Trekking Patagonia

[Mt. Fitz Roy, Argentina] The Patagonia Mountains

what was your last impulse buy?  tuesday i discovered i had some extra time off.  by wednesday i was on a LAN flight bound for Punta Arenas, Chile-- the world’s southern most city.  

most trekkers who come through Punta Arenas flock to Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia; but our schedule favored a shorter expedition and we set off towards Mt. Fitz Roy, just across the Argentine border.  we met the trailhead in the pueblito of El Chalten, and quickly found ourselves winding through foothills and lush pastures outlined with glacial streams.  that evening we set up camp to the lull of a gentle rain and the steady drumming of swift water in the nearby river.  in the morning we made the short trek to the mirador at Glacier grande (a nod to the naming committee.).  the sendero to the summit of Fitz Roy led us through ancient gnarled forests, lush prairies, gentle lagoons with pebbled beaches, alongside steep canyons and threatening rock faces.  this diverse landscape, for which Patagonia has gained its renown, was appropriately accompanied in three short days by sun, snow, rain, and fierce winds rivaled only by that of hurricanes.  

 the final morning we climbed to the final mirador at the base of the summit.  resting at the top, we watched clouds dance in the violent wind; playfully covering bits of the peak, revealing sections previously hidden.  the lake formed at the base of the summit captured the bluest sky.  to reassign the words of a newly admired author, the lake was the color of the ocean of the purest dreams.