El Chalten

(this is a post I wrote in El Chalten over a week ago and hasn't been able to upload until now because of no or bad internet connection)

I’ve noticed that when I have a break it takes more time for me to start cycling again, to pack, to prepare, to buy all necessary food. That was the case when I was leaving El Calafate too. I wanted to leave just after 10am but in the end I left at midday.

In El Calafate I met my first Polish backpackers – two girls travelling around South America usually by hitchhiking and getting places to stay by couch-surfing. In El Calafate they were staying with someone too but were dropped off at the campsite where I met them. They were leaving the town on the same day as me. I left them on the side of the road trying their luck to get to Puerto Natales. For the first time on my trip I had to backtrack 32km to Ruta 40. It was a quick ride with wind pushing me. Then I turned north and was hit by the wind. The rest of the day was spent fighting with medium strength wind – I was able to cycle but it was not very pleasant. I was not 100% sure where I want to get to that day or where I should get to (meaning where I can actually get some water and sleep). Technically one can always put a tent up on the side of a road but water is a problem plus you never know if the wind will not break your tent at night and finding a spot that is covered is a big challenge.

There seemed to be a hotel/restaurant around 100km from El Calafate and half way through to El Chalten so it would be a perfect place to finish a day. But taking into account the fact that I started late and had head/side wind I was not very sure I could actually get there. In the end I did after 6pm but it was a hard day. 70km on Ruta 40, hardly any human presence. And finally La Leona – a restaurant, hostel, campsite plus a ’sitio historico’ (there must be some history behind it, clearly). A ‘milanesa’ sandwich and café grande plus washing my hands – basic things that made me super happy :) 40 pesos for camping.. In El Calafate it was 25.. Should I stay or should I camp anywhere - 2, 3, 4km from there? That was the question for that evening. In the end I told myself not to be stupid and camped at La Leona. Hot shower and a spot for a tent that is protected against the wind plus possibility of filling up water bottles – this is really all I need from such a place. All boxes ticked! I did 108km that day.

Another day, another dog. This time it was a cool-looking dog with a sad face but still pretty keen to play with me. It was sitting by my tent, then watched me eating. That evening I drank over 1l of tea – probably my new record. I updated my map as the last time I marked anything on it was in Punta Arenas. By the way, by today I’ve made just over 900km by bike and another 300km hitchhiking in Tierra del Fuego and getting to Puerto Natales.

The general rule over here is that in the morning there is no or little wind. I had another 20km north from La Leona but then I was to turn west and carry on for 90km to El Chalten, very likely against strong wind blowing there from the west. I left La Leona at 9am and there was hardly any wind. Then it seemed the wind was actually coming from the east which totally surprised me. When I left Ruta 40 and turned west the wind was indeed pushing me instead of stopping. It wasn’t strong but still a great thing.

It was good to start cycling early and have this peace of mind that I would have the whole day to get where I want to get (El Chalten). The day was perfect, not a single cloud. Whenever I turned left I could see Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre on the horizon. These mountains have been setting my imagination on fire for years. And here I was, just 100km from them, seeing them perfectly scratching the blue sky. I turned west onto a newly paved road to El Chalten and was now cycling straight in the direction of the mountains. Soon after I realised that clearly I had my i-Pod with me with some new music on it. By that time I had never listened to the music when cycling and only once on the bus back from Torres del Paine. I love listening to the music when I cycle around London as it is just moving from A to B, commuting and the music actually blocks the noise made my cars. But cycling as I do now – I want to hear the world. This way I know the sound a guanaco makes and now recognise it already, I’ve heard various birds and I have heard the wind. But then there was the time for the music. And the special playlist created for me by my brother especially for this trip. I pressed Play and the feeling of awe doubled straight away. I almost forgot how great it was to cycle with music on. The songs were slowly passing by, I had a storm of various pleasant thoughts going through my mind, the two mountains in front of me, milky emerald Lago Viedma on my left, a whole range of snowy mountains along the horizon and Viedma glacier dramatically finishing its life in the lake… I looked at my watch – 29 Feb. The day when my very special aunt died (so special that she had to die on such an unusual day). It was all overwhelming and tears started rolling down my cheeks…

Soon after I noticed an armadillo crossing the road. I had never seen an armadillo in the wild. I stopped on the side of the road and was watching it walking and sniffing around. It was 10m from me and not really bothered by my presence.

Some time later I noticed a silhouette of a cyclist on the horizon. He was going my way. He turned out to be a German in his 50’s or early 60’s. He told me he had been cycling for 38 years but never longer than 3 months. This time he had 3 weeks and did part of the Carretera Austral and was going to Punta Arenas from where he was to fly back home. He also told me he had done this route in the direction I was going 17 years ago. I was apparently very lucky with the weather on that day (which I was perfectly aware of) as he had to push his bike for 50km because of the wind (plus then it was all ripio).

I had some bread with cheese, an avocado and an orange for lunch – I really like the avocado addition!

Some 30km from El Chalten I met a Japanese couple cycling towards El Calafate. It was almost 2pm and they only covered 30km in 2 hours. They had another 80 to La Leona so it was to be either a very long day of cycling for them or camping in the wild with not much chance for any water.

10km before El Chalten the famous wind turned up out of nowhere. By that time my average cycling speed had been 22km/h so actually not bad at all including some climbs and over 30kg bike. But then I was not going faster than 13-14km/h and actually had to stand on the pedals sometimes even on a flat sections. Plus my knee started hurting so I was making short frequent breaks and in the end my day lasted an hour longer than I thought it would. I covered 111km and was really happy with doing 220km stretch between El Calafate and El Chalten in two days.

El Chalten itself – a small cool town (almost literally 3 streets), windy, expensive, amazingly located with every second building being a hotel/hostel/restaurant/travel agency/shop (usually mountain sports one or a posh souvenir one). A few hundred metres from the town 50m rock walls start plus obviously world famous faces a few hour hike from the town – it’s a dream location for climbers. And there is quite a few of them here, the best sort.

***

I spent a night in my tent and it was not the best night. The wind was so strong that I was a bit afraid of the state of my tent and couldn’t fall properly asleep for hours. Then it started raining. Early in the morning the wind eased and later the rain stopped too but it is another day of sitting in the common room of the hostel/campsite, reading, writing, drinking mate.

I have made my mind up - tomorrow I will make a move. I will stay in Argentina. The plan for tomorrow is to cycle back to Ruta 40 (90km) and then around 30km to Tres Lagos (a small village). The situation in Chile is way too unstable – I am not mentally ready to risk riding 38km on ripio uphill against very strong wind, then paying for a ferry on Argentinean side, then pushing my bike for 7km up on a trekking path, then cycling another 15km on ripio to get to the Chilean lake and camp there waiting for the boat. The strikes there mean they have run out of fuel and the ferry is not operating. It would cause a massive dent on my morale if I had to go back from this lake (which would most likely take me 2 very hard days each way) if I run out of food or patience before the boat arrives. I reckon I have around 500km north to Los Antiguos, a town where I can cross the border and do the second part of Carretera Austral. I already know the Argentinean side – undulating steppe, strong sun, strong wind (the weather is changing now so I can expect some very strong winds) and not much water. There is something like 200km on ripio and the whole length is pretty boring so I think I will try to get a lift from Tres Lagos as far north as possible. I’d rather skip such places and spend more time in areas I will enjoy and where I don’t have to fight for survival.

It’s raining again. It’s pretty ironic that I only saw Fitz Roy or Cerro Torre on the very first day when I arrived here and mainly from the distance. Since then they’ve been always hidden in clouds and looks like it will stay like that for some days. 

I don’t know what to feel – relief or resignation. When I was getting to El Chalten the words of some other cyclists were ringing in my mind – you only need to worry about the wind up to El Chalten. Looks like in my case it won’t be true. But then I won’t get onto ripio for some time yet. The thing I am sure is that I want to be on the move again and can’t wait to finally be in places which are a bit more hospitable (less windy, with more stable weather and also cheaper).