November 8 - 14: El Calafate and El Chalten

After a wonderfully relaxing week with the Akhnoukhs in Buenos Aires, we boarded a plane for Patagonia. Our first stop was the town of El Calafate or, more specifically, the Glacier Moreno which is the main draw of this gateway to Southern Patagonia. 6 months ago, neither of us had ever really seen a glacier. But after our journey through Alaska, we now considered ourselves somewhat of glacier connoseurs and, as such, were a bit skeptical of whether this new sighting would wow us at all. It did. The glacier is larger than all of Buenos Aires and positioned in a way that makes it very accessibly viewed. Yet perhaps more impressive than its size is the high level of activity. While there we witnessed a massive calving that sounded like a huge explosion and created a tidalwave of bobbing ice for a good 10 minutes to follow. We were impressed. It was also our first introduction to the ever changing and often extreme weather patterns that are Patagonia. Rain, sleet, snow and driving winds blessed our day at the glacier. Quite a change from 80 degrees and sunny in BA!

El Chalten was our second Patagonian stop, and one that we happly settled into for 5 days. A tiny (though ever growing) mountain village set near the base of the Fitz Roy range, El Chalten only officially became a town in the 1980s. We stayed in a charming little hostel (Albergue Patagonia) where we could cook our own meals and enjoy cozy afternoons curled up with a book in their living room loft. It reminded Allison of some of the New England ski lodges of her childhood. View from the dining area shown below.

With it´s sole purpose being as a base for trekking, El Chalten is surrounded by amazingly gorgeous and well maintained trails. Our days were spent hiking the region and getting views of the nearby ranges... Well, that and dealing with the wind. We´d read about the ¨November winds¨in others´ blog posts but didn´t give them much thought. They were, without a doubt, the most intense winds that either of us had ever experienced. On one hike we had to sit down on the trail to wait out a particularly strong blow for fear of being knocked over. We had toyed with renting gear for a backcountry trip, but were very happy to settle into our hostel each night after the hikes!



Our bus out of El Chalten left at 5:30 AM on a perfectly clear morning (a rarity in these parts). We were blessed with an amazing sunrise over the Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We highly recommend an extended stay in El Chalten for anyone visiting the region.