Argentina: El Chalten

~28th January 2019~

A long-ish journey and a border crossing to Argentina, over 400km of driving towards one of the key places on my list to visit. All the stories on Fitz Roy, the climbing and the attempts on the traverse including Cerro Torre, made me want to see and experience this place. After Torres del Paine, I was looking forward to another adventure in and around mountains.

I noticed that I was getting agitated again with some of the things that were done and said, tell tale sign of the need to have some ‘me’ time. After Kylie went through some of the options for activities and after looking at the forecast for the next couple of days, I knew that the climbing will need to be the day after rather than the next day. It gave me time to check out the climbing guide place and to contact Fran’s friend to see which option is better.

On the way in to town, it was cloudy with a threat of rain and cold weather for the next 24hr. I didn’t mind it and in some way, I love how the mountain weather is so unpredictable. Fitz Roy was shy and hid behind dark clouds, dampening the hope to climb on this trip and at the same time, I was excited that I have more reasons to come back to Patagonia at some point this year or beginning of the next year.

We had very good accommodation in Rancho Grande hostel and amazing food options in the hostel and the surrounding area. This place knows how to feed hikers, climbers and adventurers. We settled in and everyone went on their merry way to look for travel agency to book their activities for the next couple of day.

I went straight to the climbing guide agent, he wasn’t in even though that it supposed to be open. I went back after doing some grocery shopping (craving for some simple home cooked food) and the owner was speaking with two guys, chatting about promotional video and stuff. He didn’t seemed too interested in my business and I felt the whole conversation a bit off putting, so I walked out with the pricing and went back to the hostel to text Fran to get her friend’s contact.

I made plans that night to walk the long circuit to Laguna de Los Tres then Laguna Madre and Hija and through the forest before heading back to town. Weather forecast was a bit iffy and it will mean that not too many people on the route. It seemed like a perfect plan at that time, turned out to be quite an adventure.

~29th January 2019~

Early morning breakfast from the hostel was amazing, full English (close enough to the real thing) that would keep me full up for the day ahead. Peeking out the windows at the sky, it looked like it’s going to be an interesting day out in the wild alone. After texting Fran’s friend and equipped with everything I need, I happily skipped along to the start of the trail just a few hundred meters away from the hostel.

A bit of uphill to a couple of lookout points facing Rio de las Vueltas and the mountain range around it. The views just get better from there on. I took the route that goes along Laguna Capri, passing a few campers sipping their maté and getting ready for the day. Fitz Roy still hidden behind dark clouds with winds picking up as the trail became more exposed and peeking through trees was a glacier, Glaciar Piedras Blancas.

Stunning, bright, commanding and demand respect were what I had in mind when I got close to the glacier. It was sight and in its element, with snow and icy wind blowing across the exposed field. I started to think that this was a bad idea, walking over 30km with unfavourable weather but I pushed on telling myself it’ll get better.

At the turnoff to Laguna de los Tres, the trail started to look more interesting but little did I know that it’ll get very interesting. The wind started to pick up after passing the Poincenot campsite and when I reached the foot of the last kilometre hike, which is the toughest part of the trail, I saw the sign put up by the park to warn people of the risk of attempting this next part of the trail. Severe but fair for that day, there was snow already on the uphill hike up with icy wind and constant snowfall, the trail was slippery and hazardous.

I started to doubt my decision to attempt this but just brushed the idea aside, thinking that the view of the lagoon will be well worth it and it was. Beautiful with the raging wind by the time I was at the top and the trail stopped there as the rest of them were covered by snow and too treacherous to walk to get to the second lookout for a view of the three lagoons. Back down with the rest of the people, slipping and sliding for a quick descent, passing most people on the way.

I would not recommend walking that part of the trail on a day it’s snowing. It was one of the most treacherous hikes I had ever been. The rest of the trail was easy in comparison. I walked back to the turn off and head towards Laguna Madre and Hija. The trail was pleasant from here onwards, just long and rather quiet, passed only a few people along the way.

I was contemplating whether to go up to the next main lookout which is Mirador Lago Torres and when I looked up at the sky, there will be no chance to see Cerro Torre that day. I head back to town when I came to the junction for the mirador. The trails in El Chalten are well established and there were many campsites along the way with basic facilities for those who would like to stay close to the mountains. That would be for next time, it’s going on the ‘to do’ list.

It took my almost eight hours to complete the day hike thanks to the beautifully horrendous kilometre hike to Laguna de los Tres and to be honest, I was glad to be able to enjoy every step with my own pace. It’s a satisfying day.

Fran’s friend, Tola, responded to my text and we’re set for the next day for a half day climb. Shower, dinner and bed for me. I was too excited to do anything else except to pack my climbing gear, ready for a fun climbing session.

~30th January 2019~

Excitedly waiting for Tola after a good breakfast and when he came in the door I recognised him straightaway. He’s got that climber feel about him that many has commented about me, although I’m just in the beginning of my climbing journey.

He explained where we’re going and what we’ll be doing for the session. He drove us in his van, which is his home while away from home, to the nearby bridge and prep the day bag we need for the session. We then walked across to the crag towering over us. Being the first ones there for the day felt amazing especially there’s no one to hurry us and no one on top of us on route.

The first climb was a 5-pitch route consists of easy and terrifyingly fun climb (okay, it was terrifying because I haven’t climbed for a while especially traversing while we’re more than a hundred meters up. The first three pitches was easy enough to use my approach shoe, saving my feet for the last couple of harder climbs. It felt satisfying to climb again, feeling real rocks on my hands and using the techniques that seemed foreign to me until I touch them.

The last two pitches were fun with the traverse being one of them and I kept thinking that if I fall I’ll be swinging quite a bit of a way. Slow and well instructed by Tola, I made it through safely and thoroughly enjoy the freaky moments. I was fully in flow by the time we were on the last pitch. Tola had me scrambling up to the top telling me that I’m leading it, funny guy!

The view from the top was awesome with Fitz Roy still shying away a little behind the clouds. We were still able to see the peaks all around El Chalten. It was one of the best experiences and I felt a wave of contentment washed over me. We stayed for a while, ate some snack and drink some water, and hiked back down to do three more single pitch climbs.

This was where I felt how weak I was and what lack of climbing did to my confidence and techniques. Top roping felt just as hard as sport climbing my usual grade even though some of the crux would have been easy five or six months ago. I will need get back into training mode sooner rather than later, I thought. Eight pitches later, My body was spent and ready to pack up for the day but my mind wanted to do more.

Tola is one of the best climbers I’ve ever encountered in person. Observing his climbing was one of the highlights of the day. I believe in watching and learning from the best, and I was glad that Fran gave me his contact detail. We chatted a little before he drove me back to the hostel. I found out that he’ll be attempting Cerro Torre I the next few days due to the good weather forecast. I checked back later and he managed to complete four summits in a day, which was half of the traverse. That guy is a beast.

The rest of the day was filled with joy, updating IG and FB plus working on updating the blog. It was a wonderful day to finish the trip in El Chalten. I was thinking and planning to come back next spring or summer so that I get to stay for longer and to do more.

I’ll be back…