El Chalten

After a 3 hour bus ride from El Calafate we arrive in El Chalten. Its a sleepy town that appears almost empty with the exception of the usual street dogs doing their thing. Most shops are closed from 1pm to 5pm daily. Its evident that the high season has well and truly passed.

To kill some time we set off for a short 2 hour hike to see the Del Chirro waterfall. Its nothing flash after trekking Torres Del Paine but its a nice walk and helps build up an appetite.

On the way back to the hostel we pick up some steak and a couple of 1L local beers. At the hostel we run into a bunch of our friends that we met in Puerto Natales and discuss options of how to get back to Santiago. We decide to book the Navimag (cargo barge) that travels from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt weekly and has a bunch of cabins on board. We're warned that this is no luxury cruise but an economical way to see west coast of Chile over 4 days.

Although our sleep is disturbed by the creaking floor boards of the residents (possibly elephants) sleeping upstairs, we awake eager to trek to the much hyped Mt Fitzroy lookout. Breakfast done and lunch packed we commence the 20km return hike (piece of cake without a 15kg backpack). At the 7km mark we see a 'trail closed' sign indicating the bridge is closed. Our mates from last night told us its easy to cross the ankle deep water and to proceed. A kilometer further down the track we run into a group of 8 rangers who were not impressed. Instead of suggesting that they were not working efficiently and that they should invest more time in fixing the bridge, we listen to their 5 min lecture on respecting the park rules and retrace our steps disappointed that we had travelled all the way from El Calafate only to get stopped 2km from the summit. We stop by Lago Capri on the way back and skim rocks across the semi frozen lake. A lot of the streams through the trails are semi frozen and its cool fun to walk across them as the ice cracks like glass!

Back at the hostel we kick back and play card games with a few cold beers. We're over hiking and ready to make our way back to Puerto Natales via El Calafate.Read more