Touching the Void
El Chalten: April 7th to April 9th 2006
Having witnessed the dusty plains and uninspiring landscape on the bus ride from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate, Patagonia was colouring me distinctly unimpressed.
Hopping on the early bus to El Chalten on Friday, after kicking some French ass in the El Calafate Hostel on Thursday night, it was hard to know what to expect.
But El Chalten delivers, in spades.
The weather, when she decides to piss it down, definitely does. However, we have been blessed with three days of Patagonian perfection and magnificent views of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre mountains and the accompanying glaciers.
I hadn´t expected to do much trekking on this trip but we´ve overdosed this weekend, I had a solo hike up to the lookout point for Cerro Torre on Friday afternoon which took about three hours and yesterday, with Graeme and Mike, we managed a round trip to the lookout point for Fitz Roy and around one of the calmest and clearest lakes I´ve ever seen in about six hours.
I was definitely hurting on the ascent of about 350 metres but managed to hang in there. Turns out a desk job for six years and copious alcohol consumption at the weekends is not the best training for this kind of stuff.
Thankfully the weather has held, because there is nothing to do but trek in El Chalten, we are talking about a mining town where mining never really got off the ground. In fact, you want to trek out of here, the glacial winds that rip through the valley whipping up the dusty roads make it completely inhospitable and even a trip to the shops is a mission that must be considered carefully.
Last night however, the wind dropped for no apparent reason. After a couple of drinks in the microbrewery we were invited to a local party, which took place in one of the numerous buildings that are in the midst of construction in this little village.
A fun evening and despite being kicked out of bed at 10am this morning, things aren´t too bad.
Nothing on the agenda today barring catching the 6pm bus back to El Calafate and hopefully catching Manchester United vs Arsenal on the TV.
Conversation is genuinely different in this Hostel compared to The Milhouse in Buenos Aires. In BA you inevitably hear an English voice inquiring as to the best nightlife that BA has to offer, Friday night, somebody here said they wouldn´t mind climbing Everest.
The funny thing is, despite the task, whether clubbing or climbing, the motivation at it´s root essence remains the same.
Why?
Because it´s there.
Having witnessed the dusty plains and uninspiring landscape on the bus ride from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate, Patagonia was colouring me distinctly unimpressed.
Hopping on the early bus to El Chalten on Friday, after kicking some French ass in the El Calafate Hostel on Thursday night, it was hard to know what to expect.
But El Chalten delivers, in spades.
The weather, when she decides to piss it down, definitely does. However, we have been blessed with three days of Patagonian perfection and magnificent views of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre mountains and the accompanying glaciers.
I hadn´t expected to do much trekking on this trip but we´ve overdosed this weekend, I had a solo hike up to the lookout point for Cerro Torre on Friday afternoon which took about three hours and yesterday, with Graeme and Mike, we managed a round trip to the lookout point for Fitz Roy and around one of the calmest and clearest lakes I´ve ever seen in about six hours.
I was definitely hurting on the ascent of about 350 metres but managed to hang in there. Turns out a desk job for six years and copious alcohol consumption at the weekends is not the best training for this kind of stuff.
Thankfully the weather has held, because there is nothing to do but trek in El Chalten, we are talking about a mining town where mining never really got off the ground. In fact, you want to trek out of here, the glacial winds that rip through the valley whipping up the dusty roads make it completely inhospitable and even a trip to the shops is a mission that must be considered carefully.
Last night however, the wind dropped for no apparent reason. After a couple of drinks in the microbrewery we were invited to a local party, which took place in one of the numerous buildings that are in the midst of construction in this little village.
A fun evening and despite being kicked out of bed at 10am this morning, things aren´t too bad.
Nothing on the agenda today barring catching the 6pm bus back to El Calafate and hopefully catching Manchester United vs Arsenal on the TV.
Conversation is genuinely different in this Hostel compared to The Milhouse in Buenos Aires. In BA you inevitably hear an English voice inquiring as to the best nightlife that BA has to offer, Friday night, somebody here said they wouldn´t mind climbing Everest.
The funny thing is, despite the task, whether clubbing or climbing, the motivation at it´s root essence remains the same.
Why?
Because it´s there.
posted by Christophe at 2:20 p.m.
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