Life in a year full of Saturdays

Thursday, April 9, 2015

El Chalten - The smoking mountain

El Chalten (Argentina)

09 - 11April 2015

The distance between El Calafate and El Chalten is not overwhelmingly large, a meagre 213kms in fact with much of that distance being along the famous Ruta 40. For the well healed, cashed up, or maybe even flippant amongst us, you could fly the distance if you dared but for the most part driving is the most sensible of options when taking on the journey and it has to be said that the accompanying views make the journey more than just a cumbersome drive from point to point. When Inga and I decided to make the journey north to El Chalten (Mont Fitz Roy) we decided that renting a car for that drive and also the later trip to Torres del Paine would be the most enjoyable way of visiting the areas. The idea in itself sounded simple enough, a ‘no brainer’ in fact, but more often than not its the simplistic ideas that can have unexpected complexities. Let me explain these complexities further with a quick historical reference.

I grew up in Commonwealth land of Australia,( but don’t hold that against me), and as Inga so often liked to point out, Australia still has a Queen that British and we still have her smug British face on our coins and notes. In that sense, being a British colony, we Australians have blindly adopted many of the antiquated and archaic rules, conventions, practices, protocols and procedures that have been passed down by the ‘Motherland’. So too our 'driving style' is adopted from the British 'way', and incidentally by about 35% of the world population. This left hand side drive remains a relic of the days when 'men were men', carried scabbards and wore them on their left hand side so that their right hand could easily move to draw the sword in the event of a violent 'unprovoked' attack. Thus due to this positioning, passing in the middle ages was generally done on the left hand side. So you ask what does this notion mean for you in this story? Let me summarise ever so succintly;

I sucked at driving in Argentina for the fact that ancient warlords were right handed! Simple as that!

My attempt to escape the clutches of El Calafate therefore was met with crunching gears, discombobulation, swearing in Serbian, driving the wrong way down one way streets and poor old Argentinian men holding their heads is disbelief at my 'mad skills'. Oh yeah, El Calafate was a scene that morning man.

When I finally figured it all out we broke out of El Calafate like a pair of grandmothers busting out of a nursing home to catch a Jerry Springer book signing, slow, but with genuine purpose. And it wasn't too long thereafter that we were on the fabled Ruta 40 and cruising under expansive blue skies and rounding the eastern part of Lago Argentino, heading north.

Lago Viedma - Santa Cruz Province - on the way to El Chalten - Argentina

On the way to El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

As we drove under that Patagonian blanket all I could think to myself was 'now this is cool!'. Driving through Patagonia with its sweeping vistas, cobalt blue lakes and all encompassing skies, this to me is what I imagined this part of the world to be. Rugged, desolate, beautiful and inspiring. There's moments, and perhaps they come few and far between for most people, when you recognise that you're very happy. As we swung up the eastern side of Lago Viedma and felt the pull of Mont Fitz Roy as it rose in the distance, I could say that unequivocally, I was very happy!

El Chalten is essentially a small mountain village built on the back of its trekking and mountaineering popularity. It's located within the Los Glaciares Nacional Park and is set at the base of Cerro Torre and the majestic Mont Fitz Roy. A frontier town of colour, scattered buildings and no named streets, it holds the torch for hippie values and I wouldn't have been surprised if we had found a boutique bakery that specialised in pumpernickel and clove loaves of bread and fetta & basil muffins. We obviously didn't look that hard in that sense but we did end up finding in our basic searches was La Vineria, a gloriously homely and snug bar that made an equally satisfying mulled wine and was a place that allowed hours to slide by and out of sight without even a second thought.

A preview of my future - La Vineria - El Chalten - Argentina

La Vineria - El Chalten - Argentina

Our first afternoon in El Chalten was spent on a relatively short climb to a vista above the town. The way we spotted the walk originally was pretty much the way that Inga and I did most of our scouting for treks. If we saw a path heading up a mountain and way into the distance then there was no debate, we were going to do it, and not in that casual, comfortable strolling type of manner. When we trekked we put the foot down and burnt rubber (off the soles of our shoes mostly, but still, I won't lie when I say we always moved rapidly). As we also discovered, time signposts to trail locations were always 30%-40% more than we required. A blessing in many ways as we realised walking expectations were desperately inflated but a curse also in the fact that both of us would do the math and work out the (Inga & Henry) arrival time as a reduction from the suggested 'leisurely' time. Our estimates were also mostly correct if truth be told but a trap in waiting for our walk the following day. In any case, on this day the views above El Chalten at Los Condores lookout were exceptionally spectacular, even if Mont Fitz Roy remained in cloud for most of the afternoon. Likewise our walk out to Mirador de las Aguilas brought a view that was perhaps even more exhilarating as it looked out from the mountains onto a vast Patagonian plain with Lago Viedma disappearing off into the distance and bounded by the might of the Andes standing imperiously above it.

Mirador de los Cóndores - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Mirador de las Aguilas - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

That evening back at our hotel we informed ourselves on how best to get to see the UNESCO heritage listed granite massif of Mont Fitzroy and were advised to jump a shuttle bus up to the start of a trail head at Hosteria El Pillar, a 30min drive out of town, and located at the start of a walk which would be approximately 20kms in total (apparently 5.5-6hrs in total - yeah sure), ending back up in El Chalten. As always, our decision making for things like this was relatively easy, the conversation going something like;

Inga: 'So, lets do it'

Henry: 'Yep, lets go!'

The next morning we had an early pick-up and were away. Cutting through the tall Patagonian forest and climbing above the Rio de la Vueltas, we arrived to the start of the trailhead at Hosteria El Pillar on a glorious morning. The piercing blue skies acted as the perfect backdrop to the jagged, irregular spires that towered above the valley. Again, if you were one to believe in omens then you would have to say that we were just living within our very charmed existence.

Trepidation or a failed James Bond move? The walk starts...NOW

El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

As we commenced our walk along the Rio Blanco we rose slowly up the mountainside, ascending some 200-300 mtrs above a valley where the trees were just entering their season of colour. The reds and oranges of the leaves for me was something to take note of as us poor Australians are constantly surrounded by the mundane evergreens that keep a hold of their 'Kermit green' all year round. Making our slow ascent up and out of the valley also provided some stunning views of the Glacier Piedras Blancas, a lower glacier captured within the massifs of Mont Fitz Roy.

Glacier Piedras Blancas - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Moving through mountain trails painted by small shrubs of dark red, orange and yellow was a real highlight for me. Reflecting back on it now, it was a highlight that was not just one of our best in Patagonia but I would have to say, of the whole trip. The colours of the wild and the dramatic peaks were simply breathtaking. Standing there to just marvel at their form and presence was something that I'll always remember.

Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

'Smoking Mountain' - Mont Fitz Roy - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Having a rough idea of where we were going and with a very rudimental map in hand we followed the steady stream of trekkers across the bridge at the Rio Blanco and made our way to a section of the trail that would end up at Lago de los Tres. Now this was the point in the day where we nearly trumped ourselves cold. The guide marker at this stage stated KM 9 of 10, which was the distance from El Chalten to where we stood. The time guide for the last kilometre, i.e., to 10 of 10 at Lago de los Tres, stipulated1hr.

1hr!!?? As if 1 kilometre was ever going to take a whole 1hr to complete??

WANT TO MAKE A BET?

As we commenced the final kilometre there was an unmistakable 'up-ness' to all that was going on. The speed at which we attacked the ascent and the manner in which the trail continued to rise above our heads after every turn was alarming. The moment you'd reach a rise and peak over it is the moment you'd see a raft of orange arrow markers pointing you ever farther, ever higher. That final kilometre ended up being pure evil. Climbing at speed we challenged the notion of the 1hr time limit in our minds and in the end it challenged us right back. As stubborn as we both are we never relented and eventually made it to the top in some 50-55 mins. Less than the suggested time of course but questioning the validity of how a difficult climb up could actually be accomplished comfortably in that hour. No matter though, as we climbed above the tree line and hit barren peaks of icy snow we reached the magnificent Lago de los Tres and the awe inspiring peaks of Mont Fiztroy. These towers of barren granite simply thrust themselves skyward, with sharp cliffs plunging down vertically into the glacial lake below. The landscape itself was harsh, barren and bare but very much dramatic and glorious in what I termed to be 'absolute rawness'. So fantastic.

Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

'Smoking Mountain' - Mont Fitz Roy - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Inga and I remained the shoreline of the frigid glacial lake for enough time for the associated glacial winds to get the better of us and force us down lower in search of warmer temperatures. Climbing down itself was perhaps a little more technically challenging but not as fatiguing as the march up. We had moments of inspiration and self congratulation on the way down with each occasion that we looked into the pained, tortured faces of trekkers making the ascent and knowing that their pain was probably caused by the same assessment that we had made an hour earlier, '1km? Oh that'll be easy'.

The 10km walk back to El Chalten was actually very comfortable and not strenuous at all. Making our way through the Patagonian beech forest it gave us time to fully appreciate our surroundings for their stunning colours and dramatic beauty. It really was just an entirely pleasurable experience.

Rio de la Vueltas - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - El Chalten - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Making our way back into El Chalten after about 4.5hrs we had of course put to shame the suggested walking time of 6hrs+. With that understanding there was only one place that we were going to go in order to celebrate our success and reflect on the day, and that was La Viniera. A perfect spot, so we found out, to unwind, have ourselves a few drinks and dive into a very impressively made cheese platter.

Leaving El Chalten behind - hope to see you again soon!

A few hours latter, with the sun starting to fall out of the sky we jumped into our rented car and heading back south to El Calafate, a 213 km drive which was going to be undertaken on the 'wrong' side of the road. Damn you and your right side driving Argentina! Don't sweat it though, I still love you!

Monday, April 6, 2015

El Calafate - It's all about the view

El Calafate (Argentina)
06 - 09 April 2015

I was sitting in the Hardrock Café at Aeroparque Jorge Newberry in Buenos Aires gazing out over the runway watching the sky blue colours of a long line of Aerolineas planes launch themselves skyward over the city sprawl. Sitting here and waiting to head to El Calafate now felt like the real deal , it felt like the real starting point of our journey. Buenos Aires had been our base, our home and our welcoming post to both Argentina & South America but now he we were, standing on the precipice of our planned South American adventure. No rules, no itineraries, no schedules. It was go time. Inga & I sat for a while and ordered drinks. A moment later the waiter returned to our table and quite apologetically and sincerely said;

‘I’m sorry sir but the only red wine that we have is Malbec, is that suitable for you?’

Both Inga and I laughed out aloud. Now whether you want to believe in omens or not this occurrence typified the manner in which we were to travel for the next three months.

‘I’m sure I’ll be able to deal with that, thank you!’

Have passports - we're all set. Aeroparque Jorge Newberry - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Aeroparque Jorge Newberry - Buenos Aires - Argentina

A little later that afternoon as our Aerolines flight launched itself out over the Rio de la Plata and made the necessary right hand turn to start its journey south-west to El Calafate I felt that same sense of excitement that I had when I left Sydney. This was now the start of ‘our’ journey and the sense of freedom that came with that thought was powerful. Also personally, where we were now heading was a part of the world that for me had always carried such an air of mystery and it was within that mystery that I found my own sense of wonder. Patagonia, wild and rugged, expansive, desolate, remote and a world away from where my younger mind would try to imagine what that place on the map would look and feel like in reality. Now within 4hrs I’d get my first taste.

A few hours later with the flight descending into El Calafate both of us looked out of our little porthole into this new world. I remember Inga saying something close to, ‘Wow, it feels like we’re landing on the moon’ and I have to say that’s pretty much the way it felt. Arriving late in the afternoon the creep of darkness had already commenced with its moody, atmospheric blues reaching out over the white capped Andes mountains. Grey bellied clouds hung low above the earth and the deep blue of Lago Argentino contrasted magnificently against the brown, barren landscape that surrounded it. Its places like this, with their heavy weight of atmosphere that always captures my attention.

Arriving in El Calafate - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

The 20km drive into town on this section of the Patagonian steppe was enlivening. A lost highway winding through a landscape devoid of trees with just rudimental vegetation to keep us company and the odd inquisitive llama looking into our headlights.

As we stepped out of the cab at the America del Sur hostel I noticed that there was a distinct bite in the air, the dirt road beneath our feet making it feel like we’d arrived at some outpost at the end of the world. A short lived feeling of course, the moment we had waltzed through the doors it felt immediately felt like a typical hostel, and typically in that sense we found ourselves signing onto a tour for the next morning within minutes of entry. Not that it was an issue of course, we were now on the boundary of Los Glaciares National Park and the rock star in these parts was Perito Moreno. A place that I desperately wanted to see, so really was there a reason to wait any longer than we had to? I’ll answer that, ‘No’.

Early morning at America de Sur was…well, it was all about the view. The hostel was positioned high on a hill outside of the centre of El Calafate and with no impeding buildings the view over the lake and to the mountains beyond mirrored what I had always imagined Patagonia to be in my mind. Vast blue skies, white capped peaks that were now being coloured by the orange of the rising sun and stepping outside you also caught the chilled wind as it made its way across the steppe, it was a pleasure just to stand there and absorb it all.

Perito Moreno itself is in the Los Glaciares National Park some 70kms from El Calafate. The scenery is here is tough, spartan, rugged, and as we pass the entry gates of the Nacional park the bus slows as we take to managing the winding roads of the accompanying mountains. We make turns slowly and assuredly but then at one moment we capture sight of it, a white wall dramatically positioned between two distant mountains. A view we only encounter for a few brief moments as the bus once again turns away and continues closer to our destination.

First peak of Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Soon enough however we’re at the main Perito Moreno viewing area. A brief explanation of where to walk and where we need at certain times shoots in one ear and out the other as we immediately head for one of several elevated walkways that are situated on a hill across from the main wall of the glacier. And as we follow the paths and look both through and beyond the trees that line the hill we see the behemoth block of ice initially forming its own white backdrop and then as me moved closer we witness it rising imperiously for all to see. Then we're there, in front of it. Standing face to face with the glacier you realise that it has an unmistakable presence. Reaching some 70mtrs high (25-30 stories) off the waters of Lago Argentino and stretching 5kms across the valley, its state of existence in this space goes further to emphasising its size and the power it has in its dominance over surrounding physical elements. The glacier is immense in height and breadth and as you follow the ice up from its front face you see it wind back up into the mountains like an enormous white motorway leading into infinite whiteness.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Winds off the glacier rise and fall without rhyme or reason smacking you in the face with short sharps cuts of cold and whilst that in itself sharpens your focus on where you’re standing ,its when that silence is broken, by sharp gunshot like cracks or long, rising thunder like rumbles, that you realise the glacier is very much alive, a work that is constantly in progress. Stand and stare at the front wall of the glacier long enough and inevitably you'll see chunks of ice fall into the lake below, the volume of which you can recognise from the wake that it leaves.

As would become a common occurrence for Inga & I, we found a walkway that moved away from the main viewing areas and followed the shoreline of the lake to a small dock. As we walked further around the lake we would see various pieces of the glacier that had broken off and floated to shore. Sitting on the dock and looking back to the glacier we cracked open our bottle of (Hiram Walker scotch) and toasted to what would be the first of many, many incredible sights on this adventure.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Hiram Walker for lunch - I liiike - is good!

I've got my bottle and my boots - I'm good to go!

Now that's a solid lunch

After our tuna and scotch based lunch on the milky blue waters of the lake (trust me, tuna and scotch are an outstanding combination), we were driven to the south side of the glacier where we able take a boat ride across the lake to a staging area that would allow us to take trek on the glacier itself.

Looking out across the lake and the rising wall of ice as we approached only made for the realisation how incredibly insignificant we were by comparison and also made you wonder at the abilities of the boat to surf the wake of whatever wave that arrived should a significant portion of ice decide to carve itself away from the front wall.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Disembarking the boat we walked about 15-20 mins around the shoreline of the lake before arriving at a location where we were asked to put on crampons, from here out it was going to be ice climbing time on the glacier itself. The guides advising that short steps for ascending and short v-shaped like steps for descending were the easiest ways to make progress and not become the glaciers bitch for the afternoon, but in all honesty everyone of us got 'owned' at some point. However the walk amongst the various shapes of tortured and teased ice coupled with the deep blue colours of the ice itself was just spectacular, just an amazing environment in which we were fortunate enough to have placed ourselves in.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Our guides informed us that the glacial speed of movement of Perito is at the startling pace of 2 metres a day and that’s even more amazing considering the fact that the depth of the ice itself can be 170 mtrs in places, not bad for a block of ice that’s quite long in the tooth, some 400yrs. In direct acknowledgment of its age therefore, and the abundance of ice in this location, Inga and I decided that it would be a missed opportunity not to have ourselves a couple of glasses of scotch and utilise some of the ice that was probably around when Magellan himself was cruising these parts. Now my friends, that’s what you call a mature drink, with ice aged to absolute perfection.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Well matured ice

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares Nacional Park - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

With the afternoon sun hanging low in the sky and our departure from the glacier imminent, we walked back to the departure dock and took some time out to once again view the glacier and appreciate the magnitude of what we had in front of us. To quote our good friend Rob Van Winkel from his 1990 album To the Extreme - 'Ice Ice Baby', and lets just leave Vanilla to have the final words on that one.

Borges y Alvarez Libro-Bar - El Calafate - Santa Cruz Province - Argentina

Our following two days were spent in El Calafate itself. Thinking back, I'm not quite sure why I thought we would require 3 days in this town other than making the assumption that assigning ourselves to get to Perito Moreno and Mont Fitz Roy, (which was not in El Calafate but rather El Chalten), would actually take longer and be more of a logistical challenge, which we found couldn't have been further from the truth. In any case the town of El Calafate, whilst small, is a nice little place that has obviously now started to have a growth spurt through the onset of tourism, the direct result of the El Calafate airport having been opened some 15 years ago. As you'd expect of a place catering towards Winter style tourists, there are the usual Winter style clothing stores, sporting goods stores, souvenir shops, restaurants and bars, the latter of which we were more than happy to investigate and in El Calafate we found a good one.

Borges y Alvarez Libro-Bar stood proudly on the main street, Avenida Libertador. From the outside the wood panelling and chalet type of look immediately caught my eye and on the inside its décor and sunlit corner facing onto the street were a place that we would love to sit, hijack a martini rosso or several and glance through one of the Argentinian travel based books that occupied a place on one of the booked filled shelves. We both found it to be just a warm and welcoming place and no matter how many times we walked up and down the Avenue with the intention of perhaps trying another location, the Libro-Bar, or Libreria as we called it, would somehow always receive our final vote. Now, that's not to say that we did copious amounts of drinking in El Calafate,(that was to come later), but we did get out and commit ourselves to a fitness regime that unfortunately we found impossible to maintain,(substantial travel tends to do that), but I should recognise here at least that we did find it in ourselves to undertake a cross-fit session, go for a run around part of Argentino Lago and take on running up one of the steep hills facing the town, all for the sake of maintaining fitness levels. It was a noble effort from us in El Calafate I must say, although I think we were both a little too optimistic in thinking that we'd be able to manufacture ways of remaining consistent in that regards. Still, for right there and then, everything was going well!

Life in a year full of Saturdays

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Thursday, April 9, 2015

El Chalten - The smoking mountain

Monday, April 6, 2015

El Calafate - It's all about the view

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A year full of Saturdays