At last we were reaching the end of our trip, but not until we hiked/camped/climbed some ridiculous amount to feel good about barely moving on a ship for 11 days.
The first stop was El Calafate, where we would finally get to walk on a glacier not in Antarctica, and Perito Moreno surpassed all expectations.
El Calafate
Perito Moreno. This was a major highlight of the trip, as this wall of ice seems to come out of NOWHERE, until you hike to the back and realize its just all ice. At this point, we needed crampons to hold onto the ice, and these things could make you walk at a 90 degree angle. Was a lot of fun.
Next stop was the small town of El Chalten. This was the second (or third?) time we had been able to see the Chilean border. This town was quaint, and we seemed to have lucked out with the best hostel (opinion) with some awesome people (fact) from all over doing the same as us, preparing to hike.
At this point we rented our hiking equiptment, emptied our packs and started from scratch… with an emphasis on keeping it light. Zo (ever intelligent) packed the food in her pack… which got lighter as we hiked. I decided to take the 2 person I-swear-it’s-15-pounds-tent, which only proceeded to get heavier after the rain and mud from camping. It was a team-effort, and Zo doesn’t appreciate me joking about the disparity as she had offered numerous times to carry the tent.
It was now time to conquer Fitz Roy, and we came across another quick friend Idan from Israel to join us for our ascent (no we didn’t peak, but it was an ascent nonetheless). The water was plentiful as we could fill up from the stream. It’s hard to come by the purity of the water we found!
Making it decently far in the hike, we decided to set up camp and enjoy* the amazing sunset in the morning, leaving camp at 4am to get to the base of the 11,000 foot (3,350m) mountain, Fitz Roy. We arrived later than others at the camp, and decided to follow suite and build a wall around our tents. That is a decision we do not regret, as the wind was howling during the night, and the fortifications we had erected protected us from most of the elements, until the rain came.
*Even with all the gear we brought, the wind chill and ice bombarding us was relentless and bit to the bone. Also it rained on the descent. Worth it.
ZYXpeditions 