It rained a little in the night, so I had to pack up my tent a little soggy (grrr). I also had some company in the night- when I opened my pack in the morning, a little field mouse scurried out. Luckily, my raincover and one zipper toggle took the bulk of the damage and that was easily repairable. But, by the time I was drinking my morning tea, all was forgiven when I caught a glimpse of a rainbow in the sky, and directly over where I would be heading for this hike. Things were looking good!
Right from the beginning, this hike looked different from all the rest, as I had been told. This one had a true backcountry feel- rolling hills and a much less-travelled trail. But a distinct trail no less (to my relief). I walked through beautiful old-growth forest, with some of the largest trees I had seen here yet and beautiful fields nested in the valleys,
through a herd of cattle grazing in the mountains
and managed to successfully negotiate a few meadows and bogs (the only tricky part of the trail).
I was pretty proud of myself, I´ve got to admit, since I have a tendency to be a little oblivious sometimes....I was so on the ball, I managed to spot a couple of artic (?) hares and a bunch of really fun birds too. I finally topped out at this big clearing and had an incredible view of Lago Viedma, this gigantic glacier lake, with floating icebergs bobbing along.
I also got my first views of my destination, Laguna Torro, nestled between Cerro Huemul on the left and the Solo, Torre and Fitz Roy ranges in the distance left.
I should also say that I was making pretty good time and the weather was clear and warm. I was confident now that I was going to get to the site and that I didn´t have that far left. I had met only a handful of other hikers, all heading back to town and looking pretty ragged. I soon discovered why. As I continued on from the clearing and headed down into the canyon towards the lake, it was downhill all the way. Seriously downhill. I kept thinking that I better enjoy it now because tomorrow was going to be a whupping for sure. I also discovered that I was a little over-confident about the distance I had left to travel. From the lookout, it didn´t look that far to the lake below.
But it was far. Really, really far. And of course, as I got closer, the sky started to close in. I still had great views of Cerro Humeul
as well as Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy (in the distance) and this really cool spire line that reminded me of muppet fingers (the Mehzen Col, it turns out).
By the time I the trail had flattened out (still unaware that I was still over 1.5hrs from the camp), it was full-on raining and the mighty wind had arrived. When I finally, FINALLY, arrived at the camp, I was cold and hungry. And, the only one at the site. Interesting. Apparently I was the only crazy that would brave this weather to see another lake and glacier. My first hint should have been the storm shelter at the site- the only shelter I had seen in the entire park. I managed to get my tent set up and make some warm food, then crawled into my sleeping bag for a nap. That was 5:30pm. And there I stayed until 7:30am the next morning- 14hrs and I probably slept for about 80% of that (recovery from my marathon hike days before?).
The night was INSANE! The wind was so strong (backed by a good douse of rain) that it hammered away at my poor little tent all night long- but it held up like a trooper! When I finally emerged, the rain has subsided and my prize for enduring the night was a pretty stellar sunrise. And a much clearer sky :)
I contemplated not even going down to the lake, since I was ready to just get out of dodge by now. But, I couldn´t walk all this way and not see the end, so I braved the ridiculous, hurricane, kick-you-around wind to get to the lake. My proof that I made it:
And the fun wasn´t over yet! As I was tearing down my tent in the hurricane, at one point it picked up the tent and dragged me, clinging to it for dear life, up and down the camp site. Too bad no one was around to witness this spectacle because I bet it was some funny to see.
The walk out was of course much quicker. And, to my delight, not nearly as tough a climb up as I expected. The sky was also perfectly clear, which gave me even better views of the surroundsing that yesterday:
And by the time I reached the clearing again, the wind had pretty much calmed and the sun was out. Feeling vindicated from the beating I had the night before and with plenty of time left in the day, I dropped my packed and headed off on a side trail to the Loma del Pliegue Tumbado lookout. This was a spectacular view of the whole Cerro range and with the clear skies, it made it totally worthwhile.
I have a video to share (and to bring the Andean mountains to Dan on his birthday) since the whole vista wouldn´t get justice in a panoramic photo. And once I figure out how to lead a video, I´ll share it :)
By the time I made it back to town, I was feeling pretty awesome. I had completed all the trails on this end of the park and had been priviledged some absolutely mind-blowing sights. I was proud of myself for going out alone (although I met lots of great people along the way), navigating my way around and surviving a night I would have stories to tell of for a long, long time. I headed back to the hostel to celebrate with a supper feast and a bottle of Malbec wine. El Chalten has been a complete gem. Now I feel like I´m in Patagonia.
PS: Just for a laugh, I´m now sporting a pretty stellar farmer´s tan...
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