Thursday January 30th, 2020.
El Chalten, Argentina
There was another “must-do” hike on our list. It was a toss-up between today’s weather forecast vs Friday’s, so we agreed to try today and see how far we got on the 9 km hike to Laguna Torre. The temperature was way better than yesterday and the sky was nearly clear. Well, except for further away on the Cerro Torre Massif itself.
It was another fabulous hike! Not as much climbing as on Tuesday - only about 300m in total. Some beautiful forest walking interspersed with expansive views. We could see a big C-shaped glacier on Cerro Solo to the left, the Cerro Torre Massif and glacier, and a clear view of the towers of Fitz Roy behind some other mountains to our right.
It’s amazing to be walking through a beautiful, mellow forest one minute and less than 2 (mostly flat) km away be at the foot of a huge glacier and mountain range. But that’s what we did. A little climb up what I suspect is a terminal moraine, and - wow! At our feet is a lake with lots of icebergs and bergie-bits floating (or grounded) near shore. Some of the larger ones were stuck out a bit further and acted as a breakwater for some rather large waves generated by the very strong winds coming off the glacier.
There is a further 1 km extension to the hike that goes up on the ridge on the right-hand side of the lake.
I went up there and could barely stand up in the howling wind. Two of us ventured just a short way and came back down to the lake for lunch. The other three fought the wind a little longer and didn’t manage to get blown off. Other than the wind right at the end it was a great weather day - warm temperature and mostly clear skies! We had some better views on the way back down.
The trail brought us back through town..........
Then it was back to the hostel for a shower and out for dinner at a vegan restaurant. Very tasty! There went another day. One more hiking day left in El Chalten before we move on again.
It was another fabulous hike! Not as much climbing as on Tuesday - only about 300m in total. Some beautiful forest walking interspersed with expansive views. We could see a big C-shaped glacier on Cerro Solo to the left, the Cerro Torre Massif and glacier, and a clear view of the towers of Fitz Roy behind some other mountains to our right.
It’s amazing to be walking through a beautiful, mellow forest one minute and less than 2 (mostly flat) km away be at the foot of a huge glacier and mountain range. But that’s what we did. A little climb up what I suspect is a terminal moraine, and - wow! At our feet is a lake with lots of icebergs and bergie-bits floating (or grounded) near shore. Some of the larger ones were stuck out a bit further and acted as a breakwater for some rather large waves generated by the very strong winds coming off the glacier.
There is a further 1 km extension to the hike that goes up on the ridge on the right-hand side of the lake.
I went up there and could barely stand up in the howling wind. Two of us ventured just a short way and came back down to the lake for lunch. The other three fought the wind a little longer and didn’t manage to get blown off. Other than the wind right at the end it was a great weather day - warm temperature and mostly clear skies! We had some better views on the way back down.
The trail brought us back through town..........
Then it was back to the hostel for a shower and out for dinner at a vegan restaurant. Very tasty! There went another day. One more hiking day left in El Chalten before we move on again.
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