Chapter 42: Peeping at the Panoramic Prestigious Peaks while Pounding the Proverbial Pavement in Pristine and Picturesque Patagonia
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alison
This is my love letter to Patagonia.
We just spent a week in Argentinian Patagonia and all I can say is WOW! I was completely, and in the actual sense of the word literally, blown away!
After visiting Perito Moreno Glacier on the 14th I posted this on my personal Instagram; “I know that this is an excessive amount of photos, and trying to choose 20 from the 220 I took today was difficult, to say the least. How do you share what it is like to visit a place you’ve dreamed of with the people that matter the most? For me, it is through pictures, and this is only the beginning of it. Thank you for walking alongside me throughout this most epic adventure!”
Now here we are 8 days, 873 pictures and 146,765 steps later (hitting a personal record of 31, 095 on St. Patrick’s Day-13.36mi/21.5kms). To say I am in awe of and humbled by Patagonia still doesn’t do it justice. Hopefully the pictures I share with you will begin to try.
I’m so grateful to Dave for all the research he did leading up to this part of the adventure. Knowing that we only had a week in this massive region I imagine it was hard to choose where to even begin and he absolutely killed it! Everything went spectacularly well, including having the most uninterrupted time together since we went to Greece last June! From the hikes, to the excursions, from the transitions between towns, to the hotels, busses, planes and the delicious food, we truly couldn’t have asked for a better experience. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I hope we make it back someday!
I’m going to use my photos to share more of the story. Enjoy!
PS You know how much I love a good alliteration and it has been a while since I used one for a chapter title so I asked Dave for help. He asked ChatGPT. Granted we thought of this chapter’s title on our own, I thought you might enjoy reading through some of the suggestions.
ChatGPT:
“Sure! Here are some alliterative blog title ideas for Patagonia:
– **”Patagonia: Peaks, Plains, and Pristine Beauty”**
– **”Pursuing Patagonia: Peaks, Penguins, and Pure Wilderness”**
– **”Patagonia’s Pristine Paradise: Peaks, Pumas, and Perilous Paths”**
– **”Pastoral Patagonia: Peaks, Pampas, and Perfect Adventures”**
– **”Patagonia’s Powerful Pull: Peaks, Passes, and Patagonia’s Wild Heart”**
Would you like something more adventure-focused, wildlife-themed, or poetic?
Got it! Here are some alliterative blog title ideas based on hiking, glaciers, tough trails, wild weather, and stunning views in Patagonia:
– **”Patagonia’s Perilous Paths: Hiking Through Peaks, Pain, and Paradise”**
– **”Glaciers, Gales, and Glory: A Hiker’s Patagonia Passage”**
– **”Pushing Through Patagonia: Wind, Rain, and Rewarding Views”**
– **”Patagonia’s Peaks and Perils: Sun, Storms, and Spectacular Scenery”**
– **”Treacherous Trails and Towering Glaciers: Patagonia’s Wild Wonders”**
– **”Battling Blizzards and Basking in Beauty: Patagonia’s Hiking Highs”**
– **”Windswept Wonders: Patagonia’s Peaks, Passes, and Perilous Paths”**
– **”Rugged Roads and Radiant Rewards: The Patagonia Hiking Experience”**
Let me know if you’d like any tweaks!”
Day 1. We flew into El Calafate from Buenos Aires on March 13th and got a glimpse of Mount Fitz Roy!As well as the spectacular Lago Argentino. Which is the largest fresh water lake in Argentina. (You will realize very quickly that I struggle to find more adjectives to describe how incredibly beautiful Patagonia is!)We checked into our hotel, Jardin El Calafate, which was perfectly situated between the lake and the town and then went out to explore. The weather was absolutely spectacular, which we had heard doesn’t always happen in Patagonia, so we took advantage of it. Our first stop, after pizza and beer at Patagonia Brewing, was to Reserva Laguna Nimez. Reserva Laguna Nimez“Must Love Dogs!” They are everywhere in El Calafate! These two cuties accompanied us all the way from the Reserva to town and then waited for us outside of Don Luis for us while we had our first yerba mate experience. Which was about 1.5 km. They were great tour guides 😉 They showed us the kite boarders that were taking advantage of the epic wind. Cerro CalafateThis guy jumped in to play with the kite boarders 🙂And the beautiful horses all at Reserva Laguna Nimez which is a part of Lago Argentino. Our first yerba mate experience at Don Luis. Yerba mate is a plant native to South America and we quickly realized that EVERYONE carries around their little gourd cup, special straw and thermos of hot whatever wherever they go. Walking, bike riding, scootering, and even rowing. South Americans love their mate! It was fun to experience.I came to enjoy the ritual of it as well. And thought the mate circle that formed on your hand from the initial mixing of the leaves was pretty cool too. This is later on in the trip at Mathilda in El Chaltén. And one more for the road after our last hike in El Chalten. We finished up our first night in El Calafate with a walk through the Paseo de Artesanos to get a view from above. The sunset was beautiful. This cloud reminded me of an angel’s wing.And we got to see the beginning of the first total lunar eclipse since November 2022. It is cool to think that you saw it too, wherever you are in the world. It was a great first day!Day 2 in Patagonia we planned an excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier. In my last post I claimed it is one of the only glaciers that is growing and that is not completely true. It is one of the only glaciers that is stabilized. This is one of the amazing views from the bus on our way to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.We even caught a glimpse of Torres del Paine which is in Chilean Patagonia. There’s just so much to see!!!We made a stop after we entered Parque Nacional Los Glaciares to get our first views of Perito Moreno. It was explained to us that the ice bergs look so blue because all the air has been removed due to the years of compacting the layers. The contrast with the lake and the mountains is truly spectacular! Perito Moreno Glacier from afar. We chose to take a boat ride on Lago Argentino instead of walking on the glacier to get a different perspective. Even though I almost got pushed over the railing by another tourist to get this shot, it was worth it! More views from the boat.The people who chose the walking on the glacier option. This picture shows how close the glacier is to the shore. When it touches the shore they call it a rupture. Because the glacier touches the bottom of the lake when it comes in contact with the shore it blocks the water to the other side. Later when we walked on the path you could see the line up the shore where nothing grew because of this blockage. Ruptures have happened several times. The first recorded event was in 1917 and the last one happened in 2019.Views from the pathI was obsessed with this mountain the looked like a shark fin and found out that is what it is called. Shark Fin Mountain. 🙂This blue should be entitled beyond because that is how I felt looking at it. The sun came out and really brought out the color in the water as well. Nearing the end of the walkways you continue to be awe inspired by the beauty of Los Glaciares National Park and Lago Argentino.We entitled this one “dragonberg” because, well, we thought it looked like a dragon. Remnants of the rupture. Day 3 in El Calafate we hiked to a mirador to try and get a better view of above town and the lake. We saw some cool rock formations and condors. Saw some far off mountains. Lago ArgentinoMore sweet puppos with funny ways of lounging.Then we went to the Centro de Interpretación Historica and saw some cool dinosaur skeletons.Megaterio!Day 4 in Patagonia, Sunday March 16th, we took the bus to El Chaltén. We checked into our apartment, got some food at Mathilda and then went out to explore. First we walked along the Río de las Vueltas. I love love especially when I find it in nature. 🙂Río de las VueltasCerro TorreAfter we visited the Ranger Station to get the forecast from the best Patagonian meteorologists and plan out our hikes for the next three days we decided to hike to the waterfall, Chorrillo Del Salto. You’re going to see a lot of pictures of this amazing valley. Chorrillo Del SaltoIt was raining most of the hike so it was nice to have the sweet treat of a rainbow once we arrived. It is turning to fall in Patagonia so it was fun to see some of the contrast of color. Day 5 (Day 2 in El Chaltén) the sun came out so we decided to hike to the Mirador de Mount Fitz Roy with hopes of getting our first view of it since the plane. We made it to the Mirador and it was gorgeous! Unfortunately the clouds had other plans and decided to hang on blocking our full view of Mount Fitz Roy. It’s there I promise! 🙂It still was a wonderful hike with incredible views!We had a great time! After lunch we did the Los Cóndores and Las Águilas lookout hike. It had more incredible views. Mount Fitz Roy was still trying to make its way out of the storm clouds. Walking toward the Eagle lookout side of the mountain. Peeking peaksBy the end of the hike, I had a record day for steps, and we thought this view of Mount Fitz Roy was pretty spectacular!Until we woke up the next morning, Day 6, and got the clearest most spectacular view that we had since we arrived! Another incredible view on our way to Huemul Glacier. Hike to Huemul GlacierRio TúnelValley views with fall colors.More Mount Fitz Roy in all its glory!Lago del DesiertoHuemul GlacierLago Huemul and the GlacierPerfectly picturesqueDay 7, Our last day in El Chaltén, we hiked to the Mirador Cerro Torre. On the way we got a great view of Cascada Margarita.Fitz Roy RiverCerro TorreEven though we were hiking in the rain we were still able to get some beautiful views!We finished off the day, for the second night in a row, eating the best pizza we’ve had in a very long time at Laborum. YUM!!!!Day 8 we took the bus back to El Calafate for one more night. Since we were able to already explore there we took the evening to rest and reflect upon our most epic adventure ever! This is a view of Lago Argentino from our bus. The view from the lobby at our hotel Blanco Patagonia. The view from our room at Lago Argentino. Our place coming back from dinner. Love me some blue hour!Until next time Patagonia!
From the hikes, to the excursions, from the transitions between towns, to the hotels, busses, planes and the delicious food, we truly couldn’t have asked for a better experience. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I hope we make it back someday!
