Chalten - Gordito Styles

If you talk to anyone who has been to El Chalten in Argentina, they will all say the same thing.. Fuck yea! You have to go!

El Chalten (the volcano) is the town at the foot of Mt Fitzroy which is one of the coolest mountains I've ever laid eyes on. Chalten is also dubbed the trekking capital of Argentina. The hiking trails lead you straight from town into the hills where you can either choose to camp or just do all the major trips as a day walk from town. 

Earlier in the year when I was there we got straight off of the bus and walked into the first decent campsite with all of our things and just base camped from there to check out a few of the Glaciers, lakes, and to head up to Fitzroy for a sunrise. 

This time around it was Los Tres Gordos (the three Fatties) and we had a different agenda...

One of the many rad photo ops on the drive in to town. 

This time rather than being stuck on a bus until we reached town we could stop and take a few photos etc. Mt Fitzroy comes in to view pretty early on with a great view of glaciers and mountains and lakes. Pretty much a paradise! 

Heading around the backside of Fitzroy. More glaciers, mountains, lakes, rivers, etc..

Rather than staying in town or even hiking in to camp somewhere, we decided to drive to a sweet campsite that was around the north side of the mountain called Estancia Ricanor. The camping was pretty sweet with great BBQ's and hot showers and views of the mountains..

 First order of business - fire!

 Only so we could eat again!

The following day we stuck with the plan which was to go for a hike. We didn't get much time to do a lot of hiking on the way down because A) there was a tonne of driving to get done and B) we were enjoying the Asado and vino much too much. Not a bad thing at all.

The hike for the day left straight from where we were camped and was up to a place called Lago Diablo (the devil lake) and was definitely some much needed exercise to try and make use of the previous nights meat and wine. The hike was super cool and followed a river up to a lake that was fed at the far end by a very cool glacier or three. On the way up we were also getting some really good views across the valley of Fitzroy.

 A well deserved water stop.

The valley at the top where it changed from a river valley to a glaciated valley.

 The view of the lake etc

 On the way back down the views were just as good.

Cool trees

 And then surprise surprise, another BBQ.

The other day and a half was spent just enjoying being in a really nice place by drinking scenic beers, scenic wines and having scenic BBQ's. Then it was on the road again to cross back into Chile.

The quaint town of El Chalten.

On the way out of town we came across a few Condors and Eagles soaring right next to the road.

And here is a little Asado action..

Patagonia Part 2: El Chalten

Without realizing how big Patagonia really was I had planned a quick wee trip for a couple of weeks to do some hiking.. turns out if we needed a bus, we also needed at least a day to complete the travel. Our trip to El Chalten was pretty funny really. A nice relaxing bus ride to Calafate, only to find out that cash is a necessity up there (I'd already spent all the cash because it was also a necessity in Chile) because lots of places credit card machines were broken or they didn't have them at all. Even the one ATM in the town wasn't playing ball. With Nicole to the rescue with her reason and better logic than my own we figured out a bus to El Chalten, sorted accommodation for when we returned to Calafate, and we were on our way.

The bus finally reached El Chalten at about 9pm and we began walking across town to start walking towards Laguna Capri which was half way to where we intended to camp. Reality had set in though when it was already dark as we reached the trailhead so we settled for the shortest option possible.

Tenting at Laguna Capri.

Waking up there was awesome. Because we had arrived in the dark, we had no idea where to camp or where we were allowed to camp so we just did what I wanted and took a place with a potential view. The spot worked out as a very scenic coffee spot indeed.

Walking towards Fitzroy was pretty cool. Always a spectacular view and the best bit is you could see where you wanted to be the whole time.

We set up camp at Poincenot that turned out to be base camp for 4 nights and then got a little bored so we did one of the side hikes that we had heard was pretty cool. Glaciar Piedras Blancas turned out to be really cool and there was no one else out there. Went for a swim in the freezing cold water because we could and then headed back to camp.

Navagating the boulder field to the lake. 

Glaciar Piedras Blancas.

The next day we woke up in the middle of the night ready to hike up to the base of Fitzroy for sunrise and it was trying to rain so we decided it wasn't worth it. Instead we went for a hike out to Glaciar Torre which was also meant to be good. It was good but it was also windy as!

Fitzroy Valley

Laguna Torre.

Lago Hija.

Finally the day came we were woke up and could see stars. Time to go for a walk!

Lago De Los Tres.

We got up there and made some coffee as the sun came up and lit Fitzroy perfectly. No wind, maybe 10 other people, that was refreshing after the raucous that takes place at the towers of Torres Del Paine.

Once everyone else left there were a couple of Culpeo Foxs that came to rummage around in the rocks.

Don't know what the were looking for but they just came trotting over then trotted off not really worried about us at all.

The view from our tent was pretty good for checking if the weather was clear enough for the sunrise or not.

Once we had seen the sunrise, we had seen everything we set out to and more. The next day we packed our things and walked to town for a lunch of waffles before the two day bus journey back to Punta Arenas. 

Patagonia part 1: Torres del Paine

After an all day bus from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas, a rush around to try get a ticket that would connect another ticket I had a friend get for us about 5 hours away, a night, a forgotten camera on a bus, we made it to Chiles famous national park, Torres del Paine. 

 Our ferry that broke up the 12 hour bus ride. 

Running around trying to book transport and accommodation was pretty funny only using pointing and "por favor" not being able to speak any spanish. A challenge but not impossible. With our backpacks full of all sorts of shit that sometimes just got pulled out to say we used it we embarked on a little whirlwind tour of Patagonia.
Because of our lack of time (always the case) and info that we had received from a couple of mates who had spent heaps of time here, we did only the front portion of the complete circuit around the massif called "The W".

Our first night was at a camp, Campmento las Carretas, that it appeared not that many people visited which was a surprise and it suited us perfectly. 

 We woke up to a super hot day which set the scene for the rest of the trip really. No wind, lots of sun, pasty Jamie got BURNT!

 Some hilarious looking Guanaco

That is the massif in all of its glory. A crazy granite bubble that bubbled up under the ground and then everything eroded away leaving a sweet mountain.

That night we stayed at Campmento Italiano which is right in the middle of that valley in the middle of the mountain. It was a super popular spot and tents were packed in like sardines. Rather than follow the masses in the morning we got an early night and an even earlier start. The first of many sunrise missions.

 The top of French Valley was the goal for sunrise. We kinda saw it as we walked the final Kilometer.. pretty pretty though.

 If I was a rock climber I'd be in heaven. Craaaaags mate for days!

 Some glaciers that you can see from the camp.

 French Valley.

We started walking past the crowds just before we made it back to camp and were pretty happy to have had the views up there all to ourselves. Next though was the march across to Campmento Los Cuernos and there was beer there and a platform to keep you out of the dirt.. Expensive but.

Spreading everything everywhere just to cook some dinner.

The next day was super cruisey because we got shafted with our next campsite. We were off to get as close to the towers as possible for another sunrise mission but it booked out and we missed out. All that it really meant was an easy day which was much appreciated and a slightly earlier morning the next day..

 And this day was pretty similar to the day before until we began heading up the valley Rio Ascencio.

And once again there was a refreshing cold one at the camp which made us happy and forget about the sardine situation.

The following morning was a good honest early start to head to see The Towers  light up with the rising sun. Very cool. Last year I was dissappointed that I missed out on it because it was cloudy so it was great to see it in all of its glory. Then it was back in a bus to head back to Puerto Natales for a hot shower and a meal not cooked by us before we headed north into Argentina.

Not so far south but still pretty south in Argentina

 Off the Ocean Nova and into the hills for some R & R. And if you're thinking that that's not an Argentine flag then you're right. On our way back from the Antarctic Peninsular we had to do some loading of provisions and swapping of staff and we had an afternoon when we were set free to go stretch the legs. Pretty sure that we walked up to Cerro Bandera where we found this giant Chilean flag just so that we wouldn't forget where we were. Good walk that is in one of the most southern inhabited places on earth (southern most town anyway, Puerto Williams).

 Me just really excited to be able to wear shorts!

Most of the expedition staff plus the cheff, hotel manager and doctor.

After that it was back on the boat to Ushuaia where we had a final send off and then headed for the hills once again. Because I had Nicole with me I really wanted to show her a place we went while we were stranded in Ushuaia a few months prior to try spot a beaver or two. This is where the idea to camp at the beaver dam above Lago Esmeralda came from. So off we went.

 Way too cold for shorts but at the time it was a good idea.

 Camp was sweet. No one around, just beavers! Also much to Nicole's disgust, we only had one (very light) sleeping bag and one very small sleeping mat. That was a cold night!

 Beaver swimming... That's all they really did for us.

 Pretty cool waterfall out there or Cascada.. depends on whether or not you speak spanicho.

Ushuaia is Fin del mondo for sure with it's terrible internet, beautifully harsh landscapes, cold and unpredictable weather, and isolation. But it's worth the effort with a pretty reasonable taxi in any direction you can find some sweet spots to go on an adventure. Perhaps next time I'll actually be able to speak a little Español!

Kickin' it in Ushuaia

Antarctica is Antarctica. You never really can tell what will happen, whether you go with plan A or Z, flexibility is key. We had all of those plans taken from us because there was an accident at on the runway that we use for our operation. It had nothing to do with our operation apart from the fact that it closed our link to take on and send off our new and old passengers. Here is the Hercules that lost its landing gear and ended up blocking the runway for a few days.. No good at all. But there was a silver lining and it wasn't just the copious amounts of meat consumed.

A very sad plane. No one was hurt which was a very good thing.

Any way, you always have to make the best out of any situation. We finished our second trip as planned back in Ushuaia and then were on standby for 10 days with the ship anchores 1.5 miles out in the bay. None of us had ever spent any real time in the area, just hours or a day here and there in port so we went exploring. The best/worst thing about being out there is that a zidiac was required to get to and fro town.

You can see the baby little ship in the background.

It was one of the boys birthdays so the first thing we explored were the bars of Ushuaia. What a tour that was. Two bars in total were visited...

Next up we went to the local park by bike. Terra Del Fuego Paque Nacinales. 

Way bigger day than expected (60km or something) but a pretty sweet way to see the area. Bikes were provided by one of the passengers from our last voyage for free which was even better!

Next we got our hike on. 

All of the information givers in town said it was to hard to do alone, you need a guide.. We thought fuck that. We rolled the dice and took a taxi to where we knew the trail head was and found signs for Africa. Dream scenario!

Beaver Damnnn

The area has been invaded with beavers from Canada and from about 30 of them in 1946 there are now about 80,000 of the little guys. This is a bit of a look at the difference they make to the landscape. Those are all dead Beech Trees that don't like their feet sitting in water so they died.

Big Beavers at Laguna Esmeralda!

Mike and I thought we should get a better look and can't sit still for more than five minutes. So we followed this creek up. This is a double but crack!

And here is the view.

The next day we went for another adventure. A little closer to town we went for another taxi ride to a little less known area De Los Tempanos. This was to some glaciers and again was amazing bang for your buck. Lucky for us there were some nice Gsuchos (cowboys I guess) at the road end who were collecting horses for a rodeo in town the next day. So not only did we get some must needed beta on where we were going but we also got invited to a cool local event.

Here is a beautiful hanging valley and the Doctor making his way up the scree.

And the next day we went to the rodeo which was a pretty cool experience.

 The locals were all kickin' it because they had a public holiday the next day and we got to watch some wild horses kick ass. Also saw the biggest BBQ of my life. South Americans win when it comes to BBQ's...

Yes, that is a whole cow.

And for now, it is goodbye to civilization for a month as we leave port and head down to the Antarctic for another month to see what it has to offer us this time.