Camping El Chalten and Ascending El Mojon Rojo
I have been livivng in a campground in El Chalten, Argentina for a couple of weeks now. The people I have met here I been some of the friendliest in Argentina, and there are also travelers here from all of teh world, among them world class climbers from Yosemite. It is excited being here now, if a bit overwhelming too. The weather here is extrememly unpredictable, and even when we do get a coulpe of nice days in the middle of ¨summer¨ with sun and calm winds, the walls can still be covered with a thick layer of ice that makes traditional rock climbing difficult. Some climbers here are awaiting just the perfect conditions to attempt ascents of some of the most challenging towers in the world, including Cerro Fitzroy and Cerro Torre. They come back to the campground the next day and make dinner just like everyone else as if nothing was different. I often find myself in awe with my mouth agape and have to check my tendency to stare. But then we exchange smiles and congratulations and everything seems to return to some sense of normalcy again. Times like that I remember that I am experiencing something really special here, and I should relish it.
I feel really glad that I have met some super nice people here, mostly from Bariloche, actually, with which to climb, cook, go out dancing and have fun. My orginal departure date was the 24th of January, and here it is Feb. 1st and I am planning to leave in 2 days. Another adventure just keeps on coming up, and I don´t want to miss it. First, included in the pictures I upoloaded a few days ago, I went backpacking with my friend Agustin from Buenos Aires, who I met on t he bus. He was on a bike trip trhough I went Patagonia. And we went bacppaking together for 3 days form camp Poincenot. It was a blast.
Next, I went trekking up to Paso Superior with Hernan and Emiliano, two super nice guys from Bariloche I met in town. After meeting Hernan, I soon moved to the camp at which he was staying and where most of the climbers are. We went cragging together in town and then both he and Emiliano invited me to hike up the pass with them (pictures included in my last entry). We all seemed to click together well, and have had a really good time enjoying this beautiful and rugged place.
On the third and most recent trip, this past weekend, I had one of the most challenging mountaineering experiences of my life so far. Emiliano invited me and Gabby (both Emiliano and Gabby are climbing and mountaineering guides with the national forest here) to go and climb something called Agujo de La ¨S¨ with them because there were a few nice weather days predicted in the forecast. Hernan and his friend Maria from Buenos Aires were setting out that day too, so they decided to acompany us to the beginning of our ascent, at Laguna Sucia. Then they headed back to camp at Poincenot. The three of us, on the other hand, started climbing the steep and loose rocky slopes up to sleep in a cave underneath the glacier.
Waiting in the hostel-campground from good weather can seem interminable sometimes, but at least there are lots of funny characters to fill the time...
Here´s our team gearing up to go.
Here´s Hernan (Cacho) fording the currently high waters of the Rio Blanco.
Gabby and I just before making out way up the the cave to spend the night.
Here´s Emi in front of Poincenot and Monte Fitzroy. By this point we´d gotten word from the party ahead of us on the ¨S¨ was covered in ice and snow and that we´d need to wear crampons virtually to whole way up to climb it. Realizing we´d be short on time, we decided to ascent the pile of rocks to the left of it, the ¨Mojon Rojo¨ instead. It was still well worth the effort.
Now I am getting ready to head back up to Bariloche, perhaps to climb with someone I met there and also to get ready for my move to a WWOOF farm outside of El Bolson. Time only can tell what the future will hold. Part of me feels like I could get addicted to this place. To being with the incredibly nice people and climbing peaks, becoming more skilled and experienced and moving on to harder peaks. Another part of me, I´m realizing though, is craving a bit more of regularity...a healthy lifestyle in which I can meet people, relax, reflect, and explore the forests...at least for a little while. I am going to follow that through, and I´ll let you know where that leaves me afterwords....
Right now the sun is coming through tyhe clouds, and even if it is cold, it is lovely.
I feel really glad that I have met some super nice people here, mostly from Bariloche, actually, with which to climb, cook, go out dancing and have fun. My orginal departure date was the 24th of January, and here it is Feb. 1st and I am planning to leave in 2 days. Another adventure just keeps on coming up, and I don´t want to miss it. First, included in the pictures I upoloaded a few days ago, I went backpacking with my friend Agustin from Buenos Aires, who I met on t he bus. He was on a bike trip trhough I went Patagonia. And we went bacppaking together for 3 days form camp Poincenot. It was a blast.
Next, I went trekking up to Paso Superior with Hernan and Emiliano, two super nice guys from Bariloche I met in town. After meeting Hernan, I soon moved to the camp at which he was staying and where most of the climbers are. We went cragging together in town and then both he and Emiliano invited me to hike up the pass with them (pictures included in my last entry). We all seemed to click together well, and have had a really good time enjoying this beautiful and rugged place.
On the third and most recent trip, this past weekend, I had one of the most challenging mountaineering experiences of my life so far. Emiliano invited me and Gabby (both Emiliano and Gabby are climbing and mountaineering guides with the national forest here) to go and climb something called Agujo de La ¨S¨ with them because there were a few nice weather days predicted in the forecast. Hernan and his friend Maria from Buenos Aires were setting out that day too, so they decided to acompany us to the beginning of our ascent, at Laguna Sucia. Then they headed back to camp at Poincenot. The three of us, on the other hand, started climbing the steep and loose rocky slopes up to sleep in a cave underneath the glacier.
Waiting in the hostel-campground from good weather can seem interminable sometimes, but at least there are lots of funny characters to fill the time...
Here´s our team gearing up to go.
Here´s Hernan (Cacho) fording the currently high waters of the Rio Blanco.
Gabby and I just before making out way up the the cave to spend the night.
Here´s Emi in front of Poincenot and Monte Fitzroy. By this point we´d gotten word from the party ahead of us on the ¨S¨ was covered in ice and snow and that we´d need to wear crampons virtually to whole way up to climb it. Realizing we´d be short on time, we decided to ascent the pile of rocks to the left of it, the ¨Mojon Rojo¨ instead. It was still well worth the effort.
Now I am getting ready to head back up to Bariloche, perhaps to climb with someone I met there and also to get ready for my move to a WWOOF farm outside of El Bolson. Time only can tell what the future will hold. Part of me feels like I could get addicted to this place. To being with the incredibly nice people and climbing peaks, becoming more skilled and experienced and moving on to harder peaks. Another part of me, I´m realizing though, is craving a bit more of regularity...a healthy lifestyle in which I can meet people, relax, reflect, and explore the forests...at least for a little while. I am going to follow that through, and I´ll let you know where that leaves me afterwords....
Right now the sun is coming through tyhe clouds, and even if it is cold, it is lovely.
posted by Rachael at
2/01/2009 08:07:00 AM
