Day 17-19 - El Chaten

I had heard many people say that they thought the Cerro Torre was just as impressive as the Torres de Paine. I was eager to see for myself. I only had three days in El Chaten and I heard that it was supposed to rain on my last day there, so, even though I didn´t get there until noon on Tuesday, I decided to do the hike to Laguna Torre that day. It was a relatively easy hike, five hours climbing no more than 250 meters. The hike was beautiful, but I was disappointed to see that Cerro Torre was completely covered by clouds. I waited an hour at the Laguna Torre (until it started to rain) hoping that the clouds would move. They didn´t.

The next day, it was raining like crazy outside. I considered waiting to see if the weather changed, but my roommate had already rented camping equipment and was determined to make the hike to Cerro Fitz Roy rain or shine. Never one to turn down a challenge, I went too.

The hike to Cerro Fitz Roy is a lot more difficult than the hike to Laguna Torre. It is an eight-hour hike (round trip) that climbs no more than 350 meters for the first three hours, but in the last hour it escalates 450 meters more. It was a horribly windy hike that rained intermittently throughout. During the hour before the 450 meter climb, it was pouring. When we got to the final hour, the 450 meter climb, Vanessa (my roommate) and Salome (her friend), decided to wait at the base and drink some Mate.

I was determined to make the climb. I had come this far already. As soon as I started climbing, the clouds cleared and the sky came out. I knew that if I didn´t hurry, the view would change. I hurried to make it to the top, passing even the professional hikers with their trekking poles. The last hundred yards, my legs turned to rubber. My efforts were rewarded though. I got great views of the most amazing mountain range. I won´t even try to describe it.

Encouraged by the results of my hike the day before, on my last day in El Chaten, I decided to climb to Laguna Torre again. Unfortunately, luck was not with me that day. It was still too cloudy to see. I guess I should have learned my lesson the first time! Se la vie!