An Unexpected Trail
Ok, I have to say I have been slacking on my posts recently, and am now writing this post a week after it happened, and while sat on a flight no less, but let’s do it.
This was my second and last full day in El Calafate, and the plan for the day was to head to El Chalten to hike up Mt. Fitzroy for the day. I honestly did not really know about this hike until I talked to others, but I only knew that I had to do a day trip to El Chalten as per the recommendations of Uli and Ren.
Finn and I got up early in the morning, as we were planning on heading to El Chalten together to do the hike. We had been told that it would be impractical to attempt this hike on a day trip, but that was not going to stop either of us from at least trying.
We took the 8 am bus to El Chalten, and the ride took about 3 hours, most of which we spent asleep or at least with our eyes shut. I simply have it as a blur in my head, as I had music playing and my eyes closed.
Upon reaching El Chalten, we talked to the tour office inside the bus terminal who also told us that it would not be possible to do the complete hike. From experience in Argentina though, we had noticed that the times are usually well padded and both being fast hikers, we knew that it was very much possible. That as well as our decision to start the trail outside of town, which we were told a few times that was a shortcut and would cut the hike by 2 hours.
We circled around the bus station a few times before realizing that the taxis were at the door all along - they just did not have a yellow taxi sign on top of the car as I had gotten used to elsewhere in the country.
The ride to the beginning of the trail took us about half an hour, with the road soon turning into a gravel path, although going along beautiful rivers and mountains the whole way. We were the only ones at the trail start, likely due to it being late and most hikers staying the night in El Chalten, without the need for the “shortcut.” The driver did mention something to us about directions on where to start the trail, but it was in Spanish which neither of us understood, so we just nodded and got out the car. Little did we know that the piece of information he would give us would was very important, assuming it is what he was trying to say at least.
We were only a few meters onto the trail when we began doubting which way to go, as the path was not well marked, and no signs available. We started on one side, going a few hundred meters before being met with a swamp and deciding that this was the wrong way. Half way back, we met a group of Argentinian friends, who were also doing the same hike. Us not knowing anything, we decided that it was our best chance to follow them for the hike as they seemed better prepared. We ended up turning back again and continuing on the trail we were on, going through the swamp (which wasn’t as swampy as I thought( and we were then our way.
The guys told us that they had done this hike last year, although the original path had changed since it was on private property and thus, this path was new to them. So all in all, no one knew what they were doing, but we just kept going along a “path” that we perceived - it’s funny how the brain works in these situations, where you trick yourself into “seeing” a “path” that is probably not there. We walked for an hour or so before reaching what seemed to be a dead end, and started questioning the route. We were on one edge of the river and just to our luck, a random person had popped up on the other side. It was helpful to have Spanish speakers with us right now, as they were able to communicate with the guy, and found out that we actually had to be on the other side of the river. This was my epiphany moment where I bet is what the taxi driver was trying to tell me earlier.
Now, we began looking for a way to cross the river. We seemed to be near rapids, and the group split up into two, one being a bit more adventurous and deciding to try and jump, while the other was looking for an easier crossing in shallower and calmer waters. We stuck around with the adventurous group, where we had to do what probably was a 2 meter jump between two rocks, above a gushing river. It was a nice rush of adrenaline, something we did not know we would experience that day but hey, surprise adventures are always great.
The guys decided to wait around for their friends, while Finn and I decided to move on as we ha already wasted enough time trying to find our way onto the path. We walked for about 10 - 15 minutes before finding signs.
At this moment though, we realized that these are not the signs we were looking for. These signs pointed towards the places where the now closed path started, leaving us very confused. We had to resort to a mix of google maps to find our location (nothing else as no cell service), the compass application on the phone, and a very general map of the path which I had picked up that morning at the tourist office. We became aware that we had been going the wrong way all along, and that although we were on the right path, we were walking in the wrong direction. Basically, since we had started the hike in the morning, we had not gotten that far from where we started although it had been a few hours.
We started walking back, and thought that trying to go up would be a good idea, to give us better views in hopes of figuring out where we were going. I had a moment where I saw Mt. Fitzroy, which further affirmed that we were walking in the correct direction, but also realized that we had veered very off path, and were now struggling to find the trail again. Going lower, as well as hearing the guys we had split up from, helped us find the path, which we also found was marked with arrows indicating the direction. These would have been very helpful earlier on when we walked the wrong way, but obviously we had not been paying attention to what was right by our side.
We grouped back up with the guys at which point we argued which way to go, trying to explain that we walked the wrong way and the signs we saw. We tried to show them our analogy with Mt. Fitzroy and the compass and the map, but were told that the mountain we were looking at was not actually what I thought it was, once again showing me the power of the brain into tricking us to think we are safe or in control.
We managed to convince them though, and we started walking the trail, in the correct direction now, although there was no sign at all of the other guys. It was my theory that they had likely kept going the right way upon crossing the river, and would be waiting for their friends somewhere along the path.
And then came the first sign of hope! There was a gate to the national park, as well as signs of the trail we needed to be on. There was a second surprise as well - the man who appeared out of thin air earlier and explained the direction and was also here. He told us that the others had already passed, and that we were now on the way to the peak. This gave me a huge sigh of relief, as I know was certain that my theory was right about the path and that my brain had stopped playing tricks. Also, I was now aware that this random man was a park ranger, and not a stranger from the setting of a horror movie trying to veer us off path to murder us or something - before you think this is crazy, just put yourself in my shoes and try to rationalize my thoughts.
We kept hiking onwards and since Finn and I were faster than the other guys, we split up and kept going. As things looked, we had high chances of being able to make it all the way up to the mountain.
We reached the base of the climb to the mountain, which was at the beginning of the final Kilometer, with plenty of time to keep going. We had been told that this part takes a long time but were struggling to believe it until we saw the signs everywhere. We were greeted by the second half of the group, and assured them that their friends were just behind us. We asked around about the trail up and it seemed that this remaining kilometer surely takes at least an hour each way, since it was more a climb upwards than a hike. It really came as a slap in the face to us, as it meant that we would be cutting it very close if we would attempt it, and I was definitely in no mood to miss my transportation back and have a similar incident as I did in Istanbul.
Instead, we decided to have a mate ceremony to take our first break, and have some snacks as well. It was definitely an earned mate, and the power boost was everything we needed to hike down to the town, which was still another 10 km of hiking. On the bright side, we knew we had time for the hike.
The nice thing about our hike to the town was that we wouldn’t be doing the same exact path, since we had chosen a different start point, meaning that the scenery would be very different. The hike back was good, taking a few more hours although we met a few people along th way, a mom and daughter from Spain, and another lady who was Polish. It was nice to exchange stories about our travels, as well as different experiences we had. We stopped by a lake at some point, which was beautiful waters and with a backdrop of all the mountains.
The last part of the descent was probably my favourite, as it looked like a cross between California, Nevada, and Arizona, or at least the idea of them in my head.
Back in town, we had a few hours and tried finding somewhere to catch parts of the France vs England game but most places were not offering food. We lucked out, finding a restaurant which was serving food at this hour (around 5 pm, keep in mind that lunch ends at 3 pm and dinner starts at 8 pm, with restaurants closed in between). I had some delicious Empanadas and potatoes, and then bought some Alfajores to enjoy on the bus as it was time to head back. The drive back was more or less similar to the drive here, having shut our eyes for most of it, and before we knew it, we were back in El Calafate.
We arrived late into El Calafate, and were both very tired from the adventures of the day, so we quickly showered and headed to bed. I took a few minutes to pack my bags as I had a flight the next morning.
All in all, it was a great day, filled with lots of randomness, from using a compass for the first time on a hike, to jumping over rivers and meeting random hikes. In the end, I think these experiences are important as my blog would be rather monotone without them.
What were your thoughts? Have you been lost on a hike before? How have you had to navigate previous hikes? Let me know in the comments below but till then, stay positive.
