Date of Entry: April 7th, 2016
Date of Writing: May 25th 2016, Blue House Hostel, Sao Paulo Brazil.
El Chalten is the trekking capital of Argentina, but so fare I’ve done only short and simple little walks, today that’s going to change with a roughly 8 hour trek to Laguna Torre and a viewpoint of Cerro Torre at the far end of the lake. But before any of that comes the most every morning ritual of my stay in el Chalten waking up to watch the sunrise.
After some breakfast and packing a day bag I hit the trail, or rather walk through the little town towards the trail head which is not difficult to find, though I end up taking a somewhat round about way to it, passing by quite a suspect looking drugstore as I take a somewhat steep dirt trail up over the first hill and into the wild Patagonian wilderness.
The trail to the lake is not so long, but to get to the viewpoint will be a few km more and I’m far from sure I’ll make it. Still, hiking gets kind of easier when you get views like this, and the cold temperature (tops 5 degrees celcius with the sun out) keep me moving effectively. But it’s the views that make me complete this hike regardless of fatigue, and after one somewhat steep uphill actually find a good rhythm and end up passing man people along the trail, with no one overtaking me.
The skies still blue as I walk but it’s quickly clouding over and sadly the biggest concentration of clouds is hanging low over the uniquely formed cerro torre a towering yet stunningly thin pillar of rock, and it’s really a shame that as I keep going it becomes more and more clear I won’t be seeing laguna Torre at all.
I pass through countless stunning views and lots of incredible small tree forest, the leaves turning all different hues of red and orange, only accenting the incredible beauty of the patagonian mountains ahead. The trail eventually leads me through a bigger forest and out again to the rocky land alongside a gushing glacial river running down towards the town. It’s beyond gorgeous and any thoughts of not completing this hike are gone from my head.
As I continue along the riverside I spot a flash of electric orange and find this beautiful duck swimming around in the ice cold waters. I stay to watch for a while as the ducks plumage is unlike any I’ve ever seen before.
Eventually I come to a turn off at the trail, one leading to a campsite near the lake, and another to the lake. As much as I was tempted to do more camping I’ve decided to instead do a series of day walks, simply because I’m a little tired from my six days in Torres Del Paine National Park in Southern Chile and because rental gear is surprisingly quite a bit more costly in el Chaleten then it was in Puerto Natales, That said, if you like the outdoors much at all, and especially if you have your own gear, then I’d recommend doing some multi day hikes here.
The remaining trail to the lake is a brief fifteen minutes over rocky hills and by the time I’m up over the last one I’m getting anxious and all too eager to see this glacial lake. And once I do it’s worth the effort, the murky but still bright green waters dotted with fallen glacier chunks is captivating.
I so end a little chunk of time wandering down alongside the lake and watching the icebergs shift and change, one big one breaking in two and almost flipping in the lake. It’s much colder up here near the huge glacier on the other side of the lake so I take a quick drink and then keep moving, following a roughly marked trail around the right side of the lake over huge rocky hills in an ever growing wind. As I climb snow begins to fall, whipping into my face and making me glad that I brought my Buff from Antarctica with me, as well as my tuque.
I meet several people on the trail towards the final mirador of the glacier below the shrouded cerro torre, but most of them are turning back due to the ever worsening weather, but I’m canadian, and I’ll be damned if a little wind and snow is going to stop me, even if my feet are hurting like hell.
As I get closer to the glacier the blue comes out despite it’s dirty ice and I’m once again blown away by the stunning beauty of patagonia all around me. It may be bitterly cold but it’s incredible no matter which direction I look in, the multicoloured foliage glowing in the fading sunlight behind me.
Eventually I head back the way of come, noticing the sound of rushing water off to my left this time around and ducking down into the forest to investigate, finding this charming little waterfall.
I take the walk back to the rocky beach of the lake quickly, worried about what the increasing cloud cover behind me might be bringing and make it back to the edge of the lake quickly enough. On my way I find an eagle perched near the trail and watching the lake below us.
Taking a look down at the beach and then up at the clouds I decide it’s time to get moving back towards the town, on the way though I find two even more fascinating ducks in the same river performing some sort of intricate dance with each other. They are incredibly beautiful and so much fun to watch.
The clouds are also rolling in over the sun creating an otherworldly misting effect to the air, making me feel a little lost in one of my favourite Brandon Sanderson novels. All in all it’s an awesome scene.
I’m utterly surprised by how much energy seems to have crept back into my legs as I speed walk the rest of the 10 km trail back to town, doing my best to out walk the rain and snow behind me and passing quite a few people as I go. Music in my ears and 6 days hiking with all my gear in Chile have turned me into a trekking machine. And by that a mean a man capable of completing low to normal difficulty treks with little issue. But hey, I’ll take it.
Getting back to town it’s blue sky again and I head out for a delicious steak at the same restaurant where I dined with Ellie and Amandine before heading early to bed. Tomorrow I have another adventure planned.
