One Apple A Day #196
El Chaltén, January 10th, 2017
This morning the sky was cloudy and the air chilly outside our cabaña. To be honest, it was chilly also inside, but hey, we are adventurers.
We don’t want to waste another day waiting for Fitz —this is how, in our minds, he likes to be called by friends, and we are already— so we aimed for Laguna Torre.
Laguna Torre is a small lake at the end of a big glacier, and we thought it was a good idea to take a look at it.
It is also a good five-hour hike from El Chaltén. That too seemed a good idea considering that all the previous days we walked only from the truck to the restaurants and back.
It seemed a less good idea when we reached the lake, mid-morning. The wind was strong and icy, as you would expect close to a vast glacier, and our legs sore. But it was worth it.
The scenario was majestic, and we had the opportunity to test our new glowing yellow windproof, waterproof and expensive jackets. We are true adventurers.
Hidden under a huge rock, we made and ate a delicious sandwich while staring at that ice melting in the green lake.
We left when the wind calmed down, the clouds started to open and the temperature to rise.
Perfect timing.
We realised at that moment why the town was so strangely quiet and sleepy this morning when we left. And why we met no one climbing up. Everyone but us, know the right time to hike.
Lesson learned.
Our wrong choice of time became an opportunity to say “hola” to the plenty of people who were going up while we were descending. It is fascinating how we are more friendly and connected when we walk in nature.
Midway on the descent our legs gave up and begged for some rest. Because we are real adventurers, we didn’t want to give up, so we decided to stop to fly the drone.
Smart guys. It was funny. It was also illegal, but we would discover this only later.
When we arrived at the end of the trail, with the town spreading below us, we understood that we wouldn’t manage another night in the small freezing cabaña.
We are adventurers, but our legs are not aware of it.
We opted for a small hotel where our Italian heritage gained us access to the owner’s wifi. From that moment everything became blurred.
We dragged ourselves to a small Tirolese Spanish pub, where we ate something greasy and drank some beers.
With the last drop of energy, we went back to the hotel, and at nine o'clock in the evening, we were sleeping like babies.
The exhaustion from physical activity is so pleasant and rewarding.