Sunrise hike to the Fitz Roy viewpoint
I wanted to see the sunrise view of Fitz Roy badly. So I started walking past 5 pm, leaving Philippe behind in a warm bed.
The air war crisp and the (famous) fierce Patagonian wind almost non-existent. There was no one on the trail yet. I could feel the sun would come up soon and had to hike up 4km to arrive at the viewpoint. After a short climb, the white, shining tip of Fitz Roy rised above the trail ahead of me and it made me almost run…
When I arrived at the Fitz Roy viewpoint around 6:20am, the sun was already up behind me. Fitz Roy stood solemnly above the forest, showing off blade-like white faces. I was completely alone in the stillness of the nature. In love with the amazing Fitz Roy!
Cerro Torre, Patagonia
El Chaltén – Cascada Margarita – Torre Mirador – De Agostini Camping – Laguna Torre
20km – 6h – 500m up and down
We hiked another route from El Chaltén today. Another intense blue sky without any clouds. A little up on the hill we already saw the splitting peak of Cerro Torre far away! After looking down the glacier river and a waterfall, the path was going down to the wide, open valley full of yellow flowers. After a short forest walk we came out to the elevated moraine. Beyond the moraine there is a glacier lake, Laguna Torre and the menacing peak of Cerro Torre. The peak looks so razor-sharp and perfectly vertical that we just imagine all the bad stuff that can happen to those wanting to get up there.
But again, look at the pictures 🙂
Spectacular Fitz Roy – Patagonia
El Chalten – Viewpoint – Viewpoint – another Viewpoint – Poincenot – La Laguno de los Tres (and back)
23km – 6h50 – 1’012 m up and down
Who hasn’t heard the story of the alpinist who wanted to go up the super challenging and beautiful Fitz Roy so badly, that on his way up, he would drill about 600 holes with a compressor to fix his ropes, leave the compressor hanging somewhere close to the top (it’s apparently still there) and remove the few top bolts for the next climbers to struggle more.
Well, no climbing for us, just a bit of comfy hiking to some of Patagonia’s best “miradores” (view points) looking at the iconic peak with a few hundred others having the same idea. Stunning 3 days of sunny, blue sky weather during our stay in El Chaltén. We read about somebody who never saw more than 3 sunny days in Patagonia in a row over a period of several years! Seems we’re blessesd.
Enough, just look at the pictures.
Glacier Perito Moreno
Ice – Ice – Ice
Nature is full of genius, full of divinity, so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand. Henry David Thoreau
This morning we left to see the No. 1 tourist attraction of Argentina, the Perito Moreno Glacier.
We have been lucky enough to hike glaciers back home in Switzerland like the Unesco site Aletsch Glacier. So we did not know what to expect really.
But the view of this glacier was stunning! It was something very different from our previous experience. On the Aletsch glacier you walk on something like 200m of ice, but you don’t feel, you just somehow know.
Here in Patagonia, the mass of the glacier is visible, right in front of us. A huge, beautifully scary and intimidating volume of ice flowing down the mountains at 2m a day – in all shades of blue.
Unsuccessful attempt at Andes hiking
We originally wanted to go the base camp of the world famous Aconcagua (6900m), the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere. However, this year it snowed heavily and still remains, and to Yasuko’s great regret the base camp has not yet opened.
So we opted for hiking to another Andean mountain, Le Arenales (3700m).
The day started à la Argentinean: the car came to pick us up half an hour late. We met our guide, Alfredo finally, on the way, but he spoke only Spanish (the guide was supposed to be English-speaking). By the time we arrived at the trailhead, it was already close to noon, which was very, very late in any mountain-hiking standard : (
We started at the altitude of 2800m, aiming at the summit of 3700m. We were steadily climbing through the gorge and passing some patches of snow. Around 3300m the heavy clouds were hanging around the summit and we could not expect any visibility up there.
We abandoned the idea of going for the summit and instead traversed the snow-covered slope to have a better view.
The area was surrounded by the snow-covered 5000m level mountains and moraines (dead glacier area) which created a desolate atmosphere. An abandoned mountain resort added to the spooky atmosphere.
Our first Andean mountain experience was very limited and rather unsuccessful. Philippe was completely exhausted by the end of the day not by hiking but by the 5 hours of intense Spanish practicing session with our guide who honored the “despacio por favor” (speak slowly please) for certainly 30 seconds if not more…
Bodegas de Mendoza
Of course, while in Mendoza, a wine tour is a must.
We were nicely guided by Paula who put a private tour together in no time, so fast, that we did not really know where we were going, but it all sounded good.
Paula’s husband Pablo showed up at nine in the morning to drive us around. He is very kind and served us as a perfect sparring partner for our miserable Spanish. We drove about an hour to Valle de Uco to our first appointment at the…
We entered the first bodega (wine producing company) and immediately felt like being beamed up to an episode of Star Trek on earth. A mix of Disney Land and an architect’s super design dreamland. Everything was set up to impress the visitor. We, with a group of visitors, were first seated in a movie theater to enjoy a pretty piece of marketing. We were then guided through a vast garden of vines to reach the Selantein Dome (or so) where the different levels of wines were presented at the entrance. 12 months of maturation in an oak barrel, 24 months, French or American oak, and so on. A bit technical, not very passionate. We then were allowed to glimpse down a huge hall to see numerous barrels nicely arranged around a piano and beautifully illuminated. Everything was huge, efficient, clean, and shiny. So were the tasting rooms. Not just one but three of them. We were guided to a small room, the big one is for distributors only.
But this was not Mendoza’s reality but somehow a lesson in wine marketing. So off we went for the second bodega.
Apparently one of the smallest Bodegas in the region. Rustic, simple, human and a perfect contrast to Salentein. What they told us here, about how the wine is produced was not that different from the spaceship we visited before, but here the wine was, well, wine and much less a show. And given that we were tasting for a couple of hours already, the tasting started to turn into, well, a funny kind o shining.
And then came the great experience and an excellent lunch in between the tasting at…
A super cozy stand-alone restaurant with a probably rather unique “wine bottle cemetery” at the entrance. A collection of empty bottles nicely hung up, setting the scene. Here you come to drink some nice wines from any of the producers in the region. And while waiting for lunch to be served, the owner came along with some bottles of wine saying: “I don’t know what it is. I believe it’s good stuff. Some friend brought a couple of bottles yesterday. Why don’t you try it”. And surprisingly, nothing was added to the bill for that impromptu tasting. The food was excellent and two hours later, we moved on to “La Azul”.
It was great to see two completely different bodegas and I found it reasonable not to go beyond three tasting events. Some of the wines, particularly the Malbecs, were excellent. At least the first 10 we tasted. Thereafter, I don’t remember, really.
Salud, Proscht, Kampai, 乾杯!
Driving through high altitude deserts
We departed from Purmamarca towards the Salinas Grandes, a high-altitude lake that dried up around 10,000 years ago, leaving behind a 3-meter thick salt crust covering approximately 500 km². Walking on it feels akin to traversing an endless glacier dotted with miniature crevasses—a breathtaking yet harsh landscape devoid of life.
Driving for hours along the salt lake on a gravel road at 3,200 meters altitude, we encountered only 4 or 5 passing cars. I breathed a sigh of relief that our Renault Clio held up despite reaching 170,000 kilometers. Though the doors didn’t shut properly, we couldn’t resist taking a few kilograms of sand as a souvenir back to the lowlands. The fine grains managed to infiltrate every crevice of our clothes, hair, and luggage, leaving a pristine white layer on absolutely everything, even inside our backpacks.
It was an exhausting day of driving—around 8 hours in total. I don’t recall ever covering such a distance before. Yasuko suffered from a backache, prompting us to decide against returning to the bustling downtown Salta, opting instead to book a charming finca we discovered online. Upon arrival at Finca Valentina, a beautifully restored house with meticulous attention to detail, we instantly fell in love with its serene ambiance, attentive staff, and the charismatic Italian owner, Valentina.
The Beauty of Salt
A couple of impressions from the Salinas Grandes. A sight only enjoyable with sunglasses 🙂
Quebrada (Gorge) de Humahuaca
Based on another traveler’s recommendation, we set off to visit the Gorge, without much information. We only knew that it was just a 25 km gravel road drive from the town of Humahuaca. What we didn’t know was that we also would climb more than 2000m in altitude to arrive at the gate of this World Heritage site at an elevation of 4350m – a world away.
The friendly gatekeeper was in charge of collecting the entrance fee as well as the little extra for his children. His waterfall of badly articulated Spanish was totally incomprehensible to us beginners but somehow made the point (his two children going to school needing supplies).
Another 1km and we arrive at the mirador showing off spectacularly colorful layers of rock representing the different geological periods. Stunning.
Apparently each color signifies a different epoch – a whitish layer from 400 million and a purple one from 80 million years… and a few more.
Facing this great wonder of nature we felt our human life is less than a speck. Insignificant. These mountains existed long before us and will continue to do so long after us…
We walked down the short path and sat silently for a while admiring the view. Walking back the 50m of elevation to the car park was no easy task. At more than 4300m of altitude, the air was thin, our hearts pounding, our head aching. We overestimated ourselves once more. A small sign from Mother Nature…
Fly, Hike & Travel. 