Today was a combination travel day and activity day.  We check out from our El Calafate lodging and walk (uphill, of course) to the bus station for our 8am bus to El ChaltĂ©n.  We initially had all of our nights in this part of the country in El Calafate, but after learning that the hikes to the big mountains in this part of Patagonia are near El ChaltĂ©n (3 hours from El Calafate), we adjusted our plans to have one night in El ChaltĂ©n.  This let us do a half day hike today another one tomorrow.

argentina0798El ChaltĂ©n bills itself as the “trekking capital”  and it’s location at the start of two trails that go to different 10,000+ foot mountains is good justification.  With the road from El Calafate to El ChaltĂ©n now completely paved, the bus trip takes 3.5 hours including a rest stop midway and a stop at the park visitor center.  The bus is by far our most reliable and punctual form of transportation.  We get in to El ChaltĂ©n in time for lunch at the Waffleria where we get, you guessed it, waffles.  I make the mistake of getting a healthy option of fruit on the waffles which I correct the next day on our return visit the Waffleria. 

Loaded up on waffles, for the afternoon we hike up to the viewpoint for Mt. Fitz Roy.  The mountain is never completely visible because of the clouds, but it’s still a pretty site.   If one has all day you can hike further, but we did not.   In addition to seeing the mountain, there is a glacier and scenic valley to be seen.  Mt. Fitz Roy is over 11,000 feet high, but fortunately views of it occur well before that elevation.  The hike up is somewhat steep, but manageable, and we do our round trip to the viewpoint in a few hours.  I’m glad that the GPS function of our otherwise broken new camera records the GPS tracks for posterity.   I’m also glad we don’t try and hike any farther than we did since we saw someone coming down the trail who did the extra 7+ miles and said it was totally not worth it (since it was cloudy out). 

After the much easier hike down, we end our day with the usual showers and dinner. 

View the photos from today here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%2011,%20Mt.%20Fritz%20Roy/index.html#