18 January 2010

Picture of the day: a 20-meter waterfall in Parque Nacional Lanín, near the Chilean border. We had to hike a whole 12 minutes to get here--and we were some of the only ones on the trail.

17 January 2010

Picture of the day: our dinner in San Martín de los Andes. This is exactly what it looks like, a huge freaking plate of smoked meats (deer on the right, trout in the middle, and wild boar on the left) and various smoked cheeses. San Martin is famous for its smoke shops, or ahumedoras.

16 January 2010

Picture of the day: a ruined bridge on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (7 Lakes Road).

Luckily for us, this presented no problem. When we showed up at the car rental agency to pick up our tiny economy car (price: $50 per day), we had to wait for 45 minutes while an Israeli couple argued with the guy at the counter over a small matter of there being no cars left. (Gulp.) When we were finally helped, he looked at us apologetically and said, "There are no cars left.... only a truck. Do you know how to drive automatic, or do you need me to show you?" After we confirmed that we'd still only be paying the price for the economy car--and not the price for the 4x4 (price: around $250 per day)--we happily accepted.

15 January 2010

Picture of the day: sunset, as captured from the restaurant (more of a bar, really) where we met some nice Frenchmen who invited us to dinner. On the menu? A lamb roast and several bottles of wine. We started dinner around 11pm, and didn´t get back to our hotel until around 1:30am.

14 January 2010

Picture of the day: the clear water of Nahuel Huapi, the large lake on which Bariloche is located.

The water is so clear because it originates as snowmelt on the nearby Andes. We know this first-hand, because it was hot enough that day to find a private little cove for a picnic and go swimming. Or at least wading... it was hard to go much further than the knees, because even when it was 95 degrees out the water was so frigid it took your breath away.

ALIVE!!! (take 3)

We know we haven't updated the blog in a couple of days. We're not dead, in case you were worried. We've had only spotty access to the internet over the last week, as we arrived in Bariloche only to leave again on a loooooong road trip (the famous 7 Lakes Road), followed by a trek up in the Andes (the equally famous Circuito Chico in Nahuel Huapi National Park).

More photos to come once we've had a chance to shower, eat an entire cow at the local parrilla, and sleep for a solid 8 hours.

In the meantime, here's a taste of the incredible scenery we've been enjoying:

Nahuel Huapi lake

4 January 2010

Picture(s) of the day: Glaciar Perito Moreno, one of the major glaciars feeding Lago Argentino.

While most glaciars in the world are receding, this glaciar is one of the few that is actually growing. It also is one of the fastest-moving in the world, advancing about 6 feet per day. We spent a few hours on walkways above the glaciar, watching huge pieces (i.e., the size of small buildings) of ice calve into the water.

3 January 2010

Picture of the day: a tree growing sideways after being permanently bent by the wind, on an estancia outside El Calafate.

Yes, it's seriously windy here.

2 January 2010

Picture of the day: Lago Argentino.

After hiking in El Chaltén, we returned to El Calafate, 220 kilometers southeast. Despite being a short bus ride away, the climate is completely different. While both places are quite windy, El Chaltén receives all the precipitation that falls on the Andes. El Calafate, on the other hand, is definitely in the desert-like Patagonian Steppes. It sits on Lago Argentino, the largest lake in the country. The lake is the same shade of turquoise as the water in the Florida Keys. (Not as warm, though--the color is due to the glacial melt!)

1 January 2010

Picture of the day: looking down into a glacial crevice.

Ice trekking

Because spending 3 days hauling around a 35-pound pack around the base of Fitz Roy didn't give us enough mountaineering cred, we decided to do an ice trek on our fourth day.

Obviously.

Our guide met us at the base camp at 10:00 am, and we spent the next 5 hours walking to a nearby glaciar, strapping on crampons, and walking around on the ice. It was (in Allison's opinion) totally terrifying, and also (in both of our opinions) very exhilarating.

Allison, climbing through a hole in the ice on the glaciar. Note the crampons on the feet.

We also got the chance to try our hand at ice climbing. Necessary equipment: crampons, 2 ice axes, and a good helmet. We're both actually pretty decent at it! Too bad there aren't more glaciars for us to climb in DC.

Jacob climbing the ice wall.

We then ended our day by going back to camp, packing up the tent, and hauling our gear 3 hours back to El Chaltén. After a quick shower, it was time for a fancy New Years Eve dinner, a bottle of wine, and too much champagne. I think we clearly earned it.

31 December 2009

Picture of the day: walking through the lenga forest.

29 December 2009

Picture of the day: Cerro Fitz Roy and Poincenot rising above the Lago de los Tres.

Long walk up a very big mountain, but totally worth it.

30 December 2009

Picture of the day: Lago Sucio--the bluest lake I've ever seen--with Fitz Roy in back.

The climb up to this lake was more of a rock scramble, but we were rewarded with a peaceful lake with no one else around. (We later found out that the trail to this lake has been closed for a year or two. No wonder we were all alone!)

28 December 2009

Picture of the day: the bridge over Río Electrico at the start of our trek.

ALIVE

Well, we survived our first trek in Patagonia, in the Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. (Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like: the national park of the glaciars. The park straddles the Hielo Sur, an enormous ice field that stretches for hundreds of kilometers north to south, and glaciars spill out of the ice field into lakes and streams.) It got pretty cold but we still have all our fingers and toes. We also were pretty lucky with the weather-- it was snowing (!!) when we left, which wasn't promising, but for two of the four days we had sun and clear views of the mountains. Many beautiful pictures to come over the next few days.

The trail leading to Piedra de Fraile, where we spent our first night.

Looking up the river towards Lago Electrico. If you go all the way up the valley, you can walk onto the glaciar and up onto the Hielo Sur. We saw a few people heading out with packs and sleds to spend a few days trekking on the ice--made us feel like amateurs!

27 December 2009

Picture of the day: the view of Monte Fitz Roy from El Chaltén.

After leaving Ushuaia, we had only the briefest stopover in El Calafate before coming to El Chaltén, about 180 km north. The clouds cleared briefly while we were walking to the internet cafe, letting us grab a shot of the elusive Monte Fitz Roy.

Blogmistress note: we´ll be hiking for the next four days, so don´t expect any posts for bit. Chau!

26 December 2009

Picture of the day: the beginning of the trail to Glaciar Martial, reached after walking up a ski slope (the aerosilla was closed for Christmas!).

After stuffing ourselves silly with Christmas dinner, we took a nice gentle (hah!) walk up a ski slope to a glaciar... then up on the glaciar. Yeah, we broke the rules--we're rebels like that.

25 December 2009

Picture of the day: the view of Ushuaia and Isla Hoste beyond, from the roof of the hotel where we spent our Christmas.

On our cruise, we met a lovely Australian couple (hi, Christian and Katie!) who were nice enough to invite us over for Christmas. They cooked unbelievably tasty Argentinian steaks, asparagus, potato salad... and of course, great wine. Not a bad way to spend the holiday.

24 December 2009

Picture of the day: water running through the soft soil of the peat bog.

We spent our first full day in Ushuaia trying to hike to what Lonely Planet described as a "lovely alpine glacial lake". Despite what the guide said, there was really no trail to speak of, and so instead we spent 6 hours slogging through a lovely valley... filled with peat moss.