Trip to El Chalten

Since yesterday we are now in El Chalten. Still in the Los Glaciares National Park, but a completely different scene. The Fitz Roy, 3405 meters high and an impressive peak, towers over the city. For several years, it has become "hip" among mountaineers to climb it. But it doesn't make it easy for them, as it is considered one of the most difficult peaks, even though it is not that high. So the town is filled with mountaineers waiting for the right weather for a climb. Today it won't be possible, as it is pouring rain every hour alternating with great sunshine. We have planned a little hike today, let's see if we can still do it in this weather. We don't mind the rain, but here the famous Patagonian wind is always blowing as well. That's constantly 6-7 gale force winds, sometimes more. For comparison: in Germany, we consider wind force 8 as a storm. They just laugh about that here. When we look outside, the rain is blowing horizontally in the air.

The strong wind was announced for today. That's why yesterday, right after our arrival, we took the planned hike to Lago Capri. It is about 350 meters above the city and offers a great view of Fitz Roy in good weather. The lake itself is also very beautiful. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the mountain from above anymore because of the many clouds, but the hike was still very nice and worthwhile. There is also a campground at the top. You have to carry everything up and then you can camp for free. Not for us, it's also too wet and dirty. We would collapse even before reaching the top.

8 years ago, we were here and El Chalten was a small village with simple accommodations and 2-3 upscale hotels. Now there are restaurants everywhere, one after the other, a bar, a hostel, a luxury hotel. But the place has still kept its charm, it is much more beautifully designed than El Calafate, and the people are much friendlier. The tourism is there, but it is not as crowded and flashy as in El Calafate. This is certainly due to the fact that you can only hike here, there is nothing to entertain yourself, you have to be active yourself. This attracts a different kind of people who are much more pleasant.

Finally, we found "our" restaurant again, where we always had delicious steak 🥩 8 years ago. It was just as good as back then 👍 and they still have the penguin pitcher 🐧