Month: December 2010

We arrived home yesterday after smooth flights from Buenos Aires (via Dallas). The biggest challenge — believe it or not — was getting pictures off my iPhone and onto my laptop. The regular camera battery died at the worst moment — right as stunning Mt Fitz Roy came into full view on our Friday hike.

Anyway, it took an hour to figure out that I needed to clear some “ghost” USB device plug-ins from the laptop (I guess I now know you should wait for those “safe to remove” messages) and reinstall the iPhone USB driver. I’m still not sure why it started working. I followed the same steps on a comment board and it magically worked the third time. I’ve learned not to question these small victories.

We spent a snowy day holed up in our hostel in El Chaltén. The next day was beautiful and we set out on an ambitious hike to the foot of Mt Fitz Roy. We quickly crested a hill to a spectacular view. Unfortunately, the outlet at the hostel that I attempted to use to charge the camera wasn’t live. After a few clicks, the camera died. On to the iPhone!

The trail went through some forested sections that were beautiful with the fresh snow.

After about 7 miles in, the trail came to a final steep pitch. Leena decided to stay back. A ranger stopped me and wasn’t happy with the quality of my boots (not serious hiking boots) and lack of poles, but let me continue with a warning to be very careful. It was very slick with the snow with some scrambling over rocks. A look back during the final climb:

The reward: an up-close look at Mt Fitz Roy with a glacial lake in the foreground.

The black and white treatment:

A look back late in the day on the hike out.

We covered over 14 miles on a most memorable day!

We took a bus on Monday from El Calafate to El Chaltén, a small mountain village at the base of Mt Fitz Roy. We were lucky to have clear weather and snapped a few shots as Fitz Roy greeted us. It’s like the skyline of Patagonia.

We signed up for a trek on the Viedma Glacier, the largest in Patagonia. We took a one hour boat ride across Lake Viedma to where the glacier met the lake.

The boat docked and let us off on the rocky shore next to the glacier. We climbed for about 20 minutes before putting on crampons and hiking onto the glacier.

From our trek:

Bailey’s was a fine reward after a couple of hours of trekking on the glacier. On the rocks, provided by the glacier, naturally.

Day two started with cafe (sin leche!) y media lunas.

From town, you can just see the peak of Fitz Roy.

We set out on a trek to a base camp for climbers. Incredible views along the way before clouds rolled in.

Our trek concluded at Laguna Torres, a lake formed by ice melt from the Grande Glacier. You can see how clouds rolled in to obscure views of the peaks.

A rope crossing signalled the end of the trail for us. The 20 meter crossing over rushing ice-cold water with no net and a sign to not make the crossing without a park-sanctioned guide and proper equipment also factored in the decision.

So we snapped another self portrait and headed back to town.

Seven hours of trekking earned us a couple of microbrews. Salud!

We flew to El Calafate in southern Patagonia on Saturday and we’ll have a week to explore. It’s a long way down here — we’re now further south than we’ve ever been. We’d hit 45 degrees south a couple of years ago in New Zealand; this checks in at 51 degrees south. The sun is up all the time. It was still light enough to be golfing at 10p last night, and it was bright and sunny for our 7a alarm.

Here’s some pics and video from exploring the Parito Moreno glacier. This glacier is about the same size as the city of Buenos Aires and has been a constant size since first measured in 1917 (notable with most glaciers currently shrinking).

We started with a boat ride to get up close.

A load moan from the ice signalled the first big chunk to fall in. I spun the camera and caught the splash.

After the boat ride, we headed to the “balconies”, a series of catwalks to explore different views of the glacier.

We stopped back through Buenos Aires for a couple of days before heading down to Patagonia. We stayed again in San Telmo, but set up lunch on Friday with a friend of a friend who has an office in Palermo. We took our first ride on the Subte for all of $1.10 each. That’s pesos, so it was barely more than a quarter. Very easy; trains were a lot like the el in Chicago.

We explored a lovely park, then met Juergen for lunch. Juergen’s originally from a small town outside of Munich, met our friends Sandy and Eric while living in the San Francisco bay area, and has lived for the past four years with his wife and two kids outside of Buenos Aires. Lunch was great, and we enjoyed learning more about the country and the culture from someone who’s living it.

Iguazú Falls are located in the northeastern corner of Argentina, right at borders with Brasil and Paraguay. It’s a tropical jungle here: hot, muggy, and prone to sudden and massive downpours. The downpour last night was so strong that a passing motorcycle stalled out.

Here are a few pictures. Hopefully they give you a sense of the place. It’s on the short list of the new seven natural wonders of the world.

We took a boat ride that went up the main channel towards the Devil’s Throat, and around San Martin island to San Martin falls. We were beyond soaked by the end.

The Devil’s Throat — the biggest of the falls — is barely visible from water level due to the mist. Just wait until we get to the overlook…

Finally, we took the long walk to Devil’s Throat. Here’s a shot as we get close to the falls.

More from Devil’s Throat. Awesome!