Above: Argentina's famous and historic Ruta (Route) 40; Along the graveled sections of the route, the driver must attach a flat wire gauze to the front wind shield of the bus to protect it from rocks
Above: A brief stopover in Los Antiguos en-route to El Chalten
Above: A brief stopover in Los Antiguos en-route to El Chalten
After a grueling 31-hr journey (with a few '20-minute' stops) on Argentina's semi-paved, semi-graveled, desert-stretch of historic Ruta 40, the Taqna/Marga bus (cost 300 Argentinian Pesos or ~US$87) abruptly arrived in the still-developing sleepy 'cowboy' town of El Chalten, in the heart of Argentina's Patagonia and home to the famous Mt. Fitz Roy. I left sunny and warm Bariloche at 9 PM Saturday (13 Dec) and arrived in freezing and super-windy El Chalten at ~4:30 AM Monday (15 Dec). What a rude awakening it was for us as we were fast asleep only to be awoken with hollers of 'Chalten'! In a dizzying and grumbling state, we got off the bus, collected our bags and walked to find accommodation.
As all the hostels were closed at the time we arrived, a few of us hovered in the shielded porch of the Condor de Los Andes Hostel in the hope that someone would awake early and let us in - it was a good 2+ hours wait. We waited another hour or so before the front desk lady showed up for work. By then, I was dying for a shower and a short nap. I was lucky to get a bed there as (little did I know) the place was often fully-booked.
Above: A rainbow @ dawn in El Chalten - the day's starting out just fine :)
Above: El Chalten
After all that ordeal, one might say that I was insane to start a 6-hour, 20 KM hike at noon the day of arrival but I was on a mission to see Cerros Torre and Fitz Roy in the 2 full days I had planned to spend in El Chalten. Both the hikes were awesome, if a huge toll on my legs as I did complete a total distance of 46 KM on both days. Some photos of the trails:
1. Cerro Torre Trail (6 hours round-trip; 20.8 KM) on 15 Dec 2008:
Above: Cerro Torre peak (to the far right of the photos)
Above left: the gradual rocky ascent to Lago Torre...
Above right: View of Lago Torre
Above left: Glacier Torre
Above right: Folks shielding themselves from the howling hurricane-strong winds @ Lago Torre - I was almost literally blown away a number of times, no kidding!
2. Mt. Fitz Roy Trail (8 hours round-trip; 24 KM) on 16 Dec 2008:
Above right: Cerro Fitz Roy (the highest peak in the middle) stands at 3,405 m
Above right: Man and nature
Above left: Poincenot (3,002 m) in the middle with Fitz Roy (to the right of pic)
Above right: Lago de Los Tres
Above: I was fortunate with the great weather - beautiful blue skies and cirrus clouds - simply a perfect day to see Fitz Roy! :)
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