21-Jan Sunrise on the Fitz Roy Massif

5:45 a.m.

 I woke up early because of heavy winds, then was kept awake by noisy Israelis camped near me.  Since I was awake and it was not raining, I decided to walk around the clearing in the valley and watch the sun rise over the torres and see if anything was visible.  I was rewarded for my efforts.  Lucky me!

Sun rise on Fitz Roy massif.  Note that Fitz Roy is not visible.  However, you can see St Exupery and Poincenot.  I was happy to see a red sun rise.

20-Jan Fitz Roy lives up to its reputation

As a climber, Fitz Roy is the stuff dreams are made out of.  A trip to Patagonia without visiting the Torres woulod be inconceivable.  Indeed, this granite monolith rising 3441m from the edge of the south Patagonian ice cap is one of the world´s greatest mountains.  And it was first climbed by one of my mounatineering heroes- Lionel Terray.

View on the hike in before the rain started

Countless slide shows I have seen and stories I have heard recount the amount of suffering needed to scale this awesome monolith.  The climbing is high caliber, but it is the notorious bad weather that thwarts most attempts.  The gale force winds and extreme wet weather are legendary.  I have been blesses with a big serving of both (to last 3 days!). Why should I be spared the full experience?

20-Jan El Chalten

On little sleep, owing to the extremely late entry of my roomies whom I have never met (still haven´t), I dragged myself out of bed to catch a bus to El Chalten- the entry point for Los Glaciares/ Fitz Roy.  I was alittle irritated that 1 of my roomies was coughing and hacking all night in the bunk above me.  Nothing like sharing a tiny room with complete strangers broadcasting germs.

The 3-hour ride was a mostly uninteresting drive across the pampas.  When we got close, we were granted an outstanding view of the Fitz Roy Massif.  There were clouds obscuring the summit of Fitz Roy, but that did not dimish its grandeur.  St Exupery, Poincenot, Mermoz, and Guillamet were clearly visible. "So you´re Fitz Roy?" I thought to myself.  I was glad the bus driver pulled into a mirador for photo opps.  At this point, it may be the only view I get.

View of Fitz Roy massif from highway mirador

I packed my backpack with 4-5 days of food, made a quick purchase of bread and empanadas, and hot the trail.  After about an hour, the rain started.  Yes, this is Fitz Roy!  I made it to Campamento Poincenot in 2:20 min.  I set up camp in a light drizzle asap.  By now I have it down to a science.  Set out ground tarp, put rocks in the corners to keep from blowing away, set up tent, guy and stake out tent.  Put garbage bag (for waterproofing) of food in inner lefthand corner, next garbage bag of clothes goes on left behind food.  Blow up air mattress and insert on right side, sleeping bag is last.  Change out of wet clothes and hang to dry in tent.

El Calafate: my return to Argentina

The strike ended, finally, yesterday and I booked the first bus out this morning. It felt so good when the aduana stamped my passport. 6 hours later, I arrived in El Calafate, Argentina at siesta hour. It seems like no matter what I do, I get hung up by siesta hour. I arrived with a laundry list of items to do in preparation for my circumnavigation of Monte Fitz Roy tomorrow: food shopping, pharmacy, bank for ARG currency, buy map, ship stuff to myself in Bariloche. Alas, most of it would have to wait until after 4:00 pm.

So, I checked into my hostel and headed for the lake to take a look around. To my surprise, I found a small bird sanctuary of sorts on a lagoon near the lake. I paid my $4.00 USD and took the walking tour. Though rather blustery, I was elated to see so many Flamingos Australes (Chilean Flamingos). It was near to watch there bright pink wings flap in awkward flught. Pictures are forthcoming as this shitty hostel charges for computer usage.

This hostel is large, vacuous, and soulless. It is in stark contrast to the warm "everyone is family" vibe at Erratic Rock where I weathered el paro (the strike). I find it Lind of lonely in a strange way and cannot wait to get to Oarwue Nscionsl Los Glaciares mañana.

Having finished my errands, I decided I was overdue for a good Argentine Parilla. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as good as the ones up north.

I am now down to a backpack and daypack. And sm rejoicing in my improved state of mobility.

Dia 24 Termas de Pozones

I woke up after a 7 hour nap today and wearily wandered downstairs for an infusion of coffee.  Surprisingly, not very sore from my efforts yesterday (and proud of that). 

Dia 16 Pucon

Dia 15 Casa de Tracy Y Lance

Beautiful house in the country side with a super cute guest cabin "the womb" and a stupendous 3-volcano view.  They built the house themselves and have tremendous gardens.  After a little siesta, I took a walk up the road.  They are literally 10 minutes from Parque Nacional Villarica.  This is a photo taken from the road.  Note the plume of smoke emanating from the volcano.

Tracy hosted a women's solstice celebration and I got to meet 12-15 of her friends, mainly ex pats.  What a great first day in Chile!