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Once you start walking why stop I guess! Despite having walked quite a long way on the glacier after the 3 hour bus ride to El Chalten it was clear that the only thing to do here was to walk, so I set off on a 6 hour hike up to Laguna Torres and back. The weather again was fairly average, but luckily there wasn't much in the way of rain, just some snow and a lot of cloud. This meant lots of peering into the clouds and keeping fingers crossed that the clouds would by some miracle clear and expose the summit of the Cerro Torre, but it wasn't to be! It was still a gorgeous walk through the autumnal colours and up to the spectacular Laguna Torre with the glacier tumbling in on its far side and creating mini icebergs floating around the lake.
The second day dawned much brighter so I set off on an 8 hour trek with a bag full of sustenance up to Laguna de los Tres underneath the spectacular Cerro Fitzroy. A fabulous walk, with condors circling ahead and at the end of the day a perfect view of the mountain. The lake itself was eerie, so still and surrounded by snow and towering mountains. The end section up to the lake was pretty heavy going due to rather thick snow on a really steep slope and I was pleased that people in front had trod it down a bit, even still my feet were completely soaking. 16 year old hiking boots may not give me (too many) blisters any more but they lost all waterproofability a long time ago! I really could have done with some walking poles as I took a few tumbles on the way down cutting my hand on some rock, despite wearing gloves, and my feet and my knee were pretty tender until I got onto a flat surface! No harm done though and its always good to collect souvenirs! I rewarded myself in the evening with a few homemade beers and fabulous pasta at La Cervecera. A fantastic find!
My bus back to El Calafate the next day wasn't until the late afternoon, so after a bit of a lie in (and some stretches) I took a gentle walk up to the miradors (viewpoints) at the entrance to the village. Great birds eye perspectives of both the setting of El Chalten, Argentina's newest settlement and also Lago Argentino in the distance. A new country tomorrow which is always exciting, more stamps in the passport!
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