Day 3: Camp Grey -> Camp Perros

Distance: 22km

Projected Time: 9.5hrs

Our Time: 8hrs

Amazing how a good nights sleep can remove the trail weariness.  I awoke feeling pretty good and we hit the trail around 8:30am.  It was quite cool out but with the trail climbing I got warmed up within an hour.  Today is suppose to be our toughest day because of all the elevation we must gain and lose over the next 14km going over the pass.(1000m up and 800m down)  The weather is beautiful and the views of the Glaciar Grey are even better as the trail climbs towards it.  You get the feeling of how immense it is as it stretches out in the distance.

I've forgotten to mention that the trails here are very different than back home. If your trail is going from point A to B, with B being higher than A. The trail does not do switchbacks or gradual climb to that point. It either goes fairly level till you’re beneath B and then goes straightup or it does a series of ups and downs with the final up being a nice big one to get you to B. I can say our legs are much stronger because of these trails. haha! Bridge construction varies from planks to cross members every half meter. Ladders to traverse canyons are not bolted to the rock but held against the rock with cables that are anchored to trees at the top. Its quite fun going down or up them with a loaded backpack. These trails are not for the naive all though later on in our trek Llew heard an American gal say these trails are for kindergartners. (I’m pretty sure she changed her assessment after her 2nd day as she was only traversing the lowland at that point.)

The climb up the John Gardner paso (pass) was not bad at all as we got a pace going that we maintained all the way up. The views of the glaciar got better the higher we got and the weather was just amazing with just a light wind. Lots of people have gone over this pass in a wind that knocks you down or blows you off the trail. At the top we stopped and filled our bottles with fresh water and tang. One can drink from most streams without filtering here as they come from glaciers. The only streams we didn’t drink from were the ones that had moss growing in them.

The view down the backside was nice and we eagerly stretched our legs to get to Camp Perros. We went through the muddy section on the trail where it can take some time to get through when its wet. We were able to breeze through it without getting muddy. Llew was disappointed I didn't fall in, and I was equally disappointed he didn't as well. haha!

Construction on a new suspension bridge that will replace the ladders for this canyon traverse.

Day 4: Camp Perros -> Camp Serón

Distance: 27.2km

Projected Time: 10.5hrs

Our Time: 8hrs

It’s Sabbath today and what a great way to spend it walking out in nature through beautiful forests and beside streams, under towering mountains and glaciars. Wow! It feels good to be alive and have all my senses. Later in the day I regretted having all my senses as my feet got to hurting. Ah just one of those things you go through if you don’t do this regularly. haha! We met our German friend Simon on the trail and had a pic with him. He’s doing the Q circuit which adds a little extra.

Camp Dickson was very nice next to a glaciar lake and in a big meadow. However we’re headed to Serón so we passed on through. I appreciate the low land trails as they’re mostly level and we can move quickly. We walked through fields of Daisies blowing in the wind. It was so beautiful in the closing hours of the day.

I was happy to arrive at Serón which unfortunately is an over priced camp ($8500 vs $4300 pesos for the others) that is exposed to wind and doesn’t have a proper place to cook. We think they’re charging more because everyone starting the trek in the other direction stay here the first night as Dickson is quite a bit further.

Day 5: Camp Serón -> Camp Torres

Distance: 17.6km

Projected Time: 7.25hrs

Our Time: 4hrs

Today is an easy day with less distance and time. We have a climb up into a valley where we’ll be camped beneath the main attraction here in the park, Torres. Our packs are much lighter and we made quick work of the distance even passing many day hikers going up towards the Torres. The wind was gusting on the trail and we had to be careful to not get swept over and down into the canyon. We had a reservation to camp at Torres which is 40min below the viewing of the Torres. We quickly setup our tent and day hiked up to the Torres since we didn’t know if we would be able to see them tomorrow. Not the best pictures of them, but it would have to do. We plan to hike back up there for sunrise tomorrow, which means a 5:30am wakeup in the cold.

First view of the Torres (2 points sticking up; There are actually 3 Torres)

Looks like I have horns, watch out! ;)

Day 6: Camp Torres -> back to Puerto Natales

Distance: 15.7km

Projected Time: 5.25hrs

Our Time: 3hrs

The rain has arrived and is coming down hard at times. It must be early morning, so there is time for it to move on and clear off before sunrise. I’m thankful the tent is keeping us dry even if the rain-fly zippers don’t work properly. grrrrr! We awoke at 5:30am to no rain, just cold. I put on all my layers as I anticipated there would be wind up at the lake. We started the 40min. climb up there without using our headlamps as there was enough light for us to see. Other people were using headlamps and I could see the lights up the mountain side. We arrived and found a place that seemed to be good for viewing the sunrise. Llew setup his GoPro to do timed exposures. We must have waited 45min. before we started seeing some light on the tips. Because there were clouds in the horizon, the light spilled all over the rock but didn’t bathe it gradually. The wind picked up to so I tried my best to work my camera and still keep my fingers warm. It was amazing to see the glow on the rock. There was some fresh snow evident from last nights precipitation. We moved up the slope away from the lake for a different angle and waited for the sun to bathe the lake in brilliance. When it finally did on the far side I was less enthused with its outcome and more concerned about never feeling my fingers again. I headed back down to camp.

The trek back down the mountain to where the bus would pick us up 15km away was easy. We came across a herd of Guanaco and I took some pictures. We went a little further and found a spot on the river we could cleanup and eat some lunch. By cleanup I mean get in the freezing water and act like it was so warm. haha! When I got out I was happy that it was windy so my shorts would dry out, but not happy that it was a very cold wind. haha! While drying there, a couple Guanaco came racing towards us and I wasn't sure if we were going to get mowed over by them. They veered off just before getting to us and one of them just stood in the river asking me to take his pictures with the Torres as the backdrop. I obliged him or her as I was all to happy to get the picture and still be alive. haha! After eating we headed up to the area where we needed to wait for the 2:30pm bus. It was important that we made it on time for this bus, because the next one wouldn't arrive until 8pm.

You can tell that Llew is enjoying the water temp.  Its only glacial water ;)

The buses arrived and our bus ticket was for JBA which already had a full bus as it had picked up people prior to our stop. The bus driver then tried to shift us onto other company buses. We were going to get on another when we discovered it was full. They motioned for us to leave our backpacks on this bus and get on another. A bunch of us decided that was not for us as we did not want to be separated from our packs. That’s all we have and can’t be losing it. The bus driver said another bus would be along in 20-30min. I mused to myself about seeing whether that was true. I think growing up in India has made me skeptical when things like that are said. A hour later and we were all unhappy about that bus drivers lies. There were about 10-15 of us stuck there. Around 4:30 a bus arrived that was headed to the administration and would end up being the bus that would pick us up at 8pm. One of our group was a Spaniard and he decided that we needed to hijack this bus and make them take us to Puerto Natales. So while the driver was off talking to another bus driver, we all got on this bus with our packs and refused to get off. The bus driver came back and was unhappy. He said another bus company would take us. But then the Spanish guy checked with the driver of the other company and he said he wasn’t. So again a JBA bus driver was lying to us. Then the bus driver called his boss and our Spaniard and another Chileno went and talked on the phone with the boss and they ended up deciding that the other buses could take the current passengers on JBA and the JBA bus would take us back to Puerto Natales. So we ended up leaving around 5pm and getting back before 7pm. Has anyone else had a similar experience as this? I think its quite typical in non-western countries.

Here’s our recovery meal. One big FAT taco salad. I sure missed my veggies on my 6 days out. I know I’m going to be constantly hungry for at least the next week. haha!

Ride-sharing to Puerto Natales

We were wondering how we were going to make our way to Puerto Natales after we failed miserably to hitch-hike from El Chaltén.  The bus was definitely an option and a reliable one.  It would cost over $400 pesos.  When we arrived at Los Pioneros Hostel, there was a paper asking for 2 people to ride share to Puerto Natales for $250 a person.  We signed our names and found the people ¨Jacob & Katerina¨ accidentally when trying to find a place to sit and eat dinner.  They’re a Czech couple traveling around for a few weeks and were headed to Punto Arenas to see the Penguins.  They were leaving the next morning and that fit perfectly with our strict schedule. haha!  We drove for a bit on Ruta (route) 40 (famous highway here that runs for 1000s of kilometers.)  We also traveled some gravel roads to cut down on distance and time and we ended up going through a lonely border station where the agents were so preoccupied watching TV that we could have probably driven through without them knowing. ;)

Fox in the middle of the pic

In Puerto Natales with our friends.  We look forward to seeing you both in Prague :)

El Chaltén Treks

Lago de los Tres
This day trek is the most popular one to be done. It takes you up to ¨Lago de los Tres¨ which is as close to Fitz Roy as you can get without being in the snow zone. It also gives you a stunning view of Fitz Roy with the lake in the foreground. Its about a 25km out and back hike with a 300m climb in the last 1km. The views you get on the trail of Fitz Roy are fantastic. We were fortunate to have good weather for our trek as the peak is covered in the clouds most of the time. The lake was so inviting that we both jumped in. We definitely had everybody's attention as we were the only ones doing it. It was cold but not freezing and well worth having that experience. ;)

Lago de Torre

We came up with a great idea to see Lago de Torre and also cut across the valley and view the glaciar Piedras Blancas and follow that trail out to the road where we would hitch hike ¨a dedo¨ back to town. The lady at the Park headquarters kind of laughed at that idea and thought it was to far. It made us even more determined that it was a doable itinerary for our day trek. A German gal named Charlotte said she would like to come hike with us, so told her what the trek was going to be, and she was very agreeable to go along.

We were a little disappointed that the clouds stayed sucked in so we couldn't see the peaks above Lago de Torre, but the rest of the views were amazing along the trek. The treks here are not full of ups and downs so its very easy going. When we arrived at the road after doing +30km, we were happy to ride in the back of pickup the 17km to town.

Piedras Blancas Glaciares

Treking along the rio