he was not feeling so well so we took a long break, had some food and then decided to press on to the campsite. The 16.5 km hike to the camp was not necessarily physically difficult, but the long day, combined with the lack of sleep from the night before was definitely affecting both of us. This is when I started to worry about Ted, as it seemed he was a bit more exhausted than he should be, and was really not feeling well. We both arrived in just before dark, set up our tents, and were asleep in no time.

A view of the valley on the way up to the Torres Lookout

A view from the Torres Lookout

Day Two (27.5 km): The Day that Dragged On Forever
Campamiento Puesto Seron to Campamiento Los Perros

We both woke up that morning with the realization that it might not be the best idea for Ted to continue on. He mentioned that he thought he might be running a fever and was not looking so well. After a little contemplating, Ted decided it would be in his best interest to turn back while he still could, as the next days would involve a very committing and inaccessible section of the park. We made a plan to meet back up after I finished the trek and I said goodbye to him as I pushed on to the next camp.

That second day took me around the back side of the Paine massif, past many lakes and a beautiful glacier. It was also the windiest section I experienced and the wind literally blew me over at times (I was just glad the wind was blowing me onto the mountain and not off of it). I knew that the day would be another long one and it really did feel like it went on forever. I took a lunch break at the Refugio Dickson, a beautiful spot staring up at the mountains and overlooking the lake. A big part of me wanted to stop there for the night, but I knew I needed to continue on so that I could do the John Garner Pass, known to be the most difficult and exposed section of the trail, first thing the next morning. I arrived into the Los Perros Campsite after a long and tiring 10 hours of hiking.

A self-portrait photo I snapped while experiencing a very windy moment

A classic view from the trail on Day Two

My lunchbreak spot

A distant view of the Dickson Glacier

On the way to Campamiento Los Perros

Day Three (33 km) : The Perfect Day
Campamiento Los Perro to Refugio Lago Pehoe

I woke up that third day feeling unbelievably well. Maybe it was the clear skies and the bright sun shining through the trees, but either way, I woke up ready to hike. I packed up camp and took off alone towards the pass. That day started out with a difficult to follow and muddy trail, but finally I made it to the rocky section above tree-line that would take me up and over the pass. The weather could not have been any better! I was standing on top of the pass two hours after leaving camp staring out at one of the more amazing vistas I have ever seen.

The view after emerging from the muddy forest

On my way up to the pass

A small lake halfway up the pass

Me standing on top of the pass with Glacier Grey in the background

A view looking back down the valley from the top of the pass

After climbing the pass, it was time to descend. The descent was almost straight downhill and lasted for another good two hours. Finally I made it down and was standing just above the massive Glacier Grey. I stopped to have lunch, but soon found myself alongside 35 Chilean boy scouts and realized that if I didn’t move on quickly, I would spend my entire day listening to their chanting. I decided to eat a clif bar on the trail and kept moving.

A view from my would´ve been lunch spot if not for the boy scouts

My first sight of Glacier Grey reaching the lake

One of many ladders that would take me down the walls of some mini gorges

The weather was still looking amazing when I arrived at Refugio Grey, which is where I had been planning on spending the night. I stopped there, made dinner, and realized that even though it was getting late, and I had already hiked over 20 kilometers on tough terrain, I was feeling great, the weather was great and I wanted to take advantage of every minute I could get. That said, I decided to head to the next camp. The final miles that day took me high above the Grey Lake, granting me some wonderful views of the glacier set so beautifully in the corner of the lake.

Another beautiful view of Glacier Grey

The trail leaving Refugio Grey

A view of the lake looking away from the glacier

One final view of Glacier Grey before the trail left the lake

Day Four (20.6 km): The Relaxed Day
Refugio Lago Pehoe up the French Valley and down to Campamiento Italiano

After putting in such a long day the day before, I was pretty excited about my plans for the fourth day. I left the Refugio Pehoe campsite that morning with the plan to head up to the base of the French Valley (a recommended side hike) and set up camp. I had some lunch and relaxed in my tent, waiting for a couple of Chileans who I had met the previous day and had planned to hike up the French Valley with. They arrived a couple hours later and we were off up the valley, thankfully without our packs. The hike was beautiful and the day wonderfully relaxing.

The view after emerging from my tent at Refugio Pehoe

Looking back on my hike up the French Valley

My Chilean friends and I on our hike up the French Valley

A view looking up at the French Valley

Me at the top of the valley

Day Five (16.5 km): The Final Day
Campamiento Italiano to Hosteria Las Torres

By the time the fifth day came around, I was started to worry more and more about Ted and his condition (as well as my passport and life belongings that I had left in the car). For this reason, I decided that I would end my trek that day, a day early. While this was my shortest day miles wise, it was one that I really tried to stretch out, as I was not completing ready for the trek to end. Eventually, after some extended breaks, epic river crossings and final views of the Torres Valley, I arrived back at the Hosteria Las Torres, where I had begun my trek five days earlier.

The standard scene on Day Five

Their system they have for ¨helping¨ people across the rivers (while I was crossing one of the more difficult rivers the wires actually broke)

One final view from the trail

In the end I trekked over 133km (about 83 miles) and logged multiple 20+ mile, 10-12 hour days. I found that hiking it alone was an amazing experience that I would not take back for anything. It turned out to be just what I had needed and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I spent that evening looking around for Ted, with no luck finding him. This made me a little nervous as I had really expected to see him either on the trail or at the refugio that night, but I was a day early and knew he would not be expecting me yet. I convinced the hosteria to let me use the $10 for 15min. internet for free to shoot Ted a quick email and was off to set up camp. Everyone I met that day was absolutely amazing, and a large group from Montana even bought me dinner, since they heard my story and knew at that moment I was short on money. The next morning Ted arrived (he had received my email) and we packed up my camp and headed back to El Calafate. That night I took the best shower of my life, had a huge meal and slept oh so well in my bed.

Me relaxing in the refugio while waiting around for Ted to pick me up

A view from my campsite outside the Refugio Las Torres

A view from the car as we drive back to El Calafate

The Perito Moreno Glacier

A view of the Perito Moreno Glacier from one of the balconies

Yesterday I visited the most famous glacier in all of Patagonia, the Perito Moreno Glacier in the Glaciers National Park, Argentina. The glacier is located just an hour outside of the town of El Calafate and is the main reason so many visitors frequent this town every summer. One thing that makes this glacier so special is that it is one of very few that are actually stable and not receding.

After spending some time exploring the various options for visiting the glacier, I chose to go with the ¨minitrekking¨ tour. The tour started out with a trip to the north side of the glacier, where we were given time to walk around and check it out from above on a variety of viewing balconies. I was truly blown away by just how impressive this galcier really is. It is a 5 kilometer wide, 60 meter high wall of ice towering over a blue lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. That is a pretty amazing sight alone, but that coupled with watching massive ice towers fall from the wall creating huge swells in the lake below just tops the whole experience off.

The next part of the tour involved boarding a boat which took us across the lake in front of the south side of the glacier. As spectacular as it was to see the glacier from above, it was even more impressive to see it from the bottom looking up. The boats are unable to get too close to the glacier because of the danger caused by the waves from falling ice.

A view of the glacier from the boat (note the size of the boat compared to the glacier)

After our boat ride across the lake we put crampons on our boots and actually walked out on top of the glacier. This is where the ¨minitrekking¨ part of the tour comes. Our guides gave us a quick overview of how to walk on the ice in our crampons and told us about some safety issues we should be concerned with while ice-trekking. The guides also told us all about the history of the glacier and explained how its cycle works.

Me ice-trekking on top of the Perito Moreno Glacier

One of many sink holes formed in the glacier

One of the best parts about the trip was near the end when we rounded the corner to find Jose, one of our guides, standing in the middle of the glacier mixing up some whiskeys on ice!

Jose, Perito Moreno Glacier`s best bartender

I spent most of today getting prepared for my next adventure, the ¨Paine Circuit¨ trek in Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile, just south of here. The trek will involve hiking over 100 kilometers and in my case, will hopefully take 7 days. I have been hearing many great things about this hike from others who have done it and I cannot wait to see it for myself.

Road Tripping Through Patagonia

So I will start this post out by saying that the past ten days have been some of the more memorable ones in all of my travels. There was lots of amazing scenery, good times with friends and all around great experiences.

My roadtrip started in the small town of Esquel, Argetina when I was picked up at the airport by Monique. Monique is a girl who I had been in contact with prior to my arrival who had her family farm´s truck and was driving it from Santiago, Chile to El Chalten, Argentina and invited me on her journey. Along the way, she had picked up another person, Curtis, who joined us for the first couple days of our trip. After leaving the airport we headed straight to the Chilean border, hoping to make it to Jon Clark (a fellow NOC instructor) ´s cabin in Futaleufu, Chile that evening. The drive was only an hour and a half, but I knew that the route to Jon´s place was somewhat of a challenge, involving a 25 minute hike on not always clearly marked trails so we were wanting to arrive before dark. We managed to finally arrive at the house just as the sun was setting, which around there doesn´t happen until almost 10:00. I was greeted with a big hug from both Jon and Samantha. I was so excited to finally make it to that magical place I had heard so much about. We were also greeted by two other friends of Jon´s, Michelle and Jon, who had arrived just minutes before us. We proceeded to cook up a wonderful meal and laughed, ate and drank the night away.

The next day Samantha had to leave to start her trip back to the States where she is currently in school. After escorting her to the road on his four wheeler, Jon returned to the cabin and whipped up some of his very delicious homemade bread. After breakfast, we decided to rent some horses from Jon´s neighbor and explore his backyard on horseback. The even more memorable horse experience of the day was our group effort to round up Jon´s horse, which lives out in a large field with some other younger horses that are not very good influences. Before starting the wrangling of the horse, Jon gave us all a peptalk about how to stand our ground and get his horse in the corner of the fence. It was a pretty exhilarating experience, especially for Monique, who literally had three horses charging her at one point and managed to stand her ground so much that one of the horses completely wiped out right in front of her!

Samantha and I catching up during dinner

Horseback riding alongside the Rio Futaleufu

The following morning there had been talk about Jon, Curtis and I getting up early to do a little kayaking on the Futa. As it turned out, the boys weren´t hard enough to handle the cold and wet conditions, and decided to opt out of the paddle. We had a lazy morning of eating more bread and eventually Monique and I decided it was time to get on the road. We took everyone into town in the truck, had lunch, then said our goodbyes as the rest of the group started their way back North and we started South.

We drove for a couple hours before arriving at the Carretera Austral, an infamous road that leads down through Patagonian Chile. It is known for its ¨ripio¨(loose stones) sections as well as its spectacular scenery. After a few more hours of driving we arrived into the small port town of Puyuhuapi where we stayed the night.

The next morning we got up and hit the road once again. After driving a couple hours the road took us through a national park that Jon had recommended we stop and hike in. After a little work we managed to find the trailhead and started through the ¨enchanted forest.¨The trail eventually took us out of the forest and opened up into a rocky area with a stream running through it. Jon told us ahead of time not to be fooled into believing this was the end of the trail. So with his advice we followed the stream up to the top, and were delighted to find a beautiful hanging glacier surrounded by a dozen waterfalls and an ice-filled lake.

The hanging glacier/waterfall/ice lake

After our hike detour, we got back on the road with the plan to drive as far as we could before dark. The most amazing thing about driving the Carretera Austral is the change of landscape that takes place along the way. One minute we´d be in vast fields of green grass and would turn the corner to find huge snow covered peaks. We also noticed that it was simply impossible to find a section on the road that didn´t include seeing at least 15 waterfalls at every glance.

We eventually arrived into the first decent sized town I´d seen since Buenos Aires, called Coyhaique. We stopped there to try to pick up a few things and grab a bite to eat. We were completely unsuccessful in finding anything on our list, but we did roll into a nice little coffee shop with internet available for customers who ordered coffee, which I was perfectly happy to do once I saw the espresso machine. After dinner we decided to get out of the city and drive until we found a decent camping spot. We ended up finding a nice spot in a reserve about an hour south of Coyhaique.

The next morning we got out of our tents early with the intention of getting a good start on the day and put in some real miles. It was a great plan until we hit the small town of Villa Cerro Castillo and decided that breakfast and coffee were more important than driving. Monique and I started to realize early on that we were not any good at doing anything quickly and moved at a somewhat relaxed pace, at least as far as moving in the morning was concerned. We got stalled out in the town for a good hour or so and then decided that we would check out a little hike we had read about before getting on the road again.

The roadtrip vehicle on the way out of Coyhaique

The view from the road leading into Villa Cerro Castillo

The ¨Laura¨tree we found on our hike in Villa Cerro Castillo

Our ultimate goal for the day was to make it all the way from Villa Cerro Castillo to the Artgentine border. This involved driving down the Carretera Austral around the Lago General Carrera (or Lago Buenos Aires if you´re in Argentina). We arrived into another small town called Rio Tranquillo about lunch time and were attacked (literally) by about eight hitchhikers that had been waiting for a ride for two days. Monique and I had already been picking up hitchhikers along the way, but this was different because there were so many of them and they were just a little too eager. They began to put their bags in the truck before we had even told them we´d give them a ride. The problem with giving them a ride was that it is illegal to ride in the back of a truck through towns in Chile and Monique was a bit nervous since it was not her truck and she was not interested in having to explain that to a cop if we were to get pulled over. We eventually told them that we were going inside to have lunch and would let them know whats up when we were done. Over lunch we decided that we would let four of them come (thats all that could possibly fit), but the ones in the back would have to hop out when we arrived into any¨urban zones.¨ They were pretty excited to be getting the ride and we were off with our four new Israeli friends.

A pretty common scene on the Carretera Austral before getting to the lake

Monique and I taking a lake shore mate break before arriving into Rio Tranquillo

A pretty common scene on the Carretera Austral while driving alongside the lake

One of many photo stops (We were both very into taking lots and lots of photo breaks along the drive)

We eventually arrived into Chile Chico, Chile the town on the border with Argentina. We dropped off our hitchhikers, filled up with gas, ate or hid all of our fresh veggies (they are not allowed across the border) and made our move into Los Antiguos, Argentina.

We woke up the next morning knowing that we had a long day ahead of ourselves. It was that day that we would begin our drive down another infamous road, Route 40. Route 40 is also known for having ¨ripio¨ roads, but even more for its, as my guidebook would call it, ¨spectacular emptiness.¨For that reason we had the plan of getting up early and starting down 40 by early morning.

After driving out of Los Antiguos for about an hour, we stopped into Perito Moreno (the last town with a population above 100 we´d see for the next 600 kilometers) for our standard coffee and breakfast break. That was then followed by both of us running around town looking for random items we needed, including a gas container (since we were told to bring extra for the long drive without any gas stations), a tarp, empanadas, chocolate, and various other items we deemed essential. We finally started the long drive right on time for us, which wasn´t until after noon.

We had already decided that we would be breaking up the drive down Route 40 with a stop off at the ¨cueva de las manos,¨otherwise known as the ¨cave of hands.¨ The ¨cueva de las manos¨is a collection of prehistoric rock paintings from some of the earliest human societies in South America. There were a couple different options for getting to the caves and we decided to go with one that involved a slightly shorter drive but a steep hike down into a gorge and out to the other side where the cave was located. The scenery leading to the gorge and within the gorge proved to be just as nice as the hand paintings themselves. After speed hiking up out of the gorge, we finally got on the road again, and began to really experience what Route 40 was all about.

The view from out campsite in Los Antiguos, Argentina

Monique admiring the gorge of the ¨cueva de las manos¨

A few of the thousands of hand paintings found in the ¨cueva de las manos¨

One of many Ñandu crossings on Route 40

The ¨spectacular emptiness¨ we had heard so much about

A lonley guanaco hanging out by the road

Another thing to note about Route 40 is that along with there being hardly anything on it, there is also a whole lot of wind. More wind than I have really experienced anywhere else I have been. That said, finding a sheltered spot to camp alongside the road can become quite a problem. It started to get late and we had not yet decided if we would attempt camping in the harsh windy environment, or try to push on through the night. I was driving at this point and had found myself reasonably entertained by trying to find the least bumpy path down the road. There were potholes and washboards all over, but there was also like five different pathways to choose from at most points because there was either construction going on or people had just begun to make their own path when the original road got too bumpy. There were even these magical moments on the construction section of the road (where theoretically I wasn´t supposed to be driving on) when black asphalt, otherwise known as pavement, would appear for a few kilometers and then disappear just as quickly as it had started. I took advantage of those moments and tried to make up for lost time by picking up the speed a bit. Right about when I was starting to feel really good about driving through the night, we saw another thing we hadn´t in a while, trees. We finally decided that this would probably be the only sheltered camping spot we´d find on the road and set up camp for the night.

The next morning we were in the home stretch to reaching El Chalten. After a few more hours of driving through emptiness we came around a corner and found ourselves finally staring at the peaks we had driven so far to see.

Our first glimpse of snow covered peaks after our drive down Route 40

We arrived in El Chalten early that afternoon and started our mission to find an available and reasonably priced room in a place that accepted credit cards. As it turns out, thats not such an easy feat in El Chalten. There are no ATMs in the town and only about five places that accept credit cards, most of which that were out of our price range. We knew ahead of time that we would not be able to get cash once in town, but somehow neither of us really did the math on how much money we should bring. We ended up lucking out and finding a really nice place that had a big group cancel and so gave us a room at half price. We took the deal and that room for a night then made a reservation at another hospedaje that accepted Visa for the last two nights. By the time we were all settled in, the weather was looking a little better and we took a walk to a nearby waterfall. After the hike, we took advantage of the heated pool we would have for the one night and followed that up with a great dinner at the mirobrewery in town (no, they dont have ATMs in El Chalten, but they do have a microbrwery)

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful day. After buying some empandas for lunch, we started our hike to see the famous Fitz Roy peak. We first hiked to ¨Lago de los tres¨which involved a steep ascent up to some beautiful lakes that sit just below Fitz Roy. We had lunch there by the river while admiring the climbers traversing up on their way to submit the massive peak. We had been hopefull all day that once we arrived at the top of this hike the clouds that were chilling right over the peak would lift, but no such luck. It was still a pretty spectacular sight nonetheless. We finished up the hike by making it a loop and going around some lakes on the way back. We were hoping to see the other great peak in the area, Cerro Torre, but again the clouds would not participate. We ended up putting in somewhere around 25 kilometers that day.

Monique and I at the top of the hike in front of one of the peaks we were able to see without clouds (we got faked out many times thinking that it was Fitz Roy, but its not)

Monique crossing a random bridge on the way down from our hike

After arriving back from our hike we moved into our new room. While relaxing and sipping on mate, Monique happened to step outside to find that the impossible happened- the clouds had lifted and Fitz Roy was clear as day rising up behind the town.

Fitz Roy finally appearing out of the clouds

The next day we woke up feeling a little out of it, as we had just spent the night staying up way too late drinking with some Irish boys. We decided the best way to get moving would be to hit up the local coffee shop that served up, in my opinion, the best espresso coffee in town. Eventually we made our way out of town and up a gravel road road to begin another hike. The weather was absolutley perfect and we had views of Fitz Roy and its surrounding peaks for pretty much the whole day. The first hike we did involved hiking to a glacier lake that we realized, after hiking for a couple hours to get there, cost money we didnt have. Monique did her best to sound desperate and get the guy to let us by without paying, but that didnt work. We ended up doing another hike further up the road at the Lago del Desierto. I do not know what they were thinking when they named this lake, as the lake was by no means surrounded by deserts and was instead surrounded by virgin forests and glaciers.

A view of the Lago del Desierto

That night while at dinner, Monique and I met a couple guys who were planning on heading North that next morning, which was convenient because Monique was planning to head the same direction and had been looking for some company. That next morning we all loaded up in the truck, made one last stop at the coffee place for dos cafes para llevar and hit the road one last time. Monique and the two boys were heading North back up Route 40, and I would be joining them for only an hour, until the road that turned off to El Calafate, where I said goodbye to them and was left to hitckhike into town.

My hitchhiking spot could not have been more exposed. It was very sunny and extremely windy, but all in all not too bad of a spot to spend the morning. I started to feel like I could be stuck without a ride for a long time, especially since in the two hours I was sitting there I only saw about three cars go my direction. Eventually though, I was picked up by a carload of four crazy Israelis (I believe that happened because of the good karma I received from picking up those four Israelis in Rio Tranquilo). I made it into El Calafate by early afternoon, found myself a hostel and proceeded to pass out for the rest of the day.

The view from the road out of El Chalten

My hitchhiking spot

The car that eventually took me into El Calafate

Tomorrow I am heading to see the very famous Perito Moreno glacier and pretty much the only reason to come to El Calafate. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

That is all I have for now. Sorry this post was so long, hopefully it was mildly enjoyable.