Lakes, Beef and Chocolate

The trek in El Bolson, Around Cerro Hielo Azul, was very nice, with one great highlight: I did a side trip, climbing up to to a peak just opposite the glacier. There, alone on the peak of Barda Negra, I had an amazing panorama of the Comarca Andina. The pics from the trek can be viewed here.

My surroundings on the peak of Barda Negra

After leaving the so called hippie town (i.e. pot head town) of El Bolson, I made it to Bariloche, my current whereabouts. I didn´t do any of the treks I hoped I would here, and am driven out by the impeding bad weather, but I still had a good time.

Gastronomically, I made the obligatory visit to El Boliche de Alberto, which indeed serves a fine biffe the lomo. I had some chocolate at Mamuschca, some ice cream at Jauja and some deer delicacies (as well as a very nice boutique beer) at Familia Weiss. I hope to try Jabali this evening.

and because I feel it´s expected: Jabali before

... and after

As for scenery, I did a very short walk up to Cerro Campanrio, for great views of the Nahuel Huapi lake and a rented a bicycle for the Circuito Chico, a 25-30 km circuit in the park, with some short hikes and viewpoints.

View from Cerro Campanario

Hotel Llao Llao, on the Circuito Chico

While this took quite a bit of asking and probing around, I managed to arrange to go outdoor climbing here with a couple of guys in Piedras Blancas in Cerro Otto. The routes were very interesting, and required delicate foot work. This was made especially challenging given the strategically positioned holes in my rented climbing shoes. My toes are much tougher than I thought.

The easiest route I did In Piedras blancas. Cute.

All the Bariloche pics can be found here.

Tomorrow morning I will be getting on a bus back to Chile, and more specifically, to Castro in Chiloé. We´ll see how that goes.

El, El, El, Yekhezkel

El Calafate is my least favourite place in Argentina so far. Maybe it was the cheap and crappy hostel (you get what you pay for) or the gross cazino on the main street, but I really didn´t like it. The surrounding area was very beautiful though.
I took a tour to the famous Perito Moreno Glacier, which proved to be very pretty amd nice, just a bit overcrowded and too long (how many hours can you stand and stare at a glacier?)

I managed to catch a rainbow forming over the glacier :)

I also hiked up Cerro Crystal, a steep windy hike to great panorama of closeby glaciar and snow capped peaks.

View from the top of Cerro Crystal

From El Calafate I took a bus to the awesome El Chalten. From the town I set out walking for 4 days in the nearby north part of Los Glaciares national park. I camped for 2 nights at a cute refugio at Piedra del Frail, from which I hiked up to Paso del Cuardado, a mountain pass surrounded by ice and snow.

The refugio

Just a glimpse of the amazing views from Paso del Cuadrado

I continued to do the extremely popular circuit that features view of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torro. Weather was perfect and the views were great.

Fit Roy Mountain Range

Cerro Fitz Roy (view from Laguna los Tres)

Cerro Torro (view from Laguna Torre)

Back in El Chalten, I found I could buy a small booklet detailing all the numerous bolted sport climbing routes just a minute walk out of town. I gathered 2 brits and an Israeli rappeling instructor, rented all the necessary equipment and spent a nice day climbing nearby easy routes (we were forced to stick to easy routes, since I was the only one who could lead, and I did not want to take unnecessary risks).

Climbing some easy 5+/6a

BTW, on the first day of my trek I met this guy, Michele Radici, an extreme sports movie director, who filmed the first movie that made Alain Robert be known as the human spider. The people you happen to meet when traveling...

So, El Chalten was really great. From there I took an okay 30 hour bus ride to El Bolson, my current whereabouts, and am planning to go trekking tomorrow around Cerro Hielo Azul. More photos can be found here.