Laguna Torres

We were faced with the decision yesterday of which hike to do. The most famous hike here in El Chalten is to the Laguna de los tres. It offers the iconic Instagram photo of The Fritz Roy Mountain reflecting in the lake. The hike is 22 k round trip and 1000m of elevation gain. It is rated as an 8 to 10 hour hike. I wasn't sure if we had it in us to do this hike. We are more of a 4 to 5 hour hike. The lesser but easier hike was to Laguna Torres also 22 k but with only 500 metres of elevation rated at 6 to 8 hours. We also thought that if we fared well on the Laguna Torres hike, we could have a rest day and tackle the more difficult hike. We got going fairly early which for us was 8 am. The hike had a very gentle elevation gain over the 11 km in and at various points commanded great views of Cerre Torre, the spiky mountain in the distance. There were lots of people on the trail many of which passed us. We made it up to the lake in 3.5 hours and ate our lunches taking in the splendour of the lake, the glaciers and the mountains. It was very beautiful. Rain was predicted for the mid afternoon so we headed back after 15 to 20 minutes. The views weren't as scenic on the way out but we did see Condors soaring like vultures in the sky. We made it home by 2:30 which was 6.5 hours and a long hike for us. We were pretty tired and relaxed before an early supper. Fajitas. We had bought the beef from the local grocery store and it was a wonderful cut. The rain didn't arrive until 6 pm but it became very windy. Gusts of wind buffeted our accommodations all night long. Cheryl said it kept her up but I was so exhausted after the hike, I would have slept through anything.

Today we were a little sore from our hike yesterday and rain was predicted until 10 am so we took life easy at first. When it stopped raining we did a 2 hour hike to a local waterfall and wandered around town to get a feeling for life in El Chalten. Lots of little houses here. Lots of dogs. No solar panels. Supposedly everyone's electricity is so heavily subsidized by the government there is no reason to go solar or use wind power. Unfortunate they have lots of both.Leggi altro