Where's Grayleen?

We do love road trips. Perhaps it is the American in me, but I have to say, it sure feels good to have the road under your tires and a potato chip in hand as the beautiful countryside flies by. So when we rented a car for a few days, after months of being beholden to bus schedules and taxi meters, the freedom felt a little heady. All of us (Gray and I, along with our friends David and Régina) were eager to have our turn at the wheel.

After loading up on munchies and camping food, our first destination was Lago Roca. Just 55 km from El Calafate, we had Lago Roca almost completely to ourselves, away from the hordes of tourists making their way to the Perito Moreno Glacier. Finally blessed with good weather, we did a lovely (albeit windy) hike up to the top of Cerro Cristal. The views from the top of the mountains, lakes, and glacier were amazing.

View from the top of Cerro Cristal. That's me on the far left.

Next stop: El Chaltén to see the famous granite spires of Fitz Roy. Once considered impossible to climb, Fitz Roy and the smaller but even more challenging Cerro Torre have legendary status among rock climbers. Where over one hundred people summit Mount Everest in a single day, just a few people make it to the top of either of these peaks in a whole year. World-class climbers will camp at its base for two or three months to have a weather window to make an attempt at the summit. Yep, the region has famously bad weather and high winds: welcome to Patagonia. As we approached in our trusty car, we realized our recent weather luck was holding and we were blessed with a clear view of the usually-cloud-enshrouded peaks. Wow– many visitors never get to see them!

Granite spires of the Fitz Roy Range

Over the next couple of days, with the weather continuing to mostly hold (despite a park ranger’s promise of relentless driving rain), we did a 35 km hike in the park, followed by a gorgeous drive to Lago del Desierto. We chose the Laguna de los Tres hike in hopes of getting a closer view of Fitz Roy. When we got to the top, while the glacial lakes were spectacular, Fitz Roy’s peak was hidden in clouds. After waiting for two hours for the clouds to disperse, with us girls doing jumping jacks and burpees to stay warm, we gave up and headed down. On our way back down, the weather turned against us and we had wind, snow, rain, and low visibility. Suffice it to say we were happy to make it back to town, where we showered and went out to eat– you guessed it– steak.

Régina does jumping jacks by Laguna Sucia in front of Fitz Roy

Our final night in El Chaltén, we did a big parilla (barbeque) at our campsite. With the high quality Argentinian meat and David’s cooking skills, it was perhaps the best barbeque food I have ever tasted!

David gets the grill ready for our parilla

The next morning we drove back to El Calafate, where we reluctantly returned our rental car. Good times, little Geo hatchback, good times.

More photos here.