Calafate and Chalten, Patagonia

Me hiking an isolated trail up the backside of Fitz Roy. It was the first sunny day after three days of rain, and the hike was amazing. I did it with a lady from Montana, a guy I met in Calafate who's lived there and worked there for two years but never been to Chalten, and two kittens. I'm not joking about the two kittens. They started following us from the hut where we were camped and continued all the way up the mountain!

Sunrise on Fitz Roy on my final morning out

Sunrise reflections

The clouds and sunset during my bus trip out of Chalten were breathtaking!

Due to weather and a decision to set up camp rather than fight the wind and rain quite literally knocking me off my feet, I spent from 2:30 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next morning in the tent. I was glad for the rest time and even gladder I had brought my book along.

The Perrito Moreno Glacier outside of Calafate. It was big and impressive. During the three hours I sat infront of it I got to see a massive chunck of ice (were talking the size of a multi-story building) peel off and crash into the lake below!

My intention was to go into the valley between Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. It's off the main trekking routes and requires a short glacier crossing and a Tirolian Traverse river crossing. Below I'm doing the Tirolian Traverse with my backpack. I never made it into the valley through because by the time I got to the glacier the winds were so strong I was literally getting knocked over. Thus the 2:30 p.m. camp setup mentioned above. The Valley I was headed for is shown in the photo below.

This is the valley I was headed for between Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy, but weather (not that you can see any of that from this picture =) turned me around. I guess I'll just have to go back.

All throughout my journey I've spent time with many wonderful, amazing, friendly, interesting people. I spent one night waiting out a rain strom with Kurt and Stephie in Kurt's yellow mansion... aka four man tent he was carrying for himself... his friends had left a few days prior.

After three days of wind and rain you can imagine how excited I was to poke my head out of the tent and rest my eyes on this backside view of Fitz Roy!