Glacier Climbing

During our ice-climbing foray, David and I took a boat-ride to Glacier Viedma where we cruised by icebergs and awed at the vertical edge of the glacier where ice meets water.

We lucked out and the two Brazilians who were supposed to climb with us overslept, so we had our two guides and the glaicer to ourselves. After a short demonstration on how use the crampons and ice-axes, we practiced top-roping up a gently sloped wall of the glacier. We quickly conquered our practice wall and moved on to more difficult ascents, ending at a crevasse with hard, neon blue ice and an overhanging wall. It was the first time our guides had brought any of their clients to climb it, and although I had both guides shouting in Spanish how to orientate my body (mueve tu mano izqueirda arriba y alado!) I only made it a bit over halfway before my muscles whimpered and gave up. It was super fun though and I look forward to more glacier-climbing once I get back to Virginia.

***On a sad note, I had to say goodbye to my faithful camera after it was knocked against the side of the glacier and fell into a small stream of glacier water. I don't think that falls under the warranty.

El Chelten

After a 36 hour (yes! 36) busride from Bariloche, we were unceremoniously dumped off on the side of the road at 5 AM during a windstorm in the tiny trekking town of El Chelten. Once the sun rose, we saw what a small town it really was. The government of Argentina incorporated the town in 1985 in an attempt to keep Chile from claiming the territory. Its main draws are the mountains surrounding it, including the jagged adn often cloud-covered Fitz Roy adn the glacier-studded Cerro Torre. Mountaineering tourism is the city´s bankroll and during the winter once the tourists leave, there are only 100 or so people in town.

Patagonia is famed for it´s harsh winds and likewise Fitz Roy is often shrouded in a cloudy haze, but we were lucky. During our 3-day trek we had two gorgeously clear days where we had 360 degree views showing Patagonia in all of it´s glory. The mountains and the flora supported by them looked somewhat similar to that in Bariloche, but the landscape had a certain vastness that was missing in Bariloche. In fact, the entire region of Southern Patagonia felt huge, with wide open valleys and big jagged mountain peaks.

Since we had decided against renting a stove while camping (I had mailed mine home a month prior and the rentals were too expensive) David and I dined on an assortment of salami, cheese, jam, tomatoes, onions and pastries from the bakery in town (those were gone after our first lunch). Our first night we camped directly below Fitz Roy and hiked up the vertical ascent to Fitz Roy´s mirador in the morning to catch the sun´s early rays on it´s peaks.

The second night we stayed near Cerro Torre where we collected our water from a river hat had recent memories of being a glacier. From our campground, it was a short hike to the glacier itself, along with it´s corresponding tairn and the source of our river. From Cerro Torre it was an easy three hour hike back into town and to the scrumptious hot-water showers and the friendly Alberto at our hostel.

Mount Tronador and Laguna Ilum

First off, don´t ever trust a Swedish girl with hippie braids who is trying to convince you to hike a lagoon in the Patagonian mountains. More on that later.

The hike up to Mount Tronador, a stunning glacier-filled mountain outside of Bariloche, offered amazing views of several receding glaciers, a glacier-fed waterfall and snow-topped mountains. We camped about 20 meteres from a glacier and had beautiful mountain views outside of our tent that were reminiscent of the North Cascades. In fact, most of the trees, bushes and groundcover looked eerily similar to those found in Washington, perhaps due to the fact that both locales are located around 50 degrees latitude, albeit in different hemispheres.

After hiking the 18km down from Mt. Tronador, we chatted with the aforementioned Swedish girl who told us about the ¨magical Laguna Ilum¨ whose trailhead was a mere 50 meters away. I think her exact words when describing it were :a paradise for the soul¨. So, although it was 4 PM, we were tired and the first 8 KM of the trek was fairly steep according to the Swedish girl, we shrugged our backpacks back on and gave it a go.

After a pleasant walk through a meadow and a slightly sketchy river crossing, we discovered what she meant by fairly steep. The mountain shot straight up with the faint outline of a dusty trail running parallel. There were no switchbacks and only spiky bamboo shoots along the trail to grab when gravity started to pull you backwards. We spent the next three hours fighting our way uphill, cursing the Swedish girl and her paradise (well, maybe that was just me) until we reached a rocky outcropping that signified the top of our climb. From there on out, the path meandered gently through forested areas with little undergrowth and even less wildlife. In fact, it was pookily quiet, as if we were the only thing living within miles. Finally however, awe broke out of the enchangted forest and reached the now legendary Laguna Ilum. I will admit, it was beautiful, but I don´t know if my soul was rejoicing in this new-found paradise. It was a small mountain tairn with sandy beaches and a stunning view of Mt. Tronador. We spent the night up there and then endured the knee-breaking downhill with thoughts of Mexican food invading our head.

Attack on the Streets!

The wildlife was vicious in El Chelten.

Vanderven!

Can you give a name to this strange bird? It´s brethren are scattered throughtout El Calafate.

The Punch Tree of Patagonia

Jason proving that you can indeed punch the aptly named Punch Tree. Photo taken during a mountain bike trip outside of Bariloche.

Chocolate and Lakes

With the stunning backdrop of Patagonia, the city of Bariloche can hardly go wrong. You can overlook the somewhat forced homey look of some of the buildings with their faux timber exteriors and the touts on every corner. For what Bariloche may lack in authenticity, it makes up with chocolate; heaps and heaps of decadent, artesan chocolate that looked almost too good to eat. Almost.

David and I were in Bariloche for about five days, preparing and recovering from treks in the surrounding mountains. We spent our days hunting down mountain gear and our nights eating Mexican food. For a couple of those days, we were able to meet up with the lovely Prem, David´s partner at Inti Wari Yassi and a good friend. The three of us managed to find a beautiful lake (okay, that wasn´t exactly exactly hard) with a small rocky island that we alsmot had to ourselves. The water was freezing but crystal clear; you could see 6 meters down in some areas.