The Fitz Roy Range

Since our arrival in Patagonia we had been lucky. We hiked up to Torres del Paine, notorious for bad weather and horrific winds straight from the Antartic. But for us clear skies, not a breath of wind. The Moreno Glacier, cleared to stunning blue skies and an icy breeze. The Fitz Roy Ranges, you wouldn't believe our luck. The day we arrived it was wet and grey and cold, no sign of the massive peaks high above the tiny town of El Chalten. By the next morning it was icy cold but brilliant blue. We took an alternate route, instead of climbing a steep mountain at the beginning, we followed a river course through beautiful forests and occasional low lying scrub lands. We could see the ranges above us the whole time, getting closer and ever more daunting. The final section up to the towers was a steep dusty path, winding backwards and forwards across a mountain side of gravel and shale. Several times I sat down, claiming I didn't need to see them up close, the view was good enough from where I already was. G had a hard time convincing me otherwise. But we made it. We sat and had our salami and cheese sandwiches over looking the glacial lake and hoping for another avalanche.

The hike down was not so much fun, hard on the hips and knees. Although sections of it were through marsh lands filled with dark tarns and wind swept grass, we had miscalculated our timing, and instead of the 2hr easy hike we had envisioned, it was a long and dusty 4hrs before we stumbled back into El Chalten.

Our luck ran out the next day, we woke up to constant drizzle and strong winds blowing fiercely down the valley. And it stayed that way for 2 days. So we read our books, made mulled wine to the delight of the others in the hostel, generally stayed warm and cosy.