well, the weather did improve a bit. we woke up tuesday morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground. we started our hike to see the Fitz Roy peak around 9:30 in the morning and while it was a little cold, we were dry!!! the snow continued to fall throughout the day, giving our hike and the scenery a very surreal feel. its still hard for me to comprehend that we are down here....its like sleep walking but with so much more colors, smells, and sights. we hiked for about 2.5 hours to a lookout point called poncenot, from which you can see the Fitz Roy on a clear day. unfortunately, the snow and clouds prevented that. but, we were still able to make out the piedra blanca glacier as it was slowly making its way down the mountainside. quite a site! the snow also had fallen enough to cover the path to the lago de los tres and the other lookout point for Fitz Roy, so we hiked on for a bit further to try to get a better view of the piedre blanca glacier....we really didnt get much closer...just a little colder. we decided to turn back around 1pm to ensure we would make it back to El Chalten in time for our 6pm bus back to El Calafate. the snow was still falling as we headed back and there must have been 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground by this time. as we neared El Chalten, we came upon a towering spire of rock that made for a great picture opportunity. however, we got an additional treat when 2 patagonian condors arrived and treating us to an amazing aerial show. we arrived back in town after our 6 hour, 24km hike quite exhausted, but feeling great about our day. in El Chalten we were also able to book our glacier hikes for the next day in El Calafate. i decided to do the 7 hour trek through the glacier while ben opted for the 1.5 hour mini-trek. we couldnt wait. as we boarded our bus for El Calafate, the skies cleared just to tease us and tempt us to stay another night to try to get a view of Fitz Roy. we decided against it and jumped on the bus. over the past day and a half, we had hiked over 35km in rain, sleet, and snow....and i was never colder than i was on that 4 hour bus ride back to El Calafate. it was incredible....the driver pushed cold air out of all the vents the entire time...leaving ben and i to shiver as we tried to sleep and forget about the pain we were in. we arrived in El Calafate around 10:30pm and the snow was falling there as well. we went out for a late night dinner at Rick's, an all you can eat buffet of the finest meats argentina had to offer...and we definitely took advantage. the beef, lamb, salchica, and chorizo were out of this world and ben and i stayed until they kicked us out. and, all for 39 pesos (about $13).
we woke up thursday morning and the snow was still coming down. left for the big ice trek only to arrive at the glacier with over 3 feet of snow on the ground. this prevented us from hiking on the glacier where we normal would have, but we did get a chance to see a small waterfall and then join up with the mini-trekkers and do the 1.5 hour hike on the glacier. because of the immense amounts of snow (it continued coming down all day...i havent see it snow like this since Mammoth '06) it made it difficult to see the glacier and a little dangerous to be walking on it. but, with our fearless guides and our crampons (the mettle spike treads attached to our shoes), we were able to see some incredible blue ice of the perito moreno glacier. during my hike i made some great friends. perry family, you are not going to believe this. i met a guy named evan reider (or reeder) from dartmouth who graduated the same year as paige. he sang in an acapella group called the Airs and he thinks he stayed out our house in RSF. unbelievable! i also met a great brit named John who has been traveling for the past 8 months with his girlfriend through Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, Thailand, India, and now South America (what a life!!!). upon returning to El Calafate after our hike, ben and i met up with john, his girlfriend (lucy), a brazilian girl they met in ushuia (fabiana), a guy from new york who had just been layed off by yahoo (anthony), and two other british girls (rebecca and vicki) for some drinks and a return trip to Rick's for another stuffing of argentinian delights. ben, john, and i then made the unwise decisions to bring 2 bottles of mendoza red wine with us back to the hostel and drink them until about 3:30 in the morning. poor john had a 8am bus this morning to puerto notales in chile to get to torres del paine national park. ben and i are hurting and had to check out of our hostel by 10am this morning. still not thinking real straight. we fly to bariloche this afternoon and we are hoping we can find a hostel since we have made no reservations. but, it shouldnt be a problem...at least thats what we hear from the various people we've met who have come from that area.
patagonia has been unbelievable and my only regret is that we dont have more time to explore the landscape. it is amazing how so little can be so remarkably beautiful and breathtaking. i cant wait to send pictures.
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