Nov 1-14, 2016: Argentina

Nov. 6, 2016.  Del Glaciar Libertador Hostel, El Calafate, Argentina.

• How lucky I stayed this fourth day in El Chalten: for against all odds, there were patches of blue sky for the first time since I arrived.  I immediately headed for the Mirador Fitz Roy, only a little over an hour's walk.  Around the bend, and ... whammy ... the most amazing mountain lineup I have ever seen.  Stunning.  

• But time's a wasting.  I needed to see if I could also see Cerro Torre from the other trail.  So I hustled back down and hiked the Laguna Torre trail, about three hours, all the way to Laguna Torre, as I had done two days before.  Saw a pair of soaring condors, then a very tame red headed woodpecker.  It was a bit clearer this time, but Cerro Torre was still hiding.  Still, the adjacent mountains were clear, and the hike was a delight: no snow, very little wind, just lovely.  Made it back down to buy two veggie wraps to go and jump on the bus to El Califate.  A perfect day of about eight hours of hiking in some of the finest mountain scenery anywhere.

• An early even four hour bus ride to El Calafate, back to one of my most favorite hostels, and beddy bye for bozo.

• By the way, this is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used to hang out.