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I didn't realize it had been so long since i've updated this damn thing. Internet has been pretty crappy. Today I am back in Chile in a cute little town called Puerto Varas. I'm taking a rest day.
From torres del paine we headed to El Calafate and then to El Chalten, Argentina to visit parque nacional las glacieres. Where the famous Cerro Torre and Mt. Fitz Roy are located. We were planning to do five days of trekking. The first day was pretty cloudy and a little rainy and of course Cerro Torre was not at all in sight, so we headed to the other valley to see fitz roy. Weather cleared that evening and we had prime viewing from the campground. We camped here for three days I did day hikes. The weather on day 2 was fabulous, and we hiked up to the base (or as close as you can get) of fitz roy. It was amazing. Days three and four consisted of ALOT of rain, wind, sleet and snow. I attempted to hike, but it wasn't much fun. so we came out on the fourth day and hung in el chalten. There isn't much to do there. Never did get a good view of cerro torre, until were driving away in the bus. Of course.....
From El chalten we took a two day bus up the famous route 40 to Bariloche. I'm not really sure why it's so famous because it sucked. Mostly dirt and nothing to look at but argentine pampa, which is like dirt with a few bushes, sometimes. And lots of wind. Bariloche is a very touristy, but cute city. They have incredible chocolate and typical argentine icecream, which is delicious. We spent new year's here with some friends we ran into from the ferry. We cooked a delicious chicken and polenta dinner, which chocolate for desert. We did a three day trek from Bariloche. It was supposed to be a traverse, but part of the trail was closed due to snow. But the part we did was beautiful. A couple high passes with incredible views, big, annoying tabanos (horse flys), crazy steep descents through very slippery scree, and wonderful weather. I came back with a terrible sunburn on the part of my back where I forgot to put sunscreen. Whoops!
The last four days I spent doing another traverse from Argentina to Chile. Day one was beautiful and took me up the slopes of Mt. Tronador. WOW! There was a horseshoe shaped glacier with a finger of rock in the center. THis is where the refugio and camping was located. Mt. Tronador's summit was behind and there were incredible views in every direction. By far the best views so far. The rest of the trek was mostly through rainforest, which was beautiful, but very difficult hiking. There wasn't much of a trail in some places. LOTS of mud and swampy spots. Lots of fallen logs to go over, under and through. It was the worst trail I've ever been on. Thank god it's over. But I made it to chile safely. I took a boat ride from Peulla, Chile across Lado todos santos. There were amazing views of Volcan Osorno, whose flanks rose right out of the lake. So today I am resting and trying to get rid of the remainder of my cold, and tomorrow I head up to Osorno to meet John.
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