El Chalten & Bariloche

I thought that the glacier was amazing, but the Fitz Roy mountains blow that glacier out of the water! I took a bus up to El Chalten which sits at the base of some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. The first day I did a small 3km trek up to a viewpoint where you can spot Eagles and Condors. My hostel was a funky wood cabin with only few rooms (but those rooms ere filled with awesome trekkers and rock climbers with great stories). The first trek I did was "the easy one" called Cerro Torre. I thought I was going to have a heart attack because the first 45 min just keeps going up...and up....and up. It took about 3 hrs to climb to the base of Cerro Torre, very exhausting but well worth it. Most of the hike I was really hot, but the base of the mountain is covered in a glacier and the Patagonia winds made sure you were bundled up with the freezing wind whipping off the mountain. I stayed and admired the mountain til i couldn't take the wind anymore an started back. I ended up trekking 20 km (13 miles) through the mountains the first day. I've never slept so hard.

The second day I headed out to see Fitz Roy. I normally am a slow hiker, stopping a lot on hills to "take pictures" but for some reason I was in the zone the second day. I rented hiking poles and trekked without stopping for about an hour til I reached a beautiful lake. From there I continued down into a valley which is totally unprotected from the sun and wind. After 2 hrs through the valley I reached the campground and the base of Fitz Roy. I ate lunch, turned my ipod on the most pump up songs I could find and started my climb up to Laguna de los Tres. Now this trek is average in difficulty until the last 500 meters. Then you are basically climbing over rocks vertically til you reach the top. This is the sort of climb that I would normally not be up for, but when everyone coming down the mountain says "its the most amazing view they've ever seen in South America"....well then you get our butt in gear and see what they're talkin about. I was wondering why I was the only person going up and everyone was coming down til I looked at my watch and realised "good job Alexis, you've picked the hottest time of the day to climb the hardest trail. Oh well, it happens ;o). At the top I turned a corner and was face to face with Fitz Roy. It was massive. MASSIVE. Again there was a glacier wrapping around the bottom of the peak, a turquoise lake and crazy Patagonia wind. Heading back down the mountain was almost as difficult as getting to the top. I was almost in a run by the time i reached the bottom of the trail cause my legs just couldnt step carefully anymore. The trek back was a killer. By the time I was 30 minutes outside of town I thought my knees where just going to give out mid step. I had trekked 30 km (almost 20 miles) that day. No idea how I did that the day after trekking for 20 km. Every inch of my body hurt but I loved it. Its prolly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.