We'd opted for the non-standard hike today which meant instead of an out and back 24km, we had a point to point 22km. The van dropped us off about 30min outside of town on a cool, crisp clear morning to hike to the base of mount Fitz Roy. We followed the river through a gorgeous beech forest around the side of a hill until the granite peak of Fitz Roy came into view. It's a stunning looking mountain and we were so stoked to have the weather we which let us see it in all it's glory. On the way up we ran into some climbers who had planned to climb Fitz Roy but had lost all their climbing gear in an avalanche after they'd stashed it waiting for clear weather. Expensive trip, particularly seeing as they didn't make it.

We stopped at the 2nd hikers village for a quick snack before hitting the next section of the trail which would see us gaining x metres in x km on a rocky trail. The trail was amazingly well maintained and with the help of poles we were up it within the hour to come out to a beautiful vista of glacial lakes, snowy slopes with Mt Fitz Roy standing guard over it all. We stopped there for lunch, then wandered down to the lake to get a closer look and sample some of the cleanest water on the planet. There are glacial streams all along the trail which means you don't have to carry in litres of water.

After spending about an hour taking it all in, we started heading back down. I wasn't looking forward to this part but we took it nice and easy and all made it down in one piece.

The hike back was undulating trails through bush that cleared out to views of the surrounding mountains, lakes & valleys. The photos just don't do it justice and I'm sure it's going to be like that for all of my trip.

We had just moved off from a stop at a lake when we bumped into a group of park rangers who asked to borrow our guides radio as theirs had gone flat. Turns out some idiots had been lighting a fire in the national park and they needed to call someone in to make sure they'd put it out.

As we rounded the last section of the hike, the valley that leads into El Chalten came into view, some condors flew overhead capping of a perfect day in the national park. There were a few blisters amongst us and a lot of aching feet and muscles but it was all more than worth it. We said adios to our guide and headed back to the hostel for showers and then dinner.