Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Trekking= ? walking in nice places; Supertrekking= F%#king awesome
We arrived in El Calafate on Thursday and immediatly booked a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier for the next day. The day was clear and warm and we went on a hike around a mountain to get a full view of the front face of the glacier. About every 30mins-1 hour a chunk of ice falls off into the lake and you hear a delayed thunder like crack as it hits the water or other ice. It was truly breathtaking the way the glacier was squeezed between 2 snowcapped mountains and it was so blue from the rock sediment. We took 101 photos and now have the arduous task of culling them to about 10. The next day we headed to El Chalten (4 hr bus trip) for overnight super trekking. Our guide Muti took us over stunning cliffs and mountains to beautiful blue lagoons full of drinkable, very cold glacier water. During the 5 hour hike to the campsite we had stunning views of the Fitz Roy and surrounding peaks. The weather over the 2 days was sunny and clear and apparently this only happens a few times each summer. We met some people that had waited a week on the mountains in a snow cave for this weather so they could climb the peak! When we arrived at camp, dinner was waiting and after that we went to bed to get up at 6am the next morning. We trekked for about 2 hours to the glacier that was nestled in between the Fitz Roy peaks. The trek was quite hard going with lots of vertical climbs and decents. By this time my feet were aching and blistered and as a result I chucked out my shoes in El Calafate.We strapped on some crampons (spikes) upon arriving at the glacier and explored the crevices and mounds. It was quite scary at first as you have to jump over 10 ft crevices with flowing water below but I was assured that the glacier was very solid and the crampons stick like glue to the ice so you feel like spiderman. We headed over to a 20ft wall and climbed it with ice picks and a rope and pulley system. The whole experience was amazing and on the way back we had to cross a rope bridge hanging by a pulley. I have to admit that my body was soooo sore the next dayafter about 30km of trekking but I would not have been able to do it or I would have cried like a baby if I hadn't of done boot camp. We're in Bariloche now so will post an entry to tell you about our adventures here soon. Thanks for all the comments. I love reading them and miss hanging out with you all!
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