El Chaltén and Mt Fitz Roy

[[After a small blog-detour to Bolivian market, we're back in Patagonia. Last time, we left Chile and crossed the border to Argentina. Carretera Austral is, unfortunately, basically a dead end road - there is no road connecting it's end in Villa O'Higgins(Chile) and our next destination El Chaltén, despite the small distance and numerous attempts to build the road. The only way is to make a small - 800km detour through long and straight road in Argentina. Well, we pulled an all nighter and in the morning, we could enjoy the beautiful sunrise and views.///After a small blog-detour to Bolivian market, we're back in Patagonia. Last time, we left Chile and crossed the border to Argentina. Carretera Austral is, unfortunately, basically a dead end road - there is no road connecting it's end in Villa O'Higgins(Chile) and our next destination El Chaltén, despite the small distance and numerous attempts to build the road. The only way is to make a small - 800km detour through long and straight road in Argentina. Well, we pulled an all nighter and in the morning, we could enjoy the beautiful sunrise and views.///Po menšej tématickej odbočke v podobe miestneho trhu v Bolívii sa vraciame nazad do Patagónie. Naposledy sme opustili Čile a prešli cez hranicu do Argentíny. Carretera Austral je bohužiaľ ukončená tak trochu nešťastne, pretože neexistuje cesta medzi jej koncom, Villa O'Higgins a našou ďalšou zastávkou El Chaltén, vzdialenou len neveľký kus cesty. Z viacerých dôvodov ale cesta nikdy nebola dostavaná a neostáva nič iné, ako si spraviť 800km zachádzku cez Argentínu a nekonečne dlhé a rovné cesty :) Tie sme však múdro prešli počas noci, a tak nás ráno už vítali krásne pohľady. Nedalo sa urobiť inak, ako zastavovať každú chvíľu a obdivovať. :) ]]

[[First a bit about our next destination - Los Glaciares National Park and Reserve cover an area of some 600 000 hectares. It was created in 1937 and in 1981 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. The climate of this region is cool temperate with no marked dry season. The average temperature in winter is around 0’C and in summer 13’C. In the NP there are 13 glaciers.///First a bit about our next destination - Los Glaciares National Park and Reserve cover an area of some 600 000 hectares. It was created in 1937 and in 1981 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. The climate of this region is cool temperate with no marked dry season. The average temperature in winter is around 0’C and in summer 13’C. In the NP there are 13 glaciers.///First a bit about our next destination - Los Glaciares National Park and Reserve cover an area of some 600 000 hectares. It was created in 1937 and in 1981 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. The climate of this region is cool temperate with no marked dry season. The average temperature in winter is around 0’C and in summer 13’C. In the NP there are 13 glaciers.///Trochu o mieste, kam sme sa vlastne vydali - národný park a rezerva Los Glaciares má rozlohu 600 000 hektárov, bol založený v roku 1937 a v roku 1981 bol zaredený do zoznamu svetového dedičstva UNESCO. Klíma je pochopiteľne studená s priemernými teplotami okolo 0'C v zime a okolo 13'C v lete. V národnom parku nájdete až 13 ľadovcov. Zároveň patrí k najnavštevovanejším parkom v Argentíne a to hneď z dvoch dôvodov, nachádza sa tu ľadovec Perito Moreno a oblasť Fitz Roy, ktorá zaberá severnú časť.]]

[[First llamas(guanacos)///First llamas(guanacos)///Prvé lamy :)]]

[[As we were approaching to El Chaltén, we could see these magnificent mountains slowly appear on the horizon, getting bigger and more beautiful. Not mentioning the clouds, which were sort of horizontally stretched, because of the fierce Patagonian winds. At times, it was like just watching a giant billboard with a painting. See for yourself :)///As we were approaching to El Chaltén, we could see these magnificent mountains slowly appear on the horizon, getting bigger and more beautiful. Not mentioning the clouds, which were sort of horizontally stretched, because of the fierce Patagonian winds. At times, it was like just watching a giant billboard with a painting. See for yourself :)///Ako sme sa približovali k mestu El Chaltén, na horizonte sa začalo objavovať majestátne pohorie, ktoré bolo krajšie a krajšie ako sme sa k nemu dostávali bližšie. Nehovoriac o oblakoch, ktoré vďaka silnému vetru boli akoby roztiahnuté do šírky. Miestami sme mali pocit, že sa pozeráme na obrovský billboard s maľbou. Veď posúďte sami. :)]]

[[Our destination was clear - Mt. Fitz roy. The entry point to the trek is El Chaltén - a small, laid back city with two grocery stores, several shops with hiking gear and restaurants. Our first steps were to find something to eat, as we were basically starving after driving the whole night. Only problem is, El Chaltén is a city that only lives for the tourism - and as all the tourist are trekking during the day, everyhing was closed. Well, we picked the only opened restaurant we found.///Our destination was clear - Mt. Fitz roy. The entry point to the trek is El Chaltén - a small, laid back city with two grocery stores, several shops with hiking gear and restaurants. Our first steps were to find something to eat, as we were basically starving after driving the whole night. Only problem is, El Chaltén is a city that only lives for the tourism - and as all the tourist are trekking during the day, everyhing was closed. Well, we picked the only opened restaurant we found.///Náš cieľ bol jasný, Mt. Fitz Roy.  Vstupným bodom je mesto El Chaltén, kľudné mestečko s dvoma obchodmi s potravinami, turistickým vybavením, hostelmi a reštauráciami. Naše prvé kroky smerovali k jedlu, keďže sme po dlhej ceste pomali umierali od hladu. El Chaltén je ale mesto žijúce hlavne z turizmu - a keďže počas dňa sú všetci turisti v horách na trekoch, všetky miesta sa zdali byť zatvorené. Vybrali sme teda prvú reštauráciu, ktorá bola konečne otvorená.]]

[[Despite having some stars on Tripadvisor(probably several years old), we picked probably the worst place in town. We got served by half drunk owner, who was also the cook. When we saw him, we decided to order Schnitzel - you can't do anything wrong with that, was our thinking. Wrong. Already prepared, frozen schnitzels went to cold oil to fry them, meat was a piece of...Well, we were hungry and wanted to move on and do a two day trek, so we quickly ate and left...still a bit hungry.///Despite having some stars on Tripadvisor(probably several years old), we picked probably the worst place in town. We got served by half drunk owner, who was also the cook. When we saw him, we decided to order Schnitzel - you can't do anything wrong with that, was our thinking. Wrong. Already prepared, frozen schnitzels went to cold oil to fry them, meat was a piece of...Well, we were hungry and wanted to move on and do a two day trek, so we quickly ate and left...still a bit hungry.///Napriek hviezdičkám z tripadvisoru, ktoré boli niekoľko rokov staré, sme vybrali asi najhorší podnik. Obslúžil nas podgurážený majiteľ, ktorý bol zároveň aj kuchárom, ako sme sa vydedukovali neskôr. Objednali sme si milanesu, niečo ako naše rezne, veď na tom sa predsa nedá nič pokaziť. Ako sme sa len mýlili... Predpripravené mrazené rezne šupol ešte do nerozpáleného oleja, samotná kvalita mäsa nebola tiež nič úžasné. Na odchod už však bolo neskoro. Boli sme hladní a chceli sme čo najkôr vyraziť do prvého kempu a vyskúšať si dvojdňový trek, taký malý test pred Torres del Paine.]]

[[After the horrible dinner, we bought some groceries, packed our backpacks and quickly went to Laguna Capri campground.///After the horrible dinner, we bought some groceries, packed our backpacks and quickly went to Laguna Capri campground.///Po hnusnej večeri sme ešte vybavili nákup potravín, pobalili veci a rýchlo vyrazili ku kempu pri Laguna Capri.]]

[[This is how we packed for the two day trek. Ivan's new photo/trekking backpack is awesome.(There is full photo gear inside).///This is how we packed for the two day trek. Ivan's new photo/trekking backpack is awesome.(There is full photo gear inside).///Takto sme sa nabalili na dvojdňový trek :) Ivan bol nadšený z jeho nového foto-trekového batohu, dovnútra sa mu zmestila okrem nepodstatného oblečenia aj celá fotovýbava.]]

[[The first night we arrived to Laguna Capri campground. I have no idea how did the guys make it - after driving the whole night, not resting a bit ahd the horrible dinner - trek with all the stuff for two hours to the campground.///The first night we arrived to Laguna Capri campground. I have no idea how did the guys make it - after driving the whole night, not resting a bit ahd the horrible dinner - trek with all the stuff for two hours to the campground.///Ešte prvý večer sme dorazili ku kempu pri Laguna Capri. Neviem ako chalani zvládli po nočnom šoférovaní, žiadnom oddychu, hnusnej skorej večeri v jedinej otvorenej reštaurácií, si dať ešte dvojhodinový trek so všetkými vecami do kempu.]]

[[We decided to try a few days of trekking to prepare for Torres del Paine and to see, if Janka can do the huge W trek there(+-60km) with her injured leg. At the same time, she tested her trekking boots and found out, that they don't fit that well, but it wasn't that bad, so we moved on.///We decided to try a few days of trekking to prepare for Torres del Paine and to see, if Janka can do the huge W trek there(+-60km) with her injured leg. At the same time, she tested her trekking boots and found out, that they don't fit that well, but it wasn't that bad, so we moved on.///Rozhodli sme sa pre viacdňový trek, aby sme okúsili a otestovali, aké to bude v Torres del Paine a či budem schopná dať prípadne W trek. Zároveň som testovala svoje topánky, ktoré sa na Slovensku zdali byť úplne v poriadku, ale pri šlapaní na vulkán Osorno som si všimla, že ma zrazu začínajú nepríjemne tlačiť pri členku. Nebolo to však nič strašné, tak som tomu nevenovala veľa pozornosti.]]

[[After 2 hours, we made it to the campground, made camp and ate. And found out, that the gas we bought in town doesn't work with Tomáš's camping stove, that he brought all the way from Slovakia just for this occasion... Chile has some weird gas fittings, as we also found out with our Coleman stove. Nevermind, we borrowed a camping stove from a friendly Polish girl, took cristal clear water from the lake and made some tea. One thing I love about these national parks - you can drink water from any source you can find.///After 2 hours, we made it to the campground, made camp and ate. And found out, that the gas we bought in town doesn't work with Tomáš's camping stove, that he brought all the way from Slovakia just for this occasion... Chile has some weird gas fittings, as we also found out with our Coleman stove. Nevermind, we borrowed a camping stove from a friendly Polish girl, took cristal clear water from the lake and made some tea. One thing I love about these national parks - you can drink water from any source you can find.///Po necelých 2 hodinách sme dorazili do kempu, kde sme sa zložili a najedli. Zistili sme, že plyn, ktorý sme kúpili v meste nepasuje s naším varičom. Čile má veľmi netradičné koncovky na plyn ako sme sa poučili už pri našom Coleman variči. Nevadí, požičali sme od sympatickej poľky, ktorá bola hneď vedľa, vodu sme nabrali z čistého jazierka a ohriali sa pri teplom čaji. V celom národnom parku môžete piť vodu bez problémov a obáv z okolitých riek a jazier.]]

[[In the morning, we began the trek to Laguna de los Tres and the famous Mt. Fitz Roy. The sky was clear and overall the weather was perfect. More often than not, there are clouds and then the view of the mountains could be blocked, but this was not the case :)///In the morning, we began the trek to Laguna de los Tres and the famous Mt. Fitz Roy. The sky was clear and overall the weather was perfect. More often than not, there are clouds and then the view of the mountains could be blocked, but this was not the case :)///Ráno sme sa vydali na túru k Laguna de los Tres s výhľadom na Fitz Roy. Počasie nám prialo a neboli žiadne oblaky, ktoré by nám blokovali výhľad. Nie všetci majú vždy také šťastie.]]

[[After several hours, the mountains finally gave up their secret. Just look at that :)///After several hours, the mountains finally gave up their secret. Just look at that :)///Po niekoľkých hodinách sa nám konečne objavila pred očami vytúžená a dobre schovaná lagúna. Jednoducho nádhera.]]

[[The highest mountains are Mt. Fitz Roy (3405m) and Mt. Torre (3102 m).///The highest mountains are Mt. Fitz Roy (3405m) and Mt. Torre (3102 m).///Najvyššie vrchy sú Mt. Fitz Roy (3405m) a Mt. Torre (3102m).]]

[[Btw, did we mentions that the last part of the trek was very hard and steep, the wind was fierce (up to 200km/h) and the terrain was rocky and...did I say steep? Nevermind, it was definitely worth it.///Btw, did we mentions that the last part of the trek was very hard and steep, the wind was fierce (up to 200km/h) and the terrain was rocky and...did I say steep? Nevermind, it was definitely worth it.///Btw zmienili sme sa, že posledný úsek hore bol veľmi náročný. Fúkal silný ostrý vietor, terén bol strmý, kamenistý a dosť náročný? Nevadí, rozhodne to stálo za to.]]

[[...But the next time, we'll listen to the others and set the camp in nearby camp Poincenot and leave the 15-20kg backpacks there instead of climbing the mountain with them... :)///...But the next time, we'll listen to the others and set the camp in nearby camp Poincenot and leave the 15-20kg backpacks there instead of climbing the mountain with them... :)///Ale nabudúce nebudeme leniví, počúvneme rady ostatných a rozložíme stan v neďalekom kempe Poincenot, v ktorom si necháme naše 15-20kg ruksaky... ;) ]]

[[On the way back, we wanted to try a different route, but Janka's injury from the Puyehuapi started to take it's toll and we needed to head back quickly. The last few kilometers were very painful, but she made it - and as a reward, we stayed in the nearby hostel and had some nice hot shower and this time tasty meal in a local vegan restaurant.///On the way back, we wanted to try a different route, but Janka's injury from the Puyehuapi started to take it's toll and we needed to head back quickly. The last few kilometers were very painful, but she made it - and as a reward, we stayed in the nearby hostel and had some nice hot shower and this time tasty meal in a local vegan restaurant.///Cestou naspäť sme chceli pokračovať inou trasou a zastaviť sa pri Laguna Torre, avšak môj členok sa rozhodol nespolupracovať a potrebovala som sa čo najskôr vrátiť. Posledné kilometre k autu boli pre mňa na nevydržanie. Za odmenu sme si dali noc na hosteli s teplou sprchou a dobrú večeru vo vegan reštaurácií :)]]

[[Next stop: Glacier Perito Moreno. Check it out the next Sunday :)///Next stop: Glacier Perito Moreno. Check it out the next Sunday :)///Ďalšia zastávka, obrovský ľadovec Perito Moreno! Už o týždeň v nedeľu :)]]