Sitting in the El Calafate airport, waiting for our plane to take us to Bariloche, we decided to take a little time to reflect on the first leg of our trip. Our adventures in Patagonia were nothing short of amazing!
Justin's favorite moment in Patagonia was reaching the top of the hike to Laguna de los Tres. The moment you see Cerro Fitz Roy and Laguna de los Tres, unobstructed, is definitely an experience beyond words. And those of you who know me or have read any of the blogs know that I am rarely short of words… However, I have to believe that Justin also liked all of my mini-geology lectures throughout our adventures in Patagonia. I'm sure he now knows more about fault scarps, glacial moraines, striations, alluvial fans, and geomorphology than he ever wanted to know. But that's what happens when you marry a geologist and take her to Patagonia on your honeymoon 🙂
I think my favorite moment thus far was arriving in El Chalten. On clear days, from the road to this tiny town, you have an unobstructed, perfect view of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy in all their majestic glory. Coming to this place has been on my bucket list for a long time, and seeing that view really made it hit home for me. We came, we saw, we conquered! And we had perfect weather… I can't help but think that the sun and all of the beautiful colors we saw in the landscape played in role in making us both fall in love with this amazing place.
Now that we have had a taste of Patagonia, we've decided on our next trip here (yes, we will be coming back. someday…) we will legitimately backpack. Spend nights out in the back country, wake up in a tent with the sunrise at 5 am, fly fish to catch dinner, the whole thing. No regrets about this trip by any means, but we've been inspired for our return trip.
For the topographically-inclined people out there, Justin made this sweet map showing the hikes we did from El Chalten.
For those of you who become inspired by our blog and want to come to the end of the world, happy travels to you and buena suerte!
Posted with BlogsyAnyone who mildly enjoys hiking and has been to El Chalten will tell you the same thing: if you can, hike to Laguna de los Tres. The caveat “if you can” is definitely a relevant one! The hike is about 9 miles each way, with more than 2000 feet of elevation gain. Of that elevation, 1200 feet is in the last mile. Yes, it's pretty near vertical! The other thing that keeps most people away from this hike is the weather. That last brutal mile of switchbacks is on a barren landscape, completely exposed to the elements. But the reward is other-worldly. Laguna de los Tres is at the base of Cerro Fitz Roy, the biggest and maybe baddest mountain in the area. Cerro Fitz Roy towers over the crystal blue lake, and tends to play peekaboo; its peak commonly shrouded in ever-shifting clouds. From Laguna de los Tres, you can also overlook the emerald green Laguna Sucia, and see all the way out to Lago Viedma. We have been told many, many times that it is absolutely stunning.
With all that said, we left town early this morning with the hopes of getting to the lake before the weather turned and before the crowds arrived. Our first stop on the trail was at a lookout with views of Cerro Fitz Roy. The sky was still blue, but thin wispy clouds had started to appear and the breeze definitely had a chill to it. While admiring the view, we heard other hikers speaking English. We learned that they were from Madison, but had been born in the San Francisco area. So of course, we had things in common and chatted for a few minutes before setting off again. As soon as they left the view point, Justin said, “I wonder if those are the people Bob told us to meet up with.” And then the lightbulb in my mind went off. We caught up to them a few minutes later, and I asked if they knew Jean Mescher (a long-time friend of my Grandpa Bob's). They both looked at me and said, in unison, “That's my mom!” So, on the other side of the world, in a tiny town, on a trail where we hadn't seen anyone else, we met up with the only people we knew of in Patagonia. Talk about a small world!! We chatted for awhile longer, took some photos, and went our separate ways. Hopefully Peter and Lorraine also made it to Laguna de los Tres and had a wonderful time in Patagonia.
Back on the trail, we decided to hike as fast as possible to try to beat the weather. And as luck would have it, we made it to the top of the crest just above Laguna de los Tres while there was still blue sky and views of the peak. As we sat on the crest, admiring the views of Laguna de los Tres and Cerro Fitz Roy (and yes, it's better than everyone says!), clouds started to bubble up right behind the summit of the peak. It almost looked like the mountain had started to smoke, the way the clouds rolled up and over the peak from the backside. And as we continued to watch this new phenomenon, we saw the wall of grey clouds approach from behind Cerro Fitz Roy. We scrambled down to the lake and were able to snap a few more pictures before the wall of grey totally engulfed to summit of Cerro Fitz Roy. Twenty minutes later and we would missed the peak completely!
Laguna de Los Tres and Cerro Fitz Roy. Stunning!
See the clouds?
We still managed to stay at Laguna de los Tres for almost two hours, wandering around the lake, admiring Laguna Sucia and the glaciers from above, watching Cerro Fitz Roy play its customary game of peekaboo in the clouds. It really is a magical place. The pictures may capture the views, but there is something that just feels different up there. Maybe it's the colors, maybe it's the wind, maybe it's the Argentinian power bar we had for lunch… whatever it is, it's a very special place.
Laguna Sucia
We hustled down the switchbacks and made it off the exposed part of the trail before the rain and wind really picked up. And it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I can imagine it would be brutal on those switchbacks! We walked back to town, and played a game on the trail to entertain ourselves. We guessed which hikers would make it to Laguna de los Tres, and who would not. Terrible, but very entertaining! Everyone once in awhile we would look back, up at Cerro Fitz Roy, and every time we looked it was covered in clouds.
Check out this link for a 360 view from Laguna de Los Tres:
Hopefully that works!
After a lazy morning and some exploring around town, we hopped on a bus to Lago Viedma for a boat tour of the Glaciar Viedma. Most visitors in Patagonia make the trek from El Calafate to the Glaciar Perito Moreno, but we decided to take the less traveled route. The catamaran left Bahia Tunel on Lago Viedma with about 12 people onboard (not even half full). Lago Viedma is about 20 minutes outside El Chalten, and is similar in size to Lago Argentino; meaning it too could be mistaken for an ocean.
The Argentine flag and Lago Viedma
It took about 45 minutes to reach the glacier. The teal waters of the lake were dotted with ice bergs and ringed with impressive, picturesque mountains, all blanketed by another cloudless blue sky. We sat on the upper deck of the catamaran on the way to the glacier, taking photos and feeling the air get colder as we got closer. The boat stopped for about 20 minutes in front of the glacier for photo ops and admiration. We were thoroughly impressed with seeing the largest glacier in Argentina from the water. Where Glaciar Viedma meets Lago Viedma, the terminus of the glacier is approximately 150 feet tall. And bright blue. And cold and windy!
Glaciar Viedma
So windy!
With halting Spanglish, a seemingly normal couple asked us to take their photo in front of the glacier. Then, they pulled out massive angry birds hats (I still have no idea where they came from!) and asked for more pictures. THEN, they made Justin and I pose with the hats also! Actually, “made” is a strong word. We jumped at the photo op, and those hats are seriously warm and toasty. And hilarious!
Best hats ever!
After our adventures on Lago Viedma with angry birds, ice bergs, and Glaciar Viedma, we went back to town and decided we still had enough daylight for a short hike. At 7 pm, we left town and headed down a gravel road along the Valle Rio de las Vueltas. The river is the same teal color seen everywhere in Patagonia, and the snow-capped peaks at the end of the valley made for a gorgeous backdrop. Everything in Patagonia is beautiful, and the views from this short hike were no exception.
Valle Rio de las Vueltas
If you look closely, you can see the tops of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy in the background!
After leaving the gravel road, the trail wound trough shrubs and trees past meadows dotted with wildflowers and eventually dropped us at the base of the Chorillo del Salto. Here, the waterfall free falls for about 50 feet before tying into the Rio de las Vueltas downstream. One of the best parts about taking a short hike to the waterfall as late as we did: no one else was there! We enjoyed the roar of the water and had happy hour at this beautiful spot all by ourselves.
On the walk back to town, we scampered up the side of the waterfall to check out the view of the Valle from above. And it was spectacular! As the sun began to set, the whole landscape seemed to glow. We would have stayed longer, but we wanted to make it back before it got dark!
After 9 pm and the sun hasn't even started to set yet
In town, we had pizza for dinner. A lesson to all of you who travel here: pizza in Argentina is gooood. I mean really good. Pizza in El Chalten? Not so good. Stick to the lamb and trout unless you want to ingest 10 pounds of cheese!
We arrived by bus to El Chalten this morning. On our way into “town” (consisting of 300-700 permanent residents, depending on who you ask), we stopped at the local ranger station for Nacional Parque de los Glaciares orientation. The ranger who oriented us could not stress enough how lucky we were in terms of weather: the sun was out, the wind was down, and the clouds were hiding. This NEVER happens in El Chalten! And the weather was supposed to hold out for three days before it turned for the worse: the exact amount of time we would be in town. The weather here is usually highly unpredictable, with insane wind gusts and cloudy days making it difficult to see the stunning peaks that draw visitors here in the first place. The fact that it was about 70 degrees without a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind in the trees was somewhat of a miracle.
Overlooking El Chalten from the trail
When we finally arrived at the lodge that would be home for the next three days (the farthest point of town from the bus station), we checked in and suited up for our first hike. The hike to Laguna Torre is relatively flat and easy; about 7 miles each way with about 800 feet elevation gain. After about 10 minutes of hiking we realized we were overdressed: it really was 70 degrees without any wind. So we peeled off layers and kept hiking. Let me just say, you can tell we put sunscreen on when we had on more layers!
The hike took us up to a lookout of the Rio Fitz Roy, a turquoise colored river carving its way ever deeper through the rocks below. The hike continued through a forest, where evidence of the normally windy weather manifested itself in gnarled trees, low shrubs, and pesky flies, that we can only assume don't get out much during blustery days. The trail followed Rio Fitz Roy and views of Cerro Torre got more impressive at every turn. Cerro Torre isn't the biggest mountain near El Chalten, but it may be the baddest! The peak is a slender, near vertical protrusion; many describe it as “toothy” and jagged. At it's base, a glacier grinds away at the landscape and terminates into Laguna Torre, the destination of today's hike.
At Laguna Torre, with Cerro Torre in the background
We reached the lake and stayed for a few hours to take in the cloudless sky, the imposing toothy peaks, and the beautiful shades of blue and green that the lake, the sky, and the glacier had to offer. I'm not really sure I will be able to justly describe anything we've seen in Patagonia, but hopefully the pictures help! Cerro Torre is supposedly the most difficult of the famous peaks to see in the area, but with our picture perfect weather it was hard to imagine not seeing it looming over us! Cerro Torre is a favorite destination for rock climbers from the world over, and many climbers wait weeks or months to get weather like this to attempt to summit the peak. If only we brought our binoculars…
After a few hours at the lake, we booked it back into town and made reservations for our New Years Eve dinner. We splurged for our last meal of 2012, and enjoyed local lamb, trout, and wine. It was soooooooo tasty! Spending New Years Eve in a tiny town in Patagonia definitely has an effect on the social festivities of the holiday. So, after our epic meal and uneventful countdown to 2013, we went home because there was nothing else to do. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful, memorable New Years Eve; we definitely ended a great year with a great evening 🙂
Happy New Years Eve!
This morning started with an early cab ride to the domestic airport in Buenos Aires and an uneventful flight south to El Calafate, the gateway to Argentinian Patagonia. After some napping on the flight, we woke up and looked out the window of the plane. We both thought we were over the ocean, and got thoroughly confused. The pilot said we were about 20 minutes from the airport, so there is no way we should be over the ocean! After a brief moment of panic (did we get on the wrong plane? where are we going? is our pilot crazy?!), we realized that the “ocean” was a rather peculiar shade of blue. Actually, come to think of it, the “ocean” looked a lot like the typical blue-green of glacial melt lakes. And, oh wait, there's the shore of Lago Argentino. Welcome to Patagonia, where the lakes are big enough to be oceans!
Our first experiences in Patagonia proved what we had heard so much about prior to our trip: everything is BIG. And spread out. With lots of open spaces in between. And it's beautiful and wonderful and better than you could ever imagine, even on the typical drizzly day. We found out way to our hotel, a cabin-like hostel up on a bluff, about a 10-minute walk from town. When we checked in, our host assured us that the weather was abnormal, and normally you could see the beautiful snow-capped mountains just across the lake from the front room at the hostel. Yeah right…
Not to be deterred, we put on our waterproof hiking gear and headed into town. It was a little chilly, a little windy, and a little rainy, but nothing too terrible. Our first stop was the bus station, to buy tickets to go into El Chalten the next morning. After that mission has been accomplished, we meandered through the outdoorsy and artsy stores in downtown and found a suitable lunch establishment. Suitable meaning open and serving drinks and food. We had chosen siesta time to go through town, but we found a place anyway!
As a side note, I should clarify that “downtown” El Calafate is really just one street that goes through town and takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other. While everything in Patagonia is big, the towns remain quite small. Walking through El Calafate is reminiscent of walking through downtown Truckee: lots of art galleries and showrooms, lots of Northface, Columbia, Patagonia, and other outdoor big name labels, and lots of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. It's pretty commercial, but rather pleasant.
We decided to take a detour off the main road in town, trying to find access to Lago Argentino, and ended up at the Laguna Nimez Bird Sanctuary. Apparently, this is a favorite stop for birders in Patagonia; but we, not being birders, thought it was a good place for a walk and a view of the lake. And a chance to see wild Chilean flamingos up close. Yes, that's what I said: flamingos. We began our journey around the lagoon while the sun was shining. After about 10 minutes, the clouds rolled in. And after about 5 more minutes, the rain started. Not to worry! We devised an ingenious way of taking photos in the rain without getting raindrops on the lens, tested our waterproof gear, and actually got great views of some birds and the lake. The rain came and went, but we were not to be scared away by the characteristically unpredictable Patagonian weather.
After birding, we made our way back to our bluff. By the time we got there, our host proved to be right: the sun had come out, the weather cleared a bit, and we could see the beautiful mountains across the lake. And they really were stunning. In our attempt to adjust to local time, we watched the sunset (at about 11 pm) from our dinner table over a bottle of wine and Patagonian lamb stew. And yes, it was delicious!
We arrived to Buenos Aires all in one piece; slightly jet lagged, slightly disoriented, and slightly overwhelmed, but safe and sound! After a long flight, what seemed like an even longer customs line, and a relatively short shuttle ride, we checked into our hotel in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Retiro and Recoleta. When we left the hotel, our first goal was to find lunch. After arriving in Buenos Aires and navigating our tired selves through customs with highly questionable Spanglish, we were famished! We wandered down the pedestian-only Florida Avenida, with lots of shops, street performers, hagglers, and construction. We found our way to a cafe and had empanadas y cervezas.
Our wanderings took us through Retiro and into Recoleta. The closer we got to Recoleta, the more we liked Buenos Aires! The tree-lined avenues, the variety of architecture, the locals out for coffee and dog walks, and the slowness of a lazy Saturday afternoon were a much better transition to South America than the craziness of the airport, the hotel, and the hustle of Retiro. We walked along the streets and eventually found ourselves at the Recoleta Cemetery. The Cemetery was definitely on our to-do list for Buenos Aires, but we kind of stumbled on it by accident. The surrounding open-air markets and grassy parks drew us in, and before we knew it we were standing at the gates of this famous cemetery.
Just outside the Recoleta Cemetery
I know, I know; it's odd to talk about a famous cemetery right in the heart of a big city like Beunos Aires. But think about it like the cemeteries in New Orleans. Everything is above ground, very ornate, and very well taken care of. It's fascinating and slightly creepy to walk between (and look inside!) the thousands of crypts in the Recoleta Cemetery. Apparently, this is where all of the rich and famous Argentinians are put to rest, including Evita Peron, although we didn't stick around long enough to find her… We are planning to come back here during round 2 of B.A. this trip, and hopefully take one of the tours. So you can think of this as a sneak preview!
A typical alley of tombs in Recoleta
After some time at the Cemetery, we decided we were too hot and too thirsty to do anything else. So we found a shady outdoor table and had some beers. The combination of jet lag and beers increased our levels of exhaustion, so we found our way back to the hotel and turned in for an early night.
Lessons learned in Buenos Aires on Day 1:
- It's hot. Very hot.
- Most people speak English, but very much appreciate our butchered efforts at Spanish. Most conversation proceed in halting Spanglish with lots of gesturing.
- You can get a great bottle of Malbec and not so great cheese and crackers for dinner at the corner market for about 10 bucks.
- Napping in public places is highly encouraged by the locals: we'll have to remember this when we come back in two weeks!
And now, 3 months after the wedding, we are en route to Argentina and Uruguay for our honeymoon. We are so excited for this adventure and for a full 3 week vacation! Can you see the excitement on our faces?! Our bags are packed, our shoes are tied, our iPads are full of entertainment for the journey from San Francisco to Buenos Aires!
I'll try to post blogs pretty frequently on our trip, but here's a preview of the cities we will be visiting (I'm not sure some of these qualify as cities, but you get the point):
- Buenos Aires (a glorious city where we will eat steak and ice cream)
- El Calafate (stop 1 in Patagonia, for glaciers and hiking)
- El Chalten (stop 2 in Patagonia, more glaciers and hiking)
- Bariloche de San Carlos (from what we're told, this is a cross between the Swiss Alps and Lake Tahoe… sounds amazing!)
- Mendoza (the wine growing and tasting capital of South America; how could we not?!)
- back to Buenos Aires (for more steak, ice cream, leather shopping, tango, and whatever else you do in B.A.)
- Piriapolis (a beach town in Uruguay, just south of the crazy Punta del Este)
- Colonia del Sacramento (a world heritage colonial city in Uruguay, just across the water from B.A.)
Wish us luck! On a side note, we will be spending NYE in a “town” with less than 300 permanent residents, and it will probably not get dark until 11 pm or so. Talk about a new way to bring in the new year!
On another side note, we are posting this from the Houston airport. In the bar…. Cheers!
This has been a very big year for us… I probably should have started blogging early, but oh well. Instead, here's a quick recap of all the exciting, life-changing events that happened in 2012.
In January, Justin proposed on a weekend mini-adventure to San Diego. The weekend getaway turned into much more than a mini-adventure when diamonds became involved! Either way, it was a great weekend and the next few months of life were consumed with wedding planning details. For some reason, we were slightly delusional and decided to get married in September. And let me just tell you, planning a wedding in less than a year is a feat. Planning a wedding at a venue that doesn't really exist yet without a planner is close to a miracle! Quick side note: a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped us get the Station (and us) wedding-ready! We could not have done that without the support of our amazing family and friends.
Post-engagement, we settled into engaged life and started making decisions. A dress was bought, a color theme chosen, suits ordered, grass planted, lots and lots of concrete poured and flowers and trees planted. In this mist of wedding insanity, we became an auntie and an uncle: Aspen was born! And we instantly both fell in love with our amazing niece. And then we went back to planning!
Other weekend warrior adventures of note happened during wedding planning season, including a great (sunny!) weekend in Seattle, 4th of July on the houseboat, a long weekend backpacking in Yosemite, girls-only and boys-only trips to Vegas, and lots of work weekends at the Station (see pouring concrete and planting notes above…). In short, we've had a very busy, very fun year!
After the wedding, we thought life was going to slow down. We settled into married life, planned our honeymoon trip to Argentina and Uruguay, and then we stumbled across an amazing opportunity. And we started the process of buying our first home! This is still in process, so I can't say that we got engaged, married, and purchased our first home in less than a year, but we got pretty close. I guess when the Porters decide to have a big year, we go all out!
And now, after Christmas festivities with both the Porters and the Perrys, we are off on our honeymoon. Finally! We will end the year in Argentina; married, so lucky, and so happy.
2012 has definitely been one of the best years ever. We can't wait to see what all of the years to come have in store for us!
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
We agree with Ben Franklin, and we hope to do both!
The JustinKays Chronicles 