We were pleasantly surprised to have Nadia greeting us this
morning after breakfast. She wound up
being our guide on our trip to el Chalten.
Along the route, we stopped at
lagoon on Lago Argentino that was full of flamingos, ducks, and swans.
We
also stopped toe see about 8 condors flying above us.
At the half-way point of the 3 hour drive,
we made a pit stop at el Hotel La Leona.
According to local lore, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the real
ones, stopped at this hotel on their way to their fateful rendezvous in Bolivia. There were photos and news clippings related
to the outlaws on the walls.
Nadia informed us that the trip to el Chalten may take a bit
longer due to strong headwinds. I only
thought that was true with air travel, but bucking a 50-60 mph headwind
apparently has a major effect on busses the size of ours. In addition to the wind, the weather seemed
to be deteriorating. The mountains were
socked in and there was at least the threat of rain.
El Chalten is a very young town, only about 15 years old, with
its roads and other infrastructure in place in only the last few years.. Prior to this, it was just a few houses and
services for climbers. It is still
pretty basic. Our hotel is closer to a
Day’s Inn than the Ritz. It is still the
best in town, though.
Though the weather was marginal, we decided to try to get in a
short hike. We walked from the hotel to
the ranger station and took a trail from there to el Mirador de los Condores (Lookout
for Condors). I think the condors
decided that the weather was not ideal and stayed at home. We planned to do an additional trail that
overlooks a lake, but the weather looked like rain was imminent, so we decided
to head back to the hotel.
Dinner was at a local microbrewery. Had some good beer, empanadas, and a local stew called "locro" that was excellent. Rest of the dinner, so, so.
The weather looks good (if you can believe the weathermen here
in Argentina) for tomorrow, but the following day, they are predicting some
pretty intense wind, 65 mph! The rangers recommended no hiking at that wind
speed. I’ve had plans rained out, snowed
out and iced out, but never winded out.
Lets hope the prediction is wrong.
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