La Cumbre

Had a somewhat sleepy day wandering around Cordoba and then dragged myself up early the next day and headed off alone again to the town of La Cumbre in the traslaserierra mountains, to try and get some flying in. La Cumbre being one of Argentinas most well known flying sites and a previous host of the world cup.

Was raining when I arrived and thick fog the morning after so I pretty much gave up on the idea and booked a night bus to Buenos Aires. After passing a few hours in an Internet Cafe in the morning however, I emerged to discover bright sunshine and a lovely afternoon. Flying was back on and I managed to easily meet up with a tandem pilot at the hostel and off we headed off for a showdown at the Cuchi Corral.

Had an excellent flight, mainly soaring the small ridge but with a few thermals to keep it interesting and lots of condors sharing the lift. Had a great 5 minutes of proximity flying with a big condor just after taking off.

Eventually sunk out but got a ride back up the hill with a group of guachos (one very drunk sporting a "las islas Malvinas son Argentinas" cap on - it did get mentioned) after sharing beer and their left over asado.

Mendoza

Had a very pleasant 3 days in Mendoza; drinking lots of wine and eating lots of meat!

It's a nice city. Not many tourist attractions but very livable with lots of plazas and a southern European feel to the place. Was a nice change from Patagonia; walking into the city from the bus station, getting a coffee and sitting outside in the warm morning sunshine next to a leafy plaza.

The real draw however is what surrounds the city: great vineyards!

Did a bike and wine tour in Maipú on the Sunday. Most vineyards are closed on Sunday but there were still two open at opposite ends of the route. The first, Trapiche, was a big, commercial affair with a fancy building and a large estate. The wine sampling before lunch went down very nicely.

sophisticated business

Trying to find some food in Maipú on a Sunday proved to be a bit of a challenge. Eventually found the only open takeaway in town however and enjoyed a pretty good steak sandwich sat on the street, before getting back on our bikes.

On leaving Trapiche, we also found ourselves being tailed by a police car. Was it because the area was dangerous?  That tourists touring vineyards on bikes were dangerous? It remained a puzzling (and slightly concerning) mystery until on our way back Pina got a puncture and we found out the less sinister and tourist friendly purpose of the escort: they were just there to help! A nice offering, but they could work on its promotion.




Our second vineyard was much smaller and run by a French couple and it was interesting to see the contrast after Trapiche. 

Maipú itself isn't a particularly attractive place and the cycle route between the vineyards is mostly down the main road.

Was going to try and fly on Monday but it clouded over so had to resort to more wine tasting with Pina and Sylvia, this time in the nicer town of Luyan. After a steak lunch at the first vineyard we only had time for one other but it was another  lovely day sitting around sampling wine, with a little cycling to keep the blood flowing.

The wines were mainly malbecs obviously, but quite a few blends and a couple of whites too. Wasn't blown away by any but they were all pretty good.

Chris had gone on to seek a viewing with Aconcagua and I again tagged along with Pina and Sylvi on a night bus to Cordoba. Splashed out on the ultimate in bus luxury with a fully reclining seat... but still didn't get much sleep.

El Bolson

Got off the bus with 2 German girls, Pina and Sylvie, and at the last minute Chris (my climbing buddy from El Chalten) after persuading him that El Bolson was indeed worth a stop. We followed the German girls to the secluded Casa de Odile hostel, way out of town in its own small wooded estate, which was to be my base for the next few days.

Started the next day with yoga in the crisp morning air in the garden, and then, after making a few paragliding enquires, found myself heading off with my glider, in the company of Manu, his wife and baby. Both very relaxed and friendly pilots and they took me on a tour around town showing me the landing zones, telling me about the area and eventually dropping me off at the track heading up to Mount Piltriquitron. Not the most interesting hike up (track for the most of it but no traffic unfortunately) but I had some company from a friendly old dog who joined me for the hike.

I eschewed the official take off and on the advice of Manu's wife carried on to a higher takeoff on the mountainside, at about 1600m. It was a beautiful sunny and calm day with a few light thermic cycles coming up the takeoff. I took off at 6. Not much lift but lovely smooth conditions and a beautiful 25 minute flight along the rock faces of the mountainside before heading into the valley and El Bolson.

Happy to get my glider out!

I Struggled to recognise the main landing field from above however and where I thought it was, it definitely wasn't; so I went for my fall back option and landed in a nearby field. Just after landing I noticed one, two, then three large gentlemen come out of a building a 100 or so metres away, taking a clear interest in my actions. One of them then purposefully strode over to me and I discovered I'd just landed in the back yard of the Gendarmerie...

They weren't too happy but after some initial stern words and noting all my particulars the officer relaxed and was actually quite friendly by the time he'd escorted me off site. Probably the only field in El Bolson I shouldn't have landed in!

I was back up Piltriquitron the next day, but this time to climb it with Chris. Got a ride up the track I'd hiked the day before fortunately, so just had the 1000m to climb from the car park to the summit. Fairly easy going with just a steep scree slope to the summit presenting any challenge. Very different landscape to southern patagonia. Much more arid higher up and different rock, blacker and sandier here.

Not alone in the woods

 

The view from the top was spectacular and after hiking back down to yesterday's takeoff, Chris had the pleasure of watching me fly off and leave him to walk back alone. Took off earlier than the day before and although the wind was a bit cross, found a few thermals and buoyant air and had a great 45 minute flight - much longer than expected! The cypress trees and their long shadows looked particularly stunning in the low evening sun as I came down to land.

Late that same afternoon Volcano Calbuco, across the border in Chile, decided to let off some steam and the resultant cloud of ash draped itself all over Bariloche to the north. Couldn't see the eruption from El Bolson but did notice an odd looking cloud formed on the horizon after I'd landed. I had planned on a few days around Bariloche for flying and hiking but the volcano put paid to that. El Bolson got very hazy the next day and you could taste the ash in the air. I had a fairly relaxed day, wandering around the big craft market that El Bolson is famous for (big alternative / hippy community in El Bolson. Lots of arts, crafts and artesanales offerings). 

The approaching ash cloud

My little group of Chris and the 2 German girls I'd been hanging out with were all heading to Mendoza the next day. I think after all the solo camping in Patagonia I was enjoying the company of nice people and wasn't quite ready to go it alone again. That and the lure of a wine tour in a balmy 20+ degrees, meant I duly followed suit.

We passed through Bariloche and although the ash had cleared a lot from the days before, the air was still thick and you couldn't see any of the surrounding mountains. It was a very eerie drive heading north east from Bariloche to Neuquen. Flat and pretty featureless landscape, shrouded in a grey haze and with patches of thick ash swirling in the air that looked like smoke rising from the ground.

20 odd hours later we all arrived in Mendoza.

El Chalten

El Chalten is nestled in a valley, overlooked by the towering Mount Fitz Roy and a plethora of glaciers all within a days walk of the town. It was a crisp sunny day when I arrived and the approach into town presented a stunning view with Fitz Roy glowing in the morning sun above the town. With the weather set to change, I hired some more camping gear and hiked up to Fitz Roy that afternoon to spend 2 nights on a round trip of the area.

Autumn is further progressed here than elsewhere I've been and all the trees are resplendent in deep hues of red and amber. Truly spectacular when you add in some big spiky mountains and glaciers into the background.

At the official campsite, at the bottom of the short steep hike up to the base of Fitz Roy, a few day trippers on their way back recommended a camp spot up at the top. Taking their advice I spurned the campsite in the woods and pressed up and onwards to the mountain in the early evening. It was good advice and I had a magical camp in front of the lagoon, looking up at the spectacular mountain and glacier in the evening light. The stars even came out, but the weather was changing and in the morning I awoke to a mountain shrouded in damp cloud.

Looking up the valley

Fitz Roy base in the fading light

The not quite so spectacular morning view from camp

In the hope the cloud might lift later on I went for a wander and scrambled down to the bigger lagoon below, which has a massive glacier literally falling into it, with numerous chunks of ice regularly tumbling down the cliff face. Thought I'd get a great view up the other side so went on what turned into quite a long scramble up a steep scree and rock slope. The clouds unfortunately didn't play ball however and as I got higher the view was obscured and I got rained on. The rock here is great for climbing on however. Even in the damp it was reassuringly sticky, although a little flaky in places. Found another fantastic camp spot near the lower lagoon which I would love to come back to one day. Did give it some serious contemplation but in the end practicalities and bus timetables won out. Next time!

The view from the other side

Camped the next night in front of Laguna Torres with the originally named Glaciar Grande (it's a really big glacier) spilling into it at the far end. Was fairly cloudy though so didn't get to appreciate the full majesty of the view. [Most of the names here are particularly imaginative: Los Glaciares national park for example. It's aptly named however; there are an astounding number of glaciers here, and all so close to sea level]

More woody woodpeckers

Camp in front of Glacier Grande

It rained all morning but was only a few hours of easy hiking back to El Chalten. Met a couple of guys I'd chatted to in Torres del Paine in the afternoon who'd just done a bit of climbing in the area (there's excellent climbing and bouldering round here too). With the weather looking good again I teamed up with one of them, Chris, to hire some gear and do some sport climbing the next day.

Had the usual slow start while we both tried to remember the important bits of climbing (like how to secure yourself at the top!) and warmed up on a couple of easy 5a's. The other climbs on the crag (which was just on the edge of town) were significantly harder but without a good topo I scoped one out which looked doable, following a nice crack up the wall and with what looked like lots of solid holds...

2 bolts up, I began to realise it may be a little trickier than I had envisaged. Half an hour later, 4 bolts up and with a throbbing right arm I had a good appreciation that this was a tough climb! 6 bolts up I think I found the crux of the problem and after a good deal of searching I had to admit defeat. It was a nice climb with some cool moves and at my climbing peak it may have been possible. Now however... not a chance!

Defeated

Next challenge was to retrieve the gear. Chris had a good go top roping but didn't manage to change the gear over on the bolt to rescue our quickdraw; so I got another go to finish what I'd started. Cold and a bit tired it was challenging to get back up there but managed to get our gear back and then crossed to the other side of the valley for a final climb in the early evening. Nicer climbs over there with some long pitches and more mid level grades but in the fading light only had time for one climb. 

The weather for the day was good and mostly clear, although what clouds there were seemed to be more often than not in front of the sun. It was quite windy too and with the cool air temp it was hard to stay warm for climbing. Should try and get here earlier in the season next time! The bouldering here is meant to be world class and there are some nice multi pitch climbs too. And there is always Fitz Roy itself...

Back at the climbing shop we discovered the route I'd attempted was a 6c+ so I was pretty pleased with how far I'd got!

After umming and ahhing all day about whether to go back and camp at the base of Fitz Roy again, I took the sensible option and got on the long 20 hour bus to El Boson in the north that night. The forecast is looking good for the week so fingers crossed will get some paragliding in.

El Chalten itself is a small town with a frontier feel to it; only built in the 80's and without many new developments about. It's really the end of season now. Only 2 or 3 restaurants still open and a lot of the shops already closed. Still a few tourists around though and the bus I'm on now to Bariloche is full. 

El Calafate

Had met quite a few people hitch hiking and Couchsurfing and as it sounded pretty straight forward I determined to hitch my way up to my next stop: El Calafate.

And it was quite easy. My first two rides to Río Grande were virtually instant but had to wait around a bit longer for the much longer stretch up back through Chile and then to Río Gallegos. A kindly lorry driver eventually picked me up though and I got into Río Gallegos around 8pm.

nice spot for "dedo"

Río Gallegos' distinguishing feature was burning tyres. Couldn't work out what all the smoke was from at a distance but my walk out of town in the morning took me past a few stacks of burning rubber to warm the hands of groups of workmen.

Was back on the road in the morning and another lorry took me all the way to El Calafate.

Hitching is definitely a good way to practice Spanish. The driver of my second lorry was particularly chatty and although I understood less than half of what he said we managed to converse one way or another for a lot of the 5 hour trip! This made the journey a lot more interesting as the south east of Patagonia is flat, featureless, massive and boring. The only interesting things around are the numerous wild guanacos (big lamas).

After 4 hours of nothing however you come over a hill and the mountains of southern Patagonia are there in front of you, their snowy peaks rising straight up out of the flatlands.

Finally...something to look at

El Calafate is a town that has grown up purely to service the numerous tourists coming to visit the Perito Merino glacier. It is however, a worthy and majestic touristic attraction, with board walks allowing you to get within a few hundred metres of its towering 60 odd meter ice wall spilling into Lago Argentino.

I missed the morning (and expensive bus) by a few minutes so took to hitching again. Traffic was light but me and a German girl Katerina (with the same idea), eventually got lucky and made it the 80km there and back again in the evening.

It's a mighty and very active glacier, with ice falls rumbling away like thunder all day and saw a few impressive collapses into the lake at the ice face.

There's little else going on in El Calafate however (although did go out for a few tasty cocktails at a "día del barman" party in the evening) so went straight on to El Chalten: the self proclaimed trekking capital of Argentina.

Ushuaia

Took a deserved rest day back in Puerto Natales following my Torres del Paine expedition and then got a bus down to Ushuaia. Had previously decided not to go as it's a long and boring bus ride down there (12 hours), but was persuaded by some other backpackers that is was worthwhile (end of the world, when will you ever go there again, blah blah blah...) So I went. The bus ride was indeed long and boring and for a large chunk of it over crappy gravel roads. Had a bit of excitement when our bus driver took us off road and ploughed into deep mud on the verge. Eventually we got towed out by a lorry.

Stranded in la pampa

My first day in Ushuaia really felt like I had just gone to tick the "I've been to the end of the world box". Woop.
There's a glacier (or bit of ice at least) above the city you can walk up to. Coming to that off the back of Glacier Gray in Torres del Paine felt like a complete waste of time. There was a nice view of the city however and all the trees in their autumnal colours were very pretty. And Ushuaia is in a beautiful location; on the coast, surrounded by small mountains and lots of trees.

I also got into Couchsurfing for the first time. Spent my first night in a hostel and then moved in with the very friendly and generous Oscar for the next 3 nights. Tiny apartment but Oscar worked evening shifts so had the place to myself to cook dinner, enjoy a bottle of wine and relax for a bit. Was great to be out of a hostel! Thought I'd be able to catch up on lots of sleep too but Oscars working hours put paid to that (and the bottle or two of wine we seemed to end up sharing every night...)

My second day I went on a day trip into the national park for a beautiful hike up Mount Guanaco, going up through the forest and rewarded with a stunning panorama of the area from the top. The fantastic weather on the day really brought out all the reds and oranges of the surrounding forestry and it made for quite a site.

Argentina is expensive (or at least Patagonian Argentina) - even with the blue dollar rate. Food is expensive (European prices if not higher), bus travel is extortionate, entrance fees are high. My day trip to the national park cost me 340 pesos (£22) for the entrance fee and a 40 minute bus ride. (Alright, £20 doesn't seem that much... but just to go for a walk in a park?!)

Ushuaia is extremely touristy but also interesting for all its anti British propaganda and Malvinas Islands info (Ushuaia is the capital of the Malvinas if you didn't know). The tourist information for example had a whole shelf of leaflets explaining exactly why the Malvinas Islands should clearly belong to Argentina. Doesn't seem to be any personal animosity towards Brits however and the Argentinians seem like a very friendly bunch; very similar to Italians in their antics.

Was raining the next day so spent the day trying to catch up on this blog and upload photos, all of which takes a loooong time. Could really do with a laptop.