Scratching The Itch

El Chalten is surprisingly wonderful. We hadn’t really looked at pictures beforehand; we just decided to show up and see what it was like. El Chalten’s national park, which lies right on the edge of the tiny little mountain town, is extremely well kept and the trails are meticulously maintained. The best part…the park is free! Jenny and I did a hike called Loma del Pleigue Tombado. The map said it was four hours, but I was impressed when we made it in three. From town, you can see the very top tips of the most jagged peaks you’ve ever seen.

The beginning of the hike. 

The cool thing about our hike was that it kept evolving; the longer we went, the more of the giant jagged mountain range was slowly revealed. The view at the beginning of the hike. We hiked through open meadows and a green moss-covered forest. We crossed river streams that were full of cool-looking rocks, different than the Colorado mountain streams I am used to. The river rocks in Colorado are individual round spheres; these rocks were flat and shelf-like.

As we approached the top, our environment changed. We began walking on more and more rocks. The rocks were all shapes, sizes, colors and patterns. We saw bright red rocks, vibrant burnt orange, blue, green, shimmering metallic rocks, spots, stripes, deep purple and yellow. It was so amazing to see so many different variations of cool rocks in such a small place. I totally geeked out and picked up a really sweet yellow and blue rock to take home with me.

My new pet rock. Any name suggestions?

The effort of the 3-hour hike seemed like nothing when we got to the end and saw the view. I felt like we should have had to hike way longer to deserve that view. It was a wide, sweeping panoramic view of tiny jagged peaks that looked like towers, rising out of the glacier at the bottom. There was a cloudy grey-blue lake at the bottom of the mountain, full of glacier melt. The thin tower-like mountains nearly surrounded big mountain, Fitz Roy, making it look kinda like a giant fairy-tale castle. The sky was clear and the air was a little too crisp for comfort, but the beauty of the view in front of you helped to distract from the chilliness.

Another cool thing about the park is that the water is absolutely clean and drinkable. You can fill up your water bottle in a stream and there’s no need to boil it or use pills. So, Jenny and I did just that. I hope I don’t get regret it later…

The park is full of fossils. Look don’t touch!

More park pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jyeats/sets/72157626072286899