Long Break, Part IV: Return to El Chaltén

It has been many, many years since we traveled without pre-booking lodging, mapping out all transportation logistics between two points. But after our time in Chile, and a planned meetup with Delhi friends (who now work in Lima) on our las night in Puerto Natales, we had a few days of unstructured time before our flight back north. We debated about what to do for only a short time and then decided to return to El Chaltén to complete some unfinished hiking. It was a bit of gamble given the washout weather we had there the first time around. But we got lucky. Even though it had been less than two weeks since we were there, the unsettled weather had cleared out and second time around proved to be the charm. And even though it was peak season, we booked rooms at a modest hotel which ended up being one of the highlights of the trip; super nice and helpful people working the front desk and a great breakfast included. That is all we need!

We started with the longest hike on the first day back in town, the Laguna Torre trail which is 20km round trip, and takes about 8 hours to complete. A bit of an uphill at the start but mostly flat after that with a nice place to rest and picnic lakeside while taking in the view of a glacier on the other side. This was the longest hike we have done and the boys did great. Zero complaints all day!

Such a treat to be able to drink straight from the river and refill water bottles along the way.

 

Winding our way back toward town. The boys were way ahead of us, dots in the distance!

We had fair weather the second day and started with a short hike up behind the visitor center and got a nice look at town below.

A cute couple enjoying the morning and sharing mate. They looked so content, Jonah asked to take their photo:

For our third and final hike, we headed to the north side of town to get on the Lago Capri trail. It rained for part of the day so not many photos - except for the start, the finish and the rainbow after the storm passed.

Boys on a rock:

This was me, sort of mad at the boys after they had hid on the side of the trail until we walked past. When Jonah and I got to the end and asked the rangers if they had seen any boys, we might have been worried. We backtracked a bit, only to find our giggling pranksters running toward us. #funnynotfunny

Asa warming up with a cup of mate. It's an acquired taste that we have not yet acquired.

Bussing it to the airport and bidding farewell to Patagonia. Three weeks on the road comes to an end.