Friday 23rd November
Up early today, and again, there was bright sunshine streaming through the gaps around our shutters.
After a ridiculously brief taxi ride to the bus station we boarded the smart double decker coach to El Chalten.
This was something of a revelation with huge comfy reclining seats with leg rests and stunning views from the windows. Beats an internal flight every time!!
Sinking back into our seats we dozed in the sunshine for the three hour journey north to El Chalten. The route took us through a glaciated river valley and along the shore of Lago Viedma. Initially we were surrounded by vast areas of barren steppe grazed by deer and cattle. Gradually the distant snow capped mountains came closer, and the terrain more dramatic. We crossed and re-crossed the Rio Fitz-Roy until finally arriving at the Glacier National Park information centre at El Chalten.
Here the entire coach disembarked to attend a short briefing by one of the rangers to familiarise us all with the rules and principles of the park (no fires, take out all that you bring in, don’t frighten the Huemuls - an endangered species of deer...) and to describe the various walking routes in the area. There are four main routes :-
1. Los Condores / Las Aguilas viewpoints to the south of Chalten - 3km one way and good views of El Chalten town and Lake Viedma
2. Laguna Torre - 11km one way views of glacier and lake
3. Fitz Roy - 10km one way but steeper and very exposed at the top with views of Fitz Roy range, glacier and lake.
4. Chorillo del Salto - 3 km one way to a waterfall.
We planned to do these routes over the next four days in the order above.
Back in the bus we drove in to the bus station, disembarked and trundled across the road to our conveniently located and extremely friendly guest house Hosteria Senderos.
The enthusiasm of the desk clerk was infectious and within a few minutes of depositing our bags in our room we wandered off into the town for lunch.
How to describe Chalten? Well, a collection of single storey buildings built on a simple grid pattern over a flat area of ground beside the river, surrounded by snow capped mountain peaks. But it has great charm. That charm was encapsulated for us not just in our lovely guest house but by the unique La Chocolateria Josh Aike, where we headed for a cup of freshly brewed hot chocolate and home made pizza. This was housed in an amazing little building, made from recycled timber with a single storey area attached to a first floor on stilts. Everything inside was hand crafted from wood and numerous photos and ephemera hung from the walls and ceilings. The stair handrails were old wooden skis, the lights were suspended on climbing rope and hand woven rugs covered the seats and tables.
Outside it seemed to get windier and windier! We returned to the hotel, togged up in warm clothes and set off to the southern viewpoints. These did indeed offer fantastic views over the town, river and lake. The Fitz Roy range was shrouded in cloud allowing only occasional glimpses of the jagged peaks above us.
At the top we sheltered from the wind under a rock to absorb the views and the incredible location with vast far reaching views out over the steppes and lake, before returning home.
We were just in time for tea!
In the cosy central living area the atmosphere was similar to that in a ski chalet. Tea, coffee and brownies, apple crumble cake or membrillo tart. We flopped on the the huge sofa topped with a dozen cushions in shades of ochre, terracotta, silver and lime; and tucked in!
After tea we did some house keeping and laundry and a went for a walk to check out the local supermarket (think 1980s Kwiksave) before returning to Senderos for dinner.
After last nights beer and meat fest, we were delighted to enjoy carefully prepared salads and beef /lentil stew, with a bottle of local Malbec, followed by more lounging on that sofa, and an early night!