Trekking in El Chalten

For the 3rd time, on my "day off" in Rio Gallegos, the weather turns out to be lovely !, but staying was a mistake, there is nothing to do here. I get away early the next day,  I leave Ruta 3 for now and head West on Ruta 5, then North West on Ruta 40 to make my way "back up" to the trekking areas on the West side of Patagonia. It´s bitterly cold, about  2-5 degrees C, but not raining ! and that is a blessing ! I get to Esperanza early and was planning to wild camp here, but it´s only 165km more to Calafate so I might as well push on, I was expecting a lot of wind here but I´m lucky, there is almost none. Far to the West I can see the peaks of "Torres del Paine" in Chile. I manage 315km in one day, my biggest day so far and make it to Calafate. There is no doubt I have toughened up a bit as I´ve gone along, I could not have done 315km in one go at the start. I check into the first hostel I see "Los Glaciares" which turns out to be superb, hotel-like rooms with under-floor heating !! it´s actually far too hot in the room, but I´m not complaining !

220km more the next day takes me to my "goal" - El Chalten, the "trekking capital of Argentina", it´s taken 11 days since leaving Esquel. The last 90km were right into the strong prevailing wind, sometimes in 2nd gear at only 15kmh !  I head for the HI hostel and get the last bed, I am sharing with one of two Kiwi guys, Josh and Craig, who have just completed the holy grail of motorcycle touring, Alaska to Ushuaia. Two nicer guys you could not hope to meet ( http://www.ridefortheirlives.co.nz/ ) . 

They took just 4 months for the whole ride !  AND they have just managed to sell their bikes in Ushuaia without much problem, to a motorcycle dealer, who wanted no paperwork or plates ( I bet these bikes will be reincarnated in Buenos Aires with dodgy paperwork, or some such thing...). I can´t help but think, at this point, that I should have done the same...!! They were leaving Anchorage just as I was buying my bike in Lima ! it just does not seem real ! They were doing 700km days to my 200km, so perhaps a little too fast.....


El Chalten is a new town, being rapidly developed for tourism. The big draw are the super scenic mountains Cerro Fitzroy and Cerro Torre. The first day I do the Lago Torre trek (all of these treks have a free campsite at the top, but the hostel is so comfortable and sociable, that I see no reason to...) , there is a lot of cloud so the peaks are not visible (picture at the top lake, right). Back at the the hostel, thanks to the popular kiwis, I have a ready-made social life ! There were two birthdays to celebrate (one was about 7 years off the truth but I kept quiet) and trips to the bar.

Next day the weather is better and I head off on the "Tres Lagos" trek. This was the best one here in my opinion, and the hardest (about 9 hours return). At the top there are high altitude views of all the peaks and frozen lakes (I only counted two lakes....).

 

I was going to leave the next day BUT the weather is perfect for trekking, blue skies and light winds so I do another day trek instead, this time to a Mirador that is highly recommended. At the top is the most perfect panorama of all the local peaks, including the amazing Cerro Torre pinnacle (below).

At the hostel me and Josh team up and have a really proper meal (thanks to Josh´s kitchen abilities), a huge steak, onions,  a mashed-potato-mountain & salad, I felt full for days afterwards, pasta definitely is missing something. 
The next day I pay the price for a good days trekking, it´s horrible ! Fierce, gusty wind and heavy cold rain. The "others" are all leaving today, I don´t want to stay and the weather forecast for the next 3 days is worse, much worse, if I stay I´ll be stuck 4 days more. So, I have to leave. I pack up the bike and "double-bag" everything. First stop is to the rural petrol station, disaster ! , "no hay gasolina", they have run out and there is a mini-strike on... I have less than a gallon left, the next station is 230km away, I´m stuck and roundly curse for several minutes (in the heavy rain....). Back at the hostel the girl there suggests the "roads depot", it´s called "Validad", where the road maintaining equipment is kept, but it´s a Sunday, it´ll be closed.  I go anyway, and yes, they are closed, but the security man on the gate very kindly sells me his personal stash of 4 litres of petrol and I get away.  It´s a windy cold ride, but the first 90km is all down wind, then it becomes more interesting on the Ruta 40, Calafate seems to turn up quickly and I go back to the same great hostel, I defrost on their wonderful heated floors (again). Anything left on the floor is perfectly dry after one night, it´s magic....