The wind is harsh and biting – on the road from El Calafate to El Chaltén, I had to dig out my buff and beanie from suitcase on the way, to be able to jump out of the car and take photos, with the face being protected. Chilly!!!!

El Chaltén is on Viedma Lake, the northern end of Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It was built in 1985 to help secure the disputed border with Chile. Today the sole reason for its existence is tourism. “Chaltén” is a tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as the indigenous believed the peak was a volcano, being mostly covered by clouds. 

Its a climbing and trekking mecca, with extraordinary peaks like Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy.  Travelling into the area – all the peaks are shrouded in mist. I went out to grab a late lunch and was soon surrounded by young fit ones coming back disappointed with their efforts that morning, as there was little vista to behold. They were sharing instagrams from friends who had done the various climbs yesterday in perfect sunshine! Talk about climb envy!

But the next day, all was good again – brilliant weather, and all of us went out early to seize the moment (you never know when nature will turn).  All the peaks are glistening with ice and some clouds drift in between and over the peaks – MAGIC!!    

I decided to do an ‘easy’ 100m ascent to the Mirador Los Condores – 3 hours return trek with a few steep bits. Mental note: Voltaren night again!

There are a number of points along the walk when condors swoop down and they are away into the Río Fitz Roy valley, before I get a chance to pull out the camera. Awesome to watch them in action though. And what a lovely view to the imposing granite peaks of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy and associated glaciers. Really enjoyed that walk.

Then off to catch a catamaran to see my last glacier in this National Park – the largest one in Argentina, the Viedma glacier, on Viedma lake. Gorgeous little glacier floes on the water with pretty blue hues as we approach the ‘hero of the sail’….yep, pretty lovely but nowhere as gorgeous as Perito Moreno or impactful as Spegazzini. Still, worth the trip.   I was so happy that I got to see such beautiful vistas, so lucky that the weather improved on the one day I was visiting!!! The stars have been aligned for me for a month!

And to cap it all off, I spied a (somewhat rare) guanaco surveying their hinterland early in the morning on my return trip to Calafate. Perfect!