EE & S Adventures

Today was an overcast day with some showers and the occasional heavy wind squall.  After sleeping in we eventually decided on a late start to walk to Lago Torre (20km total, 10km each way).  Most of the walk follows the valley of the Rio Fitzroy (over some of the ground Eric ran yesterday), so it was a good walk to do on an inclement day as it avoided the higher elevations. The Fitzroy was running high after heavy overnight rain and even lapped the trail in places.  It was an awesome sight. The rain worsened the closer we got to the foot of the big mountains.  At Lago Torre it was pretty cold and windy so we didn't stay long.  Unfortunately the clouds blocked the views of the mountains.  We had a quick look at the icebergs and the muddy water and headed back from the moraine to the shelter of the trees to have a late lunch. This walk had some very nice forested sections - definitely some orienteering potential in the flatter parts of the park!

After the long hike yesterday, Elise and Sam went on a shorter excursion to waterfall del Salto, one of the more accessible natural sights in Chalten. The waterfall is just a short walk from town Eric decided on an early morning long run, doing a 22km circuit taking in some of the interesting moorland, lakes and forest above the town including the lower valley of the Rio Fitzroy and Lago Capri. The rough and rocky trail above the Rio Fitzroy Lago Capri

El Chalten is known as the trekking capital of Argentina.  There's a wide range of hikes from short walks of a few hours for families and older trekkers to week long treks for the highly experienced taking in the Sothern Patagonia Ice Field and various glaciers and high peaks.  Much of the area around the town is part of PN Los Glaciares including the massif containing Cerro Torre and Fitzroy, two of the most famous and hardest mountains to climb in the world. The road leading into town with Fitzroy in the background partially obscured by cloud  On our first full day we set out to walk to Lago de Las Tres (20km return).  It was a windy morning with the weather alternating between sunshine and showers every five minutes as we walked up the valley of the Rio Blanco. Rainbow just near the start of the walk Trekking up the Rio Blanco Hanging glacier across the valley By the time we passed Camp Poincenot and reached the foot of the steep climb to Lago de Los T

Here are 12 cats I saw in Chile. This cat is in Futaleufu. It is yellow. T his cat was in Torres del Paine.  It is a cute kitten  

Vast is the word I’d use to describe the Argentinian steppe. My experience so far is that Argentina is full of beautiful open spaces; low scrub; large, massive lakes and sharp, steep mountains. It does really feel like cattle country except I have not seen any. I like the roads, they are straight and smooth. The other day we travelled from El Calafate to El Chalten. The roads were so smooth compared to Chile. We took a hitchhiker called Celine from Corsica. We had some great conversation, Celine is a well travelled woman. So what have I observed so far about Argentina?  There are still heaps of pedestrian crossings in both towns but they just indicate where pedestrians may wish to cross because no cars actually stop, unlike in Chile. I was going to say that Argentina has better quality fruit and veg than Chile but that was just one supermarket, the rest are not so flash. The banana type here, grown in Ecuador, is delicious and sweet... nicer I might say f

Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the largest in South America.  It's in the southern section of Los Glaciares NP about 70km from El Calafate.  It has a surface area of about 250 square km and is about 5km wide just above the terminus in Argentino Lake.  It's very active with a lot of ice calving off the glacier into the lake every day. The north (or north east) face.  It's about 70 meters high (above the water). The glacier meets the lake side on and has two separate faces.  After driving from El Calafate we started by taking a boat trip to the southern face.  We were lucky that the boat was almost empty which meant we could move around and get the best views for the whole trip.  It was a perfect day, very warm with lots of sun which probably helped make the glacier even more active than usual.  While in the boat we saw one massive berg explode off the face and crash into the lake. Some of the interesting spires on the south face Samuel chillin  After the b

We arrived in El Calafate after a longish trip by bus from Chile.  It wasn't really that long in terms of distance but with a border crossing involved, everyone had to pile off and on the bus twice to go through the ritual of document checking.  The Argentine police also boarded the bus twice, once at the border and once at a checkpoint near the end of the trip to check for something or other. El Calafate is a town of contrasts.  The suburbs looked pretty ordinary - nary a tree was to be seen. One minute we were driving through the steppe and the next it was still the steppe, just with houses.  However the main street was the lovely contrast, with a line of nice shady trees and interesting touristy shops and restaurants. West of town where the steppe meets the mountains Now the real gripe.  Having neglected to do our research, we soon discovered that there was a good reason why the first rule for tourists visiting Argentina is to bring bundles of US dollars.  Argentinian

Perhaps due to its vicinity to Argentina.... when ordering a meal with meat in Patagonian Chile, you can expect a generous serve. Here is an example of lamb we had for lunch on our final full day in Chile (shut your eyes vegetarians).  It was cooked in a way we’ve seen a bit round here: grilled.  As indicated, we really met the Patagonian weather in Torres Del Paine. Very intimately. It changes every ten minutes however it has a few common aspects. It is almost always windy. If it is fine, it is stunning, clear and warm. If it is raining, it will do so in bursts.  We have observed the wind as follows: Picking up dust to sand blast the paint from the car and the skin from our faces. Driving rain into our faces till it stings  Blowing us up the hill till I, for example, could literally lean back into it and have it cushion me. Sharp gusts which succeeded in blowing Samuel off his feet, so that he ended up falling on some rocks and getting an abrasion on his a

Of course the day we left PN Torres del Paine the weather looked like this... Driving back to Puerto Natales we stopped to have a look at the Milodon Cave (actually several caves).  The caves are a key archaeological site with extensive animal and human remains dating from the last ice age.  The site was well set up with a range of information in both Spanish and English about the site and its historical inhabitants and the environment around them. Taking a walk around the caves was a lot easier than our other recent walks.  It has some potential as an orienteering area. Arriving back in Puerto Natales for a late lunch we had the best lamb of the trip so far.  Slow cooked over the fire on a crucifix. Some reflections on Torres del Paine. Infrastructure is quite variable in quality - roads are abysmal as is the lack of facilities like food shops and ATMs.  Especially when many places only accept cash.  Even the nearest petrol station is in Puerto Natales (100km