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.