Nov 9 – Day 16 – Travel/Border Crossing
Today is a travel day, so we get up, have our last breakfast and coffee with our stunning view at Laguna Amarga, and we hit the road for El Chaltén. It is roughly 50km/31m to the Cerro Castillo border crossing- just a small building with a gate on the outskirts of town. Both Migracion and Aduana (Immigration and Customs) are here, and we quickly learned that if no one is at the window you should walk up and ring the bell. It was pretty painless, but if you are driving a rental vehicle (RV or Car) you MUST make sure your paperwork is stamped. You will have three pieces of paper you need- the rental agreement, proof of insurance and the vehicle registration- if you are unsure, just bring it all in and let them pull out what they need. Your main page should be stamped by each country when you leave and when you enter (in our case we rented in Chile, got stamped when we left Chile, then got stamped when we entered Argentina, then again when we left Argentina, and finally when we re-entered Chile). You also MUST have your PDI you were given when you entered Chile- Chile will also stamp your passport on the way in and on your way out.
About 1km/1m up the road we come to the Argentina Customs office. They are way more laid back than Chile. There is no SAG (Customs Declaration) to fill out, they look at but don’t stamp your passport. But again, as stated above, they MUST stamp the paperwork for your rental vehicle.
We then kept going on Ruta 40 to Esperanza- which in retrospect was a bit of a mistake- we should have taken Rt 7 to El Cerrito then doubled back to Esperanza. The section of Ruta 40 between the border crossing and Esperanza was VERY rough, even in our 4×4. Later we found out that Rt 7 to El Cerrito and then Ruta 40 to Esperanza is mostly paved and smooth- a longer distance but faster traveling. Here is the map of what we did. Looks shorter, right? Wrong!
But you’re probably asking, why do we have to go to Esperanza? It is, quite literally, the only gas station you will find until you get to El Calafate or El Chalten. We had last filled up in Puerto Natales and there was no way we would make it to either El Calafate or El Chaltén, so Esperanza was our only option.
TRAVELERS NOTE: Fuel management is important here- there simply isn’t another gas station a few miles down the road. Because of the excellent information and maintenance from our Campanda RV owner, we knew we had a fuel range of 600km, but it would smart to ask your rental company what the fuel range per tank is (or check online for your vehicle) and pay attention to what you’ve used. While every gas station we went to took credit cards we have heard of some only accepting cash, so it would be wise to make sure you have enough cash to cover a fill up if needed. Also, if you are driving one of the very common diesel vehicles you need to know that Argentina has two grades of diesel available- regular and premium. Regular is for big trucks & tractors, premium is for cars. Don’t try to save a few bucks and put regular diesel in a car, you might end up on the side of the road with a non functioning car. Spend the money.
Most of Ruta 40 is like driving through Texas- mostly flatish and brown. Instead of deer waiting on the side of road to jump out and commit suicide you will have guanacos trying to do the same. Be prepared to see a LOT of dead guanacos though- one of the saddest things about this beautiful country is that there is fence on both sides of the roads and the guanacos often are able to jump over it and then seem to be unable to jump back- so they are trapped in the roadway area. It is truly heartbreaking. I’d like to see some ramps made of the millions of rocks on the roadside that would give them some places they could jump back over the fence from…
But we arrive in El Chaltén around 17:00, and stop in the ranger station just outside of town to get our bearings. The ranger lets us know we can park in the wild camping across the street (there is a portajohn there) for no charge. And then we hear the other heartbreaking story- when we asked her for a restaurant recommendation she softly answered that she didn’t have one, as she could not afford to eat out. The economy there has been harsh to the locals, so please treat them well- buy stuff, tip generously.
Before settling in for the evening we head into town so we know where the trailheads are, buy some groceries and find a nice dinner and beer. We end up at La Cervecería Chaltén where Melinda has a squash soup and I have a traditional Locro stew, with some of their fine dark beers- we highly recommend eating here, but arrive early- the small place fills up fast!
After groceries and a walk through town we head back to the wild camping area- actually as far as we can tell it there are only two motorhome camping areas in El Chalten. There are quite a few hostals, rooms for rent and places you can camp with a tent (for a fee), but for motorhomes there is only the wild camping across from the range station and the parking lot behind the bus station. The bus station is free, has a bathroom and some meager wifi available. The camp across from the ranger station is also free, no wifi and only a portajohn- but it has an amazing view of Mt Fitz Roy! The bus station was packed, with everyone lined up side to side- the camp had, at most, 4 other campers… so we preferred the camp.
Nov 10 – Day 17 – Mt. Fitz Roy
Sendero al Fitz Roy – View trail on OpenStreetMap
Length- 21.4km (13.4m) roundtrip
Difficulty- Medium/Hard- the last 1.5km are very hard
We are concerned about the weather over the next few days- the forecast is not optimal. So if we want to climb Fitz Roy with good weather, today is the day. We get up early and drive over to the trailhead– yes drove, so we can get there early and save another mile or so of walking (each way).
The weather co-operates with us- nearly perfect for the entire hike! The hike itself isn’t too bad, or even that difficult- just long and a lot of moderate hills. But the last 1.5km is very steep and very rocky with a small snow crossing near the top- no crampons needed, just a little caution. But there is a pass, just before getting to the top, where the wind gusts easily exceed 50mph. Every time Melinda lifts her foot to step forward the wind moves it to the side and it lands exactly where she didn’t plan for it to land. It was so strong she borrowed a hiking pole from me, something she never does…but I didn’t want her to be blown off the mountain! I felt like it was easier than Mirador Las Torres, but it was still a very tough hike.
But the view at the top is simply stunning! I run out of superlatives describing these places….the lake was frozen over but Fitz was mostly visible with clouds circling around like smoke eruptions from a primordial volcano- since “el chalten” translates into “smoky mountain” it all makes sense. Despite the wind that is still howling around us we spend a good 45 minutes just being there before we reluctantly head back down.
There were three great experiences we had on this hike. The first was on the way up when we got behind a tour group with a wonderful guide- during a rough part of the climb he told his stopped group “Breathe. Maybe cry. Maybe both at the same time. Enjoy the view” and then more privately to a woman who clearly wasn’t going to make the summit ” It’s ok, look at the lakes from here, they are so beautiful… the top doesn’t matter.” She didn’t make the top, but I hope she saw the beauty he showed her.
The second was on our way down, talking to some people we were hiking with and trading basic info. They were from Buenos Aires, but when they found out we were from North Carolina he immediately broke into James Taylor’s “In My Mind I’m Going to Carolina” and I was awestruck by the power of music to join us together, no matter where we are from. But I wish I was more familiar with the music of his culture as well….
The third was seeing an Andean Condor- we had seen two before, one was pointed out by our guide while on the cruise, but it was so far away we could only see a small speck and had to take his word on it. The second time we saw it ourselves- a bird so far up in the sky but so massive it could only be a condor… but this time there were two of them, and only a 100ft in the sir, so close we could see the white rings around their neck. Such a wonderful sight to see them and actually be able to to identify them ourselves… We also a beautiful yellow/purple gray/ Patagonia Sierra finch…but we aren’t birders!
Nov 11 – Day 18 – El Dia del Nieve
WeWe had scheduled a recovery/buffer day after yesterday’s hike and boy did we plan well…or got lucky! We woke to rain, and our last few matches to light the stove were not good and failed to ignite….and while our neighbors did not have any matches, a kind German man brought us a kettle of hot water he heated from his self igniting stove- we were so grateful, and endlessly amazed at the kindness that most people have, especially when traveling. As we were eating breakfast with the hot water from our good samaritan the rain turned into snow! It ended up snowing from 8am-2pm, probably an inch or so during that time. But that was ok, we had some plans for a buffer day anyway- drop some laundry off at a local lavenderia, catch up on some email and internet stuff we needed to keep to keep our “real” lives going… so we found a wonderful hotel/art gallery/ coffee shop called the Kaulem Hotel Boutique where the coffee was strong, the pastries delicious and the wifi acceptable. We ran into our our friend from Buenos Aires in the lobby and enjoyed chatting with them before they were off on their way.
As the snow kept falling we resigned ourselves to a relaxing day…. breakfast slowly turned to lunchtime, and we ended up at Pangea Restaurant. The food was good, but not exceptional and a bit pricey even for the area- not a thumbs down, but not a must try sort of place. But by then the snow had stopped and people were coming back out in the streets. We wanted to peek into some stores but we were foiled by “siesta” – many stores close between 1-4pm so we weren’t able to check them. I know this is a common thing in Latin America, but in a tourist town? Not sure it makes a lot of sense, but that’s coming from the North American perspective….in a lot of ways I respect the idea of siesta, until it works against me! 🙂
But the sun was out now, so we walked out to the nearby waterfall- Salto de Chorillo. We had not gone too far when we saw a flock of pretty green slender billed parakeets (we are not birders, we are not birders) and then immediately after that we saw a fox come up the trail and then pose on the side of the trail for all of us tourists… we think he knows what he is doing!
It was a 6km (roundtrip) easy hike out to the waterfall which was quite pretty- a nice hike on a day where we didn’t anticipate hiking! We ran into a guy from Spain we’d run into 3 different times at 3 different places- it never ceases to amaze me how traveling can be such a tiny but friendly community- if for only a few days! We never got his name but he was just such a nice guy, took several great pictures of us together!
After such a grueling day we decided we had earned a beer and stopped in at La Zorra Taproom. The beer was excellent (we finally got a good porter) and the staff and locals were great… we asked one of the locals about the fancy cup he was sharing with the staff.. “mate” he said, “it’s an Argentinian custom” and then he told us where we could give it a try… but that would be tomorrow.
After La Zorra we wandered through town to do a little shopping- we aren’t big buyers of things, but we got a locally “mamacita made” headband for Melinda to replace one that had gone missing, and a Fitz Roy ball cap designed and stitched by the shop owner for me, since I can always use a ball cap. The we picked up some bread, butter, cheese and brownies from a panderia for dinner, retrieved our freshly cleaned clothes from the lavenderia ($20 well spent) and retired for the evening, knowing we had another big day tomorrow.
Nov 12 – Day 19 – Laguna del Cerro Torre
Laguna del Cerro Torre– View trail on OpenStreetMap
Length- 18km (11m) roundtrip
Difficulty- Medium
A beautiful hike, sunny and low wind until we got to the laguna! This was the first lake that wasn’t mostly frozen- lots of blue icebergs floating in it though, so some nice photographs. And some brilliant views of Fitz Roy as went as we hiked., plus the Magarita Waterfall, with her 6-7 falls spread out over a huge drop. Overall this was a medium difficulty hike, but well worth doing. We met a nice couple from California while there and celebrated the hike with a few rounds at La Zorra.
We parted ways for dinner, and we were anxious to try the place recommended to us the night before for so.me local foos and our first taste of “mate”. So we went to Las Esquinas where Melinda had polenta, blue cheese and mushrooms and I tried guanaco stew…the food was great, but we also did the “mate experience” which involved our delightful waitress walking us through the ceremonial process of mate, a tea like drink that Argentinians drink daily, a communal experience they share with their closest friends. It is, as our waitress told us, “face changing” bitter at first, but mellows down to a wonderful green tea like drink. The restaurant itself was charming, the waitress was outstanding the food was great- we can’t recommend this enough! It was an amazing end to absolutely wonderful day!
Our last night in El Chalten was windy but we awoke the next day a bit sad to leave, but we knew we had more adventures ahead… we just loved this little town. But we were off to our next place- El Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier!
