Calafate to Lago Viedma

Calafate is another bustling tourist town, though I noticed fewer english speakers than Natales. We only spent a day and a half, though were able to accomplish all our town chores, including laundry. It had been a month since we last washed our clothes in a washing machine, and man did they need it! I also bought a new camera and we resupplied. We did run into a problem when the ATMs were not working for foreigners, so we had no way to get cash. We talked with some people in town about it, and they seemed nonplussed, saying it happens all the time. Argentina is an interesting place monetarily, with the U.S. not even recognizing their money as a currency because of its volatility. Thankfully we could still pay with our bank cards most places, and our hostel owner had paypal. While in town, we also went to the forest service and were told we couldn’t do our planned route. Thankfully, one of the rangers came in at the perfect time and said it was a possible route, thanks (the first time) Boris!

Fidget cleaning her pot after dinner on our road walk

Crossing another valley. Yes, that is an iceberg.

Sometimes the 'trail' was sketchy....

.....Sometimes the 'trail' was a beach

Leaving Calafate was hot and dusty, good thing we were walking right along a glacial lake, Lago Argentina, so water wasn’t an issue. More road walking to the end of the road and then up a two-track that turned into an old cow path. Then that cow path turned into many cow paths and we were on our own to find our way across the multiple steep valleys to a tourist estancia. It was an interesting couple of days, going up one valley and then over to the next and up that one, sometimes getting a bit too close to the lake and having to climb back up into another valley. Thank goodness for maps and GPS! We arrived, mostly unscathed, at Estancia Christina mid-morning and proceeded past it, excited to find the trail we had been told about.

After another couple hours’ walk up to the valley we thought the trail was up, we ran into a couple camping there. They informed us that, no, the trail we wanted was behind us, and the valley we thought we were supposed to go up was steep and nearly impassible. Thanking our lucky stars (as they say) we ate some lunch, asked more questions, and headed back towards their directions. 

Glacier in the rain

Cerro Norte y yo

Alas, we found trail! Well marked and easy to follow, we followed it up and up to a very treed valley then promptly lost the trail. But we were where we wanted to be, going north along cerro norte. all we had to do was follow that valley and we’d go up over a pass and practically be in Chaltèn! Wrong. Following the valley up to the pass was fine, albeit muddy, rainy, and cold. The glacier on cerro norte was awe-inspiring, as was thinking of how the valley was formed as we clambered around giant boulders heading up the pass. The valley after the pass however, was a cluster(expletive deleted) of dense trees, fallen trees, and calafate along with other pokey-stabby brush thrown in. We fought the rest of the afternoon and evening through it, only to find ourselves about 2km down the valley. If you’ve never been up to your armpits in calafate shrubs, I highly recommend avoiding it at all costs. Exhausted and soaked (everything was damp from the incessant rain that day), we dejectedly ate our dinner and went to bed. To add to the solemnity of the end of the day, the satellite tracker we had fell off Fidget’s pack somewhere in the cluster (expletive deleted).

From whence we came. On trail again!

I slept soundly that night, and in the morning we packed up and moved on. The brush thinned out for a bit, but every time we went into a drainage area, it worsened. At one point I was trying to go uphill but the calafate was so thick, I began sliding downhill. Finally, we made it near the edge of another lake, Lago Viedma, and found a mostly-cairned trail, right where the couple from a couple days before had told us it would be. Oh the celebrating! We then promptly nearly lost the cairned trail about 5 times before we were able to stay on it and follow it the rest of the day. We walked into the end of the road at Estancia Holsingfors early the next morning, and they were more than helpful. Their current guests were american, so we were again questioned about our trip.  There was also a ranger station across the way, and who else was there but the ranger who told us we’d be able to do the hike, Boris! He was (again) super helpful, and remembered us from town (he only goes in once a month to get more supplies) We were also nearly out of food at that point, so the treats they offered us were well-received. I don’t know what we would've done without such kind souls.

Looking across Lago Viedma from Estancia Holsingfors

I feel like many of the lessons we’ve slowly been learning on this trip were strongly reinforced on this particular stretch, and am grateful that they didn’t involve any death or dismemberment. They just involved putting two hard-headed ladies at the mercy of Patagonia. Some lessons learned: Mother nature always wins, thankfully she’s gracious. Pay attention to the subtlety in life, it may be the only hints you get. Always listen to the locals. It will likely take you longer than you planned. ALWAYS be flexible with plans.

Fidget, Boris, and I in front of the ranger station