The next stop along our chain of towns in Patagonia was El Chalten. The village was glossed over with a scanty paragraph in the Lonely Planet guide, but it was strongly recommended to us by a fellow traveler. The bus from El Calafate dropped us off at the biggest hostel in Chalten, as there is no central terminal. Due to convenience, we decided to book two beds in this hostel, though we wished we had brought camping gear to take advantage of the amazing hikes all over Chalten. Nonetheless, we only spent mere moments in the hostel, sandwiching an amazing 11-hour hike to the base of Mount Fitz Roy with friends we met in the hostel's cantina.
Taking advantage of a tranquil backdrop to drop a tree pose
Upon arriving, Lauren and I found a table and ordered a liter of beer to unwind from the bus ride along a semi-paved road. We were immediately joined by a porteña named Sandra, who ordered herself some milanesa and fries, the latter of which she was insistent upon sharing. Milanesa is very popular all over Argentina and is basically chicken fried steak. Everyone eats it, all the time. We're not the biggest fans (something about it just isn't the same as actual good ol' Southern chicken fried steak) but we eat it when we need a big meal. As a token of our gratitude, Lauren and I placed an order for dulce de leche pancakes (crepes), of which Sandra helped herself to two bites yet thanked us profusely. We were later joined by one of our dorm-mates; his name is Sergei, and he hails from Barcelona. After he entertained us with a list of words that are spoken in Argentina but not in Spain, we made plans with Sandra to set out on a group hike at 0800. Sergei already had booked an excursion, so it was just to be the three of us.
When we woke up the next morning, it was raining pretty heavily. Sergei had already come back from meeting with his tourguides, and was bummed that his excursion had been canceled due to inclement weather. Lauren and I decided that it would be okay to sleep in due to the circumstances, but around 8:30 I decided to check to see if Sandra had come to rouse us for the hike. Sure enough, she was waiting in the cantina. We sat with Sandra and Sergei for breakfast until 10 am when the weather cleared and we set out on our hike. Sergei wanted to wait for the drizzling to stop, so we set off without him.
The scenery was spectacular. We followed a glacier-fed stream until we found a lagoon and stopped for lunch. After lunch, we decided to head for a second lagoon, called Laguna de los Tres. We had no idea that it was at the base of mount Fitz Roy, which was about a 1,500 m ascent from the base of the valley. Everyone who we had spoken to said it was the best sight in the area, so we strapped on our hiking legs and began the arduous climb. After nearly 3 hours of trekking, we finally reached our destination, oddly enough about five minutes ahead of Sergei, who had set out for the same spot only two hours after we did. This certainly made us feel like a group of pokey puppies.
Posing in front of Laguna de los Tres near Fitz Roy with our new amiga Sandra
We spent about a half hour taking photos before journeying back down the mountain, and Sergei persuaded us to take the long way back to El Chalten so we could see two lakes we hadn't hiked by before. It wasn't much to see, and it added about three hours to our hike. Qué lástima. However, when we got back to the hostel at 2300 (with the sun still out), we felt entirely deserving of eating a huge dinner (aka milanesa for everyone!). After some cold showers, Lauren and I packed our bags, and retired to our bunk beds for a sound sleep before hopping our early morning bus to the little town of Perito Moreno (not to be confused with the glacier of the same name where we trekked). Although the hostel was expensive, we paid absolutely nothing for our nearly 40km hike, and it was some of the most beautiful scenery the country has to offer. The recommendations definitely lived up to their hype. Chalten was definitely one of the highlights of our Patagonia experience.
No photoshop here. The water really was this turquoise.
Mount Fitz Roy, nearly always obscured by clouds.
Though not the tallest mountain to summit, it is one of the most treacherous.
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