In December of 2003, John celebrated his 50th birthday with a trip to Patagonia. He toured with Andes Adventures, and the trip included four trail runs. This is his account of one of them.
The two runs we did out of El Chaltén are simple day trips. Based out of the Albergue Patagonia, we just waited for the breaks in the weather to have a chance to see some peaks. Climbers have spent weeks waiting for good enough weather to climb Cerro Torre or Fitz Roy. Sometimes the good weather never comes. We just wanted to catch a glimpse. The trailheads for both trips start right in El Chaltén.
Fitz Roy—after climbing up a bit from El Chaltén, you get good views of the Rio Electrico valley and also back to the town.
The running is easy. I just hoped the clouds would lift a bit.
And the clouds did clear a bit, revealing most of Fitz Roy and Poincenot.
Most of the range popped into view.
After dropping down to the climber’s camp at Campamento Rio Blanco …
… I climbed up to the mirador on the terminal moraine above Laguna de los Tres to see four climbers returning to camp walking across the frozen lake.
From the mirador, I could see the clouds quickly sinking down on Fitz Roy and the lake basin.
On the way back, the valley was still clear, and I could see all the way down the Rio Electrico valley to Lago Viedma.
All photos from this trip are on Flickr.
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