Argentina: El Chalten (Fitz Roy)

The bus ride from Bariloche to El Chalten was the absolute longest of our entire trip so far, it took 22 hours! The distances in this country are truly incredible. A 6-hour trip here is considered short by the locals. Hmm. Distances are definitely calculated in different dimensions than we are used to, where we already groan at the thought of a 2-hour train ride. However, here you can have a much more comfortable journey, at least with the appropriate financial investment, than in a first-class SBB train.

To return to a previously mentioned theme: this was our longest trip on the legendary Ruta 40! And you can say: luckily we were asleep for most of it. Many people have told us about Patagonia, the wonderful landscape, the endless vastness. In fact, it is far here, namely far and wide nothing. For the most part, it is flat and brown with some green bushes. A straight road runs through the middle, and there are fences on both sides of the road. It is unclear what is so spectacular about it. The most interesting thing about the whole thing are definitely the Guanacos and Nandus that are often found along the road, or even on it. Sometimes they are also stuck dead in the fence, which is less pleasant. Patagonia actually offers some really beautiful spots, especially those mentioned in our blog, and all tourists gather along this Gringo Trail. There are reasons why all Gringos gather in the same places. Otherwise, there is nothing in Patagonia and you definitely get a sense of the indescribable, endless vastness after 5 minutes.

By the way, since we're on the subject of Guanacos, here are some interesting facts about these animals. Guanacos live in herds of several females with one alpha-male. As is usual with many animals, the alpha-male is continually challenged to fight by younger males in order to take over his position in the herd. Interestingly enough, this fight involves the competitors biting each other's testicles to castrate each other. Quite rough guys. Castrated males are often tolerated by the alpha-male afterwards, as they no longer pose a threat in terms of reproduction to the females, and they can support the herd by taking positions as lookouts on hills, for example. By the way, this behavior is also typical of Vicuñas.

So we went to Chalten because we wanted to see Fitz Roy, one of the most famous mountain masses on the entire continent. However, it takes luck to see the mountain as it is cloud-covered most of the time. The region is also a popular hiking area. We actually didn't feel like hiking and we didn't want to wait for good weather for days in Chalten. We just wanted to see the damn mountain, so we decided to book a hotel for one night, try our luck, and then leave again.

And we actually got lucky: when we woke up on the bus early in the morning, just before El Chalten, and opened the curtains (we had seats in the front row on the upper level), there it was right in front of us. The sun was shining, there were a few clouds, but we could see it clearly: Fitz Roy. Since this goal was already achieved, we could have taken the next bus right away. But we had already booked the hotel and since we couldn't check into our room so early in the morning (apart from the fact that we were already awake so early in the morning), we thought we could take advantage of the opportunity (or rather, the good weather) and embark on the short 3km hike to the Mirador that Jörg had found on the map.

Although we were quite exhausted after the never-ending bus ride, we quickly changed clothes and headed towards the Mirador. Everyone was already on their way and we met countless hikers along the way. We hurried a bit, always fearing that clouds would come moving in soon and all our efforts would be in vain. After all, we are not exactly the type of hikers who hike just for the sake of it. If we are making the effort, we want to see something great!

When we arrived at the Mirador, the sky was indeed a bit cloudy but we still had a clear view of the mountain massif. And the view was truly spectacular. We took our time and had a little picnic since we hadn't had breakfast yet.

After we finished, it was only 11 a.m. Considering the fact that we had no further plans for the rest of the day and that numerous hikers were continuing along the trail with great motivation, we thought it couldn't hurt to keep going. The trail "to Fitz Roy" was marked with 10km on the signs. We were not ambitious enough to walk the entire distance back, after all, we still had the bus ride in our bones, but we could turn back at any time if we didn't feel like it anymore.

After the first 3km uphill to the viewpoint, the next 5km were relatively easy as it was mostly flat. Very nice. We kept going and reached a campsite at kilometer 8. Here it was indicated that the remaining 2km stretch was very steep, about 500m in altitude. But to be honest, it was not even necessary to look at the sign, because you could already see that it would not be so easy. Jörg had already pointed out a narrow path that zigzagged up a steep slope from afar, and said that this was probably the hiking trail. At that time, I didn't believe him. But he was right. That was indeed the hiking trail.

However, we were now driven by ambition, we had come this far, so close to whatever awaited us up there. Because we had no idea, we hadn't done any research, we simply followed the herd and a few dilapidated signs. But the herd continued, bravely uphill, so we simply couldn't turn back anymore. My pride wouldn't allow it. By the time we were about 1km and 250m in altitude further, I would have kicked my pride off the mountain. What an ordeal. The final stretch was even more challenging, I can't describe how exhausting it was, but I experienced only two states during the ascent: 1. completely breathless and on the verge of a heart attack, 2. standing, panting, and cursing to myself. I hope that's enough of a description. No, it was absolutely not fun. It didn't help at all that all the hikers who were already on their way back said that it wasn't far anymore and that we had almost made it. Falta poco. I had heard this sentence countless times on this trip, usually in exactly the same situation.

When we finally reached the top of the mountain.....I was almost speechless. Because we hadn't reached the destination yet. There was another slope ahead, which we hadn't seen from below. It was unbelievable! But we didn't give up and kept dragging ourselves upwards until we finally reached the top, where fortunately there was no more further to go.

In front of us was the small lake "Laguna de los Tres", and right behind it, the Fitz Roy Massif. We were so close! The panorama was truly breathtaking. And as if fate wanted to reward us for our efforts, the unbelievable happened: shortly after we arrived, the sky cleared up and for about an hour, the sky was bright blue. Not a single cloud was visible. Ok, that was really, really cool! But see for yourselves in the photos. You can't describe it properly.

After we finished our breakfast, enjoyed the view, and took a million photos, we started the descent again, because by then the clouds had already returned. It felt as if a curtain had been opened just for us, only for a short moment, at the absolutely perfect moment.

The descent turned out to be quite challenging as well, especially considering the loose ground, on which we had to be extremely careful not to slip and slide down the steep slope. I was relieved when we finally reached the flat terrain again, but also quite tired and rather unmotivated, after all, we still had 8km to go on the way back. At that time, I didn't even know that our dear Jörg, the navigator in our team, would get lost along the way, which added another 2km to our trip! Joyous times! But I quickly forgave him when he suddenly turned around and said that there was an animal in the bushes. And indeed, there was a deer in the bushes. And it even came out, very close to us, and ate leaves from the trees. It looked at us and the hikers who had now joined us with a slightly suspicious look while plucking and chewing the leaves, but it didn't run away. It was only days later that we read about the Huemul, the deer native to Patagonia, which is very shy and incredibly difficult to spot. But it had to be one, a Huemul. Unbelievable luck for the second time on the same day, who would have believed it.

It took forever until we were back at the Mirador, then at the entrance of the hiking trail, and finally, finally back at the hotel. We were completely exhausted. It was already 9 p.m.! If someone had told me that after a 22-hour bus ride I would spontaneously take a 13-hour or 22km hike, I would have laughed out loud. But I did it. We did it. We were quite proud of this achievement!

After we arrived at the hotel, we took off our sore feet from the shoes, had a little something to eat, and about 0.3 seconds later, we fell fast asleep.

You can take several other hiking trails in the area, but after this ordeal, we definitely had enough hiking for a while. After all, we had seen what we had come for. So the next day, at the first opportunity and with the worst muscle soreness, we headed to El Calafate.