Cerro Fitzroy (Chaltén)

The next day we took the air-conditioned coach from El Calfate to El Chaltén, gazing out of the windows at vast, rocky desert with foothills and distant mountains making up the horizon. Every so often in this inhospitable environment appeared some aqua blue lakes, which explains how the skipping guanacos we also saw are able to survive. On arrival to the village of El Chaltén, we headed straight to Campamento Poincenot to be certain to have pitched the tent before darkness fell. To our great surprise, the temperature fell rapidly resulting in one freezing cold night, but then nobody ever said to us that camping high in the Andes was going to be warm. After shivering through a very restless night, whilst listening to the howling wind and loud rain droplets dripping from the trees above onto the tent canvas, we finally managed to get a decent 3 hrs sleep from 7am until 10am. From here, the sky was blue and fairly clear as if all that bad weather last night had never happened. After a quick breakfast of dulce de leche on bread we set off on our steep hike to the Lago de los Tres for the best view of Cerro Fitzroy. It was extremely enjoyable to trek through green forests and alongside crystal clear rivers before the enduring steep mountainside climb. We saw condors on the way up that were soaring high above looking for prey. Meanwhile we were treading carefully as to not slip on the loose boulders. As we ascended towards the top, it started to snow and the wind gusted harshly. It was at this point that it hit us: we were high in the Andes.
We walked back, taking much needed drinks from the pure mountain streams, followed by an afternoon siesta in our portable home, after handfuls of ham and cheese sandwiches. The searing, bitter cold of the night at Poincenot forced us to consider moving home for a night to Lago Capri: good call, affording more sandwiches and Kendal Mint Cake. But no sleep for Jon during the night at Campamiento Largo Capri: there was industrial-strength snoring from another, near-by tent. Jon went on a night walk, and found himself face-to-face with the eyes of an unidentified animal. Was it a huemul, a guanacho, a wolf, a puma or one of the many feral dogs of Patagonia? This animal brought him out of his trance where he was captivated by the dreamy, starlit sky where the magical swirls of the Milky Way galaxy were glowing. On the other hand, the daylight delivered to us exactly what we were here for: unimpeded views of Cerro Fitzroy, surrounded by a bright blue sky with a few wispy clouds. Magnificent! Does this view equal that of the Perito Moreno Glacier or the falls at Iguazu? Of course! This is world-class hiking, for there are amazing river valleys, lush forests, snow-capped peaks and glorious skies. Patagonia would seem to have it all!