El Chalten and Onward: The Lone Wolf Chapters, pt 2

Monday a.m. I bid adieu to El Chalten and grabbed a bus to cross the border into Chile, via El Calafate. I barely caught the bus out of El Calafate (didn't want to be stuck there another night), and was on my way to Puerto Natales! Border crossing was remarkably easy. Bus ride was terrifying, as the winds were extreeeeeme out in the plains. Some highlights from the ride:

Arrived in Puerto Natales yesterday (Monday) afternoon, and here I've been since. Searched for a hostel with a fellow traveller from the bus. Found a gem at this very chill backpacker's haunt. It was filled to the brim with Americans (!!), but unfortunately they were all on they're way out of town. Now it's almost empty and I have an eight bed dorm to myself. The owners are super friendly, though, and I've been hanging out with them. Puerto Natales is a cool little town. I like it a lot, although it's more expensive than anywhere I was in Argentina. There isn't much to do here, as it's basically base camp for Torres del Paine National Park. 

Which leads me to an jmportant point: I'll be starting the very popular 5-day trek tomorrow morning, referred to as the "W" per its shape on a map. Very excited and all packed up to go. Managed to make my bag much lighter than last time by leaving stuff behind here at the hostel. Went to a free Torres info session run by an American guy at a hostel in town called Erratic Rock. His name was Rustin (seriously, I'm assuming he made it up when he moved down here) and he was hilarious.

Signing off for now! Weather looks good in the park, although there's bound to be wind and rain. I'll have lots of pics in 5-6 days. 

Hugs and kisses,

Justin

El Chalten and Onward: The Lone Wolf Chapters, pt 1

Alrighty, I'm breaking these posts up because blogger doesn't seem to like large file size.

Avinash left early Saturday morning in a midst of some really nasty weather. Side note: check out this crazy cloud from the eve before, which I was told signaled impending storms.

They were right! Gloomy skies for a gloomy occasion. In fact, Mother Nature was so kind as to keep the rain and wind coming all day. Honestly, I was feeling pretty down to have lost my travel buddy. The hostel I was camped at was fine, but the people staying there seemed to be long term tenants with an existing social structure. They also all spoke spanish, almost exclusively. I was just the random gringo camped out in back. 

I would have just stayed in my tent all cozy and slept it off if I was smart. But naaaah, I decided to blow off steam by going for a 2hr trail run, during which I managed to tear my awesome rain coat on a branch. After locating the seamstress in town, I just opted to do a duct tape patch. We'll see how that works. Pics from the jog:

Really not much to see. Apparently it's a very awesome lake with a glacier and icebergs (which you can kinda see) and Cerro Torre in the back (which you can't see). Too bad I went when there were so many clouds. I was wet and my coat was soaked through by the end. Did feel better though! 

Sunday was a big bounce back day for me. 

1) Checked into a more foreign-friendly hostel.

2) Went for a sweet hike, during which I was social and chatted with a couple of French dudes.

After a tough hike up near the end (always seems to be that way), I reached this incredible outlook. In the 3rd pic, that's Fitzroy on the right and the smaller thin single spire on the left is Cerro Torre. It was first climbed some 20 years after Everest, and I believe remains one of the most technically difficult climbs in the world. Hunkered down to.hide from the wind and grab some munchies.

3) After cooking for myself in the hostel (budget yay), I grabbed drinks with a guy from San Francisco I'd run into earlier and a couple of people he knew. Saw this incredible sunset from the street.

Good local beer (so cheap) and nice company.

El Calafate and El Chalten, aka The End of the Avinash Era, pt 2

Friday was Aveetash's last day, and after he was done crying we set off on a day hike. It wasn't insanely tough (except some steepness at the very end) but it was stupid beautiful. 

(Why did this happen? I don't know.)

The steep bit at the end (and by bit I mean about 45min) led up to a couple of awwwwesome lakes, Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Sucia.

They sit right under Fitzroy, which is that impressive slab of rock you see in the middle. We had lunch in a little nook that was sheltered from the wind, and we're joined by a fella' who lives in Connecticut and whose wife went to Wesleyan. His name was Jim, I think.

We hiked back down and stopped at a lake along the way,

and even saw some guys walking with llamas. Sorry, didn't get a picture. Because I was complaining about my budget and because we both wanted to use our camping stuff, when we got back to town we checked into a fairly ramshackle hostel that allowed you to camp out back for about $5 a night. Alas, Avinash's last night was not a peaceful one. I had never encountered winds like that, period, never mind in a tent. Woke up constantly to the sweet melody of Mother Nature bitch slapping my tent.

El Calafate and El Chalten, aka The End of the Avinash Era pt 1

Aw hey now,

Excited to catch everyone up on recent developments. A few general observations to go along with this post:

1) Stray dogs. Everywhere. Barking and fighting and being adorable/filthy.
2) Spanish improving steadily, if unevenly.
3) The landscape down here is extreme. As are the winds.

Avinash and I arrived in El Calafate on the afternoon of Wednesday 3/19 after an even-lengthier-than-before bus trip. Somewhere around 28 hours or so. His time down here was starting to run out (plane was early Saturday morning), so we were trying to squeeze some quality experiences into the last few days. El Calafate was not my favorite town on this trip. It's a cute but overpriced and touristy place dedicated almost entirely to accommodating visitors to the nearby wonder that is Perito Moreno Glacier:

I think it's something like 60m high and 16km deep as you're looking at it in the pic above. Couldn't see where it ended. Don't quote me on those numbers, just wiki it. Anyway, on Wednesday we settled into a very nice hostel called Hospedaje Lautaro (after quickly leaving a couple of others that felt like crack dens). 

It was run  by a very friendly young couple, who lived there with their adorable baby girl and toddler named Leon. He cried almost constantly, but it was cute.

Wednesday was sort of a "gather ourselves" day. We went and checked out a bird sanctuary that wasn't all that impressive, although there were flamingos. Then Avinash "I have a weakness for fine dining" overruled Justin  "I have a weakness for cheap, authentic, non-touristy local eateries", and we indulged in what was admittedly a very delicious meal. We also chatted to a surgeon from Mexico and his wife, who were sitting next to us. They must have liked us because they gave us half a bottle of expensive wine that they weren't going to finish. Slept well.

Actually, what we really did Wednesday was try to figur out the best way to approach Perito Moreno would be. We wanted to trek on the glacier, but it was a little pricey and also would take up all of the day Thursday and keep us from making it to El Chalten for hiking on Friday. So we decided to do the far less extreme boat tour, followed by meandering along the catwalks that overlook it. This is all from Thursday, first the boat, then the walking:

Kinda tough to capture how enormous this hunk of ice is. Also, the sound of cracking ice was awesom. Really, everyone is just standing there waiting for a big chunk to break off and fall into the water, which happens every few minutes. Very cool.

We got back to Calafate in the afternoon and took a 3hr (child's play!) bus ride to El Chalten, which declares itself the trekking capital of Patagonia or South America or the world or something. On the way, we encountered more kittens at a rest stop:

Very quiet little town. Worst wifi I've ever experienced, but I suppose that's not what we were there for. After checking into our hostel we went out to a nearby cervecería. Really great atmosphere, tasty pizza and home brew, and most importantly...

...the cutest baby beagle anyone has ever seen ever running around the restaurant. Bwaaaah.

Adventures in and around Bariloche: Part 2

Okay, now to the main course. We wanted to put to use the 20lbs of camping gear we'd each been hauling around. Fortunately, Bariloche was willing to oblige with Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. After gathering some things in town on Saturday (which included a rather forgettable interaction where I donated our excess toilet paper--only need one role--to a homeless man), and struggling with the chaos that is Sábado siesta, we finally caught a bus to Cerro Catedral. Unfortunately, we didn't start our hike until about 4pm or so. The plan was to hike to a Refugio (staffed cabin), camp, hike to the next, camp, then return 
home.

Saturday: We set our from the parking lot for Refugio Frey. The map says it'll take 4 plus hours or so. We immediately regret how heavy our packs are, and that we refused our hostel's offer to leave stuff there. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?? Well, it started off alright, not even that tough of terrain.

Then the climb got steep and the weather changed in what I gather to be true Patagonian fashion. It got cold and misty. About an hour from the Refugio, here is a fun series of three photos:

What that last one fails to show is the craggy trail, the 40mph winds, and the snow/sleet/what the hell is this? Very intense experience. 

We finally stumbled into an absolutely PACKED Refugio (no one is camping outside on account of the weather), and had well deserved pizza, beers, and conversation with a bunch of climbers. Apparently this is a climbing Mecca. We found out why in the morning.

Day 2: 

Here's where we found ourselves.

Seriously. That's a huge lake, and those are spires. Anywho, after a nice breakfast we set off on the next leg of our hike. It turned out to be almost immediately more challenging than the first. It started off with a nice route around the lake. Then it proceeded to go straight up up up. Like really just trail markers painted on large rocks, no real attempt at a trail. Here are some photos.

Then we reached a sweet lake, and went up some more.

When we reached the top, we took a wind-proof cave break with some carrots and Oreos. We even met two guys from Oregon who were on the same course and would prove to be our friends for the next day or so. I'll just summarize the next part. We went down. A rock face.

Basically, it was like a loose gravel incline that you half climbed, half slid down. 

It sort of just kept on going. By the time we got to the bottom we were ready for some lunch (horribly seasoned rice, my bad) and a little frisbee in the most beautiful valley. Why bring a frisbee to one of the windiest places on Earth? Oh, maybe to get it lost in a random field hole.

RIP frisbee. The next part was ridiculous. We went all the way back up and then some. Basically scrambling up a rock face at the end. It's like they gave up on the switch backs.

However, when we got over the top we were rewarded with what has to be the most absurd lookout I've ever seen. Again, pictures will fail. The wind was also tearing up there.

And then, of course, we had to go down again. Our aching quads protested all the way down to that lake in the distance. If you squint, you may even see the Refugio. In total, I think today was about 16km.

Also situated on a lake, we much preferred this Refugio to the prior. It helped that there were only a few people there, and we got to enjoy it in the daylight. After setting up camp (psyched to use all my camping gear), we settled down with our Oregonian friends from earlier to enjoy a meal prepared by the Refugio staff (because we're lazy and bad already used the stove once). Beers, food, chatter, and whiskey ensued.

Yes it's romantic, but there also no electricity.

Day 3: Less to write about in this entry. Today was 24km or so of mostly long and flat along the valley bottom. Highlights include scenery (as always),

bamboo walking sticks (I think?), 

and a nice lunch spot by a river.

That actually isn't the spot, but it is the same river we followed all day. After jumping in a glacial pool (cold.), we emerged from the forest onto this incredible farm. I don't know why I neglected to take more pictures. Avinash has some good ones. Horses, dogs, chickens, pigs, and a really nice fellow who asked about our hike. However, all that mattered to me was KITTENS!!

That's one of about 5, and they were really interested in us. Seriously, I can't believe we emerged from the wilderness to immediately encounter kittens. What a place. 

We came out on a road which we had been told we might be able to hitchhike on. Either that or walk a few miles back into town. After a few failed attempts, a very nice couple on vacation from up north picked us up in their truck and brought us out of their way, literally to our hostel's doorstep. 

Signing off for now!  Just arrived in Calafate after an even longer bus ride south. Hope to trek on a glacier tomorrow!