Last Days in Argentina

Fernando, Natalie and I camped two hours below Largo de Los Tres and the extended base of Fitzroy. In the rose light of the falling sun, I sat and wrote at a clearing a little ways from camp. Wine is the usual company for these solitary moments, but I settled for a bag of cookies (an equally satisfying treat in its own right). In my journal, I recorded my recent thoughts that arose from the my continual meditation along the trail earlier in the day. I recognized a change within myself. The nature of this change was unknown. It was neither good or bad- simply different. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was not the same person who sheepishly strolled the streets of Buenos Aires a month before. I concluded the entry by reasoning that only time would deliver the full manifestation of this personal development.

We packed up the next morning, and set off on a trecking circuit to Cerro Torres- the counterpart of Fitzroy. I enjoyed the company of Natalie and Fernando immensely. They shared the traveler´s passion and curiositythat I have come to love in most that I have met on the road. Natalie has sandy blond hair that falls to here sholders. With subtle freckles that hide in her tanned skin, she could be mistaken as Irish and not German. An artful tattoo drapes from around her sholder to abover her collarbone. Natalie is soft spoken, and her laugh relays a genuine kindness. Fernando has a jovial face with a hint of a moustace below his nose and a primped block of black hair below his lips. He is a gregarious character- spending our breaks chatting with other hikers. I admire his ability to remember the names of those he meets. The two are excellent company on the trail.

We hiked for three and a half hours before reaching Cerro Torres. It was a mild hike that snaked around bogs and lakes. Cerro Torres was a terrific sight. Unlike Fitzroy, Torres narrowed to a point as it shot into the sky. In its shadow was a glacial lake of murky, silver water that flowed quickly into a river.

After taking into the scene, we made camp and I cooked up two big servings of pasta for the group. Everyone was quietly content sipping coffee in the fading light before bed.

We hiked out of the park the next morning, and cooked up a celebratory meal at the hostel. Natalie and Fernando left the next morning, headed south to Calafate. I stayed behind with the intentions of doing some fishing. Unfotunately I awoke to fierce Patagonian weather that made it hard to walk, let along fish. So I did the next best thing and bellied up to a local bar and spent the day writing. The wind smacked against the bar room window and clouds masked the sky.

Later in the day, I bumped into Asaf, an Israeli that I met a week before back in Bariloche. The next day, we grabbed a bus and headed three hours south to Calafate. It poured all day and my plan to camp that night was washed away we everything else. We checked into the same hostel and Asaf cooked up a pasta dinner with a perfectly executed meat sauce. We shared the dinner with a late aged Brit named Les, who entertained us with his stories of a life time of travel.

The next day Asaf and I took the hour and a half ride to Argentina´s famed glacier, Perito Moreno. Perito Moreno is a frigid fortress of white ice that beams bright blue from within its crevaces- as if there were some lifeforce inside. We spent hours watching giant blocks of ice plummet into the surrounding glacial lake. The slabs moaned loudly as they pulled away from the seemingly infinite ice field then dropped violently. Like a breaching whale, the ice splashed in the water and reached for the depths. Then it reemerged and rolled lazily on the surface. Thinking of the time it took for the ice to reach this moment of liberation and then death boggled the mind.

This was my last day in Argentina. Next, Chile.

*Note for family and friends: I am headed into Torres Del Paine National park (outside of Puerto Natales, Souther Chile) tommorow to do a hiking circuit called the ¨Q¨. I am doing it counter clockwise . The circuit takes up to nine days (ten days if we are hit with bad weather). I am doing the hike with a former officer in the Israeli army. The trail is marked clearly and many people hike it- so it is safe. I just wanted to give you all the information in case you need to track me down- and wanted you to know I wont be able to call for about ten days. LOVE YOU ALOT!