El Calafate, El Chalten

Mistakenly ordering a huge plate of Patagonian lamb each

Back in Argentina I spent a couple of days in El Calafate to recover from the W trek before moving on to the small Patagonian town of El Chalten. Recovery tactics included basically doing nothing and eating really well - Argentinian style.

View on my first day's trek

The best thing about El Chalten is that you can start most hikes right from your doorstep. On my first day I chose to start off easy with a nice 5 hr round hike to Laguna Torres. Although a bit cloudy at the top, the weather was generally pretty good- I even stopped to snooze in the sun on the way back.







The next day however couldn't have been more different. I woke up to find it pouring with rain and with a dilemma on my hands as I'd already booked my bus ticket out for the following day. Deciding to risk it I paid to change my bus ticket and hoped for better weather the following day.

Wild Patagonian landscapes

The next morning looked good, windy but clear, and I set off for the 7 hr hike to Laguna de los tres. However after about 2 hours the weather turned and I found myself hiking in gale force winds and snow. Again.
We could barely see the laguna at the top, let alone Fitzroy mountain, and I could barely feel my fingers with the ice cold wind.

Fitzroy massif on my first day - sadly missing on trek 2

Hiking back to town as quickly as we could I felt decidedly better after a hot shower and a delicious bowl of lamb stew and obligatory glass of red wine. At least that was a big improvement on the W trek.

I felt that perhaps Patagonia and me just weren't meant to be and crossed my fingers for better weather in the lake district.