Not long after passing through border town Los Antiguos, they arrived in Perito Moreno from where they would head south for hundreds of kilometers through the pampa (plaines) on desolate paved and unpaved roads. But first they fueled up, spare tank and all, and finally tended to a dirty heap of laundry desperately waiting to be washed. In fact this was only the fourth time they had done laundry during the entire 118 day trip thus far. The last occasion was in Caracas Venezuela almost 7 weeks prior. They cooked a curbside dinner as usual and jumped in back of the truck for the night.
The following day was spent on long flat roads, some bumpy and some smooth, with little exciting scenery to speak of other than some guanacos grazing in the roadside pampa and one large turquoise lake off to their right. Then in the distance began to emerge the destination for which they chose to add these many extra miles to their drive. Pat will testify, "they are the most impressive mountains I have ever seen," and he's seen quite a few. Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, and the other giant blades of granite towered straight ahead. Debora and Pat rolled into the town of El Chalten, which sits close at the foot of the awesome peaks, and they were very excited to be in such a great place. Amazingly there were no entry fees to drive or hike in the park. In town free stealth car camping was abundant, and in the backcountry tent camping was often free. This really felt like the cherry on the cake of their journey.
They stayed in El Chalten for 4 nights, hiking every day through easily accessible wilderness surrounding the enormous granite spires. The days were long this time of year staying light past 10 p.m. During their stay the two of them walked about 30 miles viewing creeks, waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, and of course the mountains. Pat also awoke early twice to hike for sunrise views of Fitz Roy. Having not been used much during the recent months, their weak legs suffered, and more than once they returned to the car limping. On the last evening before going to bed, they poached a hot shower at one of the hostels in town.
From El Chalten they headed even further south towards touristy El Calafate, with one stop along the way to check out a petrified forest. Directions to the geological site were unavailable without paying for a guided tour, so they chose to search by foot in the general area they knew it must be. After walking for a few hours without locating the main spot they gave up, but they didn't leave empty handed. Pat believes to have found a prehistoric petrified bone that could very well be from a dinosaur. Next came El Calafate where hoards of tourists walked the streets visiting fancy stores and restaurants. The main attraction near El Calafate is viewing the huge glacier called Perito Moreno which spills into the giant lake by which the town resides. To see it costs about $25.00 U.S. per person. People can also pay more than this to view it by boat as well as other neighboring glaciers. But Debora and Pat were much too cheap for either of these options, so they left in the morning. Later they found out they could have snuck in at night to avoid paying the entry fee, but you win some you lose some.
Since the power steering pump was still wining and they had already gotten a couple flat tires on dirt roads in the past, they chose to stick to the pavement for their return to the north. In order to do so, they had to drive a couple hundred extra kilometers southeastwardly towards the Atlantic coastal town called Rio Gallegos. This marked the southernmost point along their route and their 6th crossing from the Pacific to Atlantic coast. Over the next day and a half they made their way north and eventually westward once more for a final rendezvous with the Andes Mountains before they would say goodbye for who knows how long. The ski towns Esquel, El Bolson, Bariloche and their surrounding lakes occupied them for a few days before they left driving away along the Rio Negro. Long stretches were spent crossing pampa followed by desert followed by farmlands, and two days later they found themselves at Argentina's border with Uruguay near the confluence of two giant rivers north of Buenos Aires.
TRICKS
- Try to poach harder.
TROUBLES
- Debora's i-phone has suddenly vanished by unknown reasons.
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