29 Jan 02 Departing Ushuaia and arriving in El. Calafate, Argentina. We flew north over the REAL Argentinian Patagonia. Nothing was visible from the air. No houses, no animals, only roads that went as far as the horizon or went no where. It is a flat, windy land of such immensity that Montana looks small. Our guide told us that some estancies (ranches) have lanes that are 100 km long. Some cover areas of 50,00 square kilometers. Calafate, which is named after the native fruit that resembles and tastes like blueberries, is a new city based completely on tourism. Its newness is reflected in the new buildings and straight streets and the fact that it sets in a hollow arm of the lake at the end of the highway from nowhere. I am not sure why they chose the spot, because Lake Argentina is much more beautiful in almost any other place. The aeropuerto is 15 miles from town and also is brand new.

At the airport we found a place to stay, Hostel Calafate. Not a bad location and just two blocks from the main part of town. While patroling the city business area of 4 blocks, we planned and made arrangements for the next few days. I had a great Argentinean steak ($6) and Jerry had Pasta ($5). A bottle of Vino Tinto added $1.80 and we were ready for a rest. Oh Yes! We shopped for lunch and breakfast food.

30 Jan 02 Up at 6:30 AM, had abreakfast and met the bus at 8 AM. Our trip would be all day and would be out to the beautiful Moreno Glacier in Glaciers National Park. The drive began in the Patagonian Pampas and moved up to the steppes and finally into the Andes Mountains. Here in this section of Argentina sre 47 glaciets that make up the 3^rd largest ice field in the world. We saw the Moreno Glacier today and it is probably the most beautiful.

The drive itself is a lesson in the grand and immense. Argentina Lake forms at the base of these and several other glaciers. It is filled with blue-white water formed by the glacial melt. Suspended solids give the water a milky color to the blue. The particles are so small that they stay suspended for weeks. Our guide, Frederico, was quite knowledgeable about the plants and animals found here. As we drove, we stopped occasionally to observe and photograph. We passed through the dry Pampas, the steppes, and finally arrived at the mountains where the glaciers form. We passed through all these regions in the short 80 km of driving.  The annual amounts of rainfall on the land would increase annually from just under .4 meters at the stepps to over 2 meters on the mountains.  The land and the plants showed this huge change. Of course, the greatest annual rainfall would be found on the mountains that formed the ice fields above and around the Moreno Glacier.

Arriving at the Moreno, we hiked along Lake Argentina to a location that was directly across from the Glacier. Here we ate lunch in syncrony with the popping and cracking of the ice field. Occasionally, huge portions of ice would drop into the azur water. Each falling ice could be visually observed and then a growl would issue from the ice/water face. The size of the ice block and its nearness to the water would determine the volume of each growl. It was an amazing afternoon full of even more amazing sounds and sights. Thankfully, Moreno is not receding but is keeping its blue ice, 60 meter high wall so that future visitors can have the same experiences. Back at Calafrate Hostel, we packed for departure to El Chelten, With a stop for Argentinian pizza, shopping for lunch at the super mercado, and some home made calafate hilado, we finished the day.

31 Jan 02 We left Calafate at 7 AM. The drive across the Patagonian Steppes was also very boring until one arrives at Chelten. The drive follows the land and borders of Lake Argentina before heading north. The distance is about 300 km (180 Miles) of gravel roads for all but about 20 miles. The drive was slow and dusty. We stopped about half way in a very primative rest stop where we had coffee and a potty break. The rest rooms were cleaner than our own and for that I was surprised. We stopped one more time for a picture of a dead Patagonian Fox ( Shades of dead kangaroo! YES) From that spot we did see our first Andean Condor circling in the distance.

Arriving in Chelten, we were given a speech by the Argentine NPS personnel. Good stuff and the same as in the USA. No Smoking, no garbage, stay on the trails, leave a donation because federal government does not finance local work. Sound Familiar. We checked into our lodging at the Fitz Roy Inn and headed out immediately to walk. We chose the route up to the lakes below Fitz Roy Peak. Arriving an hour and a half later at the view for the peak, we both found it AWESOME. We spent 30 minutes in the arms of the view and, of course, visited with fellow trekkers on the beauty of the view. Two fellows, who were at the site were from Montana.  They had just climbed, Poincenot Peak that morning. It is the mountain that is just shorter than Fitz Roy. Can you imagine three Montana boys on the same spot in the mountains of Argentina. A coincidence? Probably! But a nice one. I was once as lith and as lean as these two. Once upon a time. Memories? Yes! They were from Livingston and Havre. In humbleness, we continued the walk that ended up to be almost eight hours long. Jerry kept looking at the map and saying that we should go this way. SO him being the social studies teacher, I followed his lead. We did arrive before dark, in time for a wonderful spagetti dinner.

It was a great day of trekking for a couple of old boys. We tried to use the map to determine the distance and came up with about 15 miles of trails. Most were not real bad mountain paths but followed the valleys around the base of the mountains. The views were grand.

1 Feb 02    Manana. Slept great. We should have collapsed with all the exercise. This was our last day here so we were up and at it early and on the trail again. This time to Laguna Cerro at the base of Cerro Torre. We would walk a bit over 6.5 hours to the lake and back and see some magnificant mountains. The first time we saw this peak, the clouds formed a shroud over the mountains. By 3 PM, the mountain was clear and perfectly magnificant. Fitz Roy Peak is raw and like the tooth against the sky. Cerro Torre is like a monument, strong and valient and the most formidable of the two. Climbers were at the top of Fitz Roy in the 50s but could not climb Cerro Torre until in the 70s when technology improved. We estimated about 10 miles of walking today. But this was by far the easiest day. We had extended so much energy in the first day that this one was slow and easy with many stops. The 5 hour drive back to Calafate was uneventful and we prepared for the trip out to Chile. The café was still open at 11 PM so we finished the evening with the last Argentina steak. YES.

2 Feb 02 Departure via bus to Puerto Natales was arranged and we departed at 6:30 Chilian time. We actually left at 7:30 AM for the long ride across the Argentina steppe and into Chile. We did see the Rhea running across the gravel roads. The speeds of the bus were about 40 mph for most of the trip of 180 miles. Two stops, no bathrooms on the bus. See I thought about you. AND no trees at all. We crossed the border very slowly. Each passport of the 20 plus passengers was noted, stamped, stamped again and noted in the computer. No cost this time to enter Chile. The first entry was for $61.

Puerto Natales is just 15 kilometers from the Argentine border and on an inlet of the sea. It is actually far from the ocean. The boundaries of this part of southern Chile are defined by islands, glaciers and channels. We will explore those on the 5^th when we leave for the north. The view of Puerto Natales, a sea view, appears suddenly, as one drops out of the desert, to meet the sea channel of the ocean. And with it all is the wind. Here in Patagonian, Chile, one does not have wind occassionaly, one has wind always and the difference is the intensity.

We asked the people in Calafate for a hotel reference for Puerto Natales. They gave us the Hostel Concepto Indigo. Our room window opened to a view of the city water front and the islands and snow beyond. $13 a night with breakfast. We arrived just as siesta was beginning so we secumbed and rested. As soon as people and businesses stirred, we made arrangements for our tour up the inside passage of Chile from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. Then we found a tour for the next day to Torres del Paines National Park. Dinner that night was fresh salmon. The one I was served covered most of a plate. I ordered a salad. Of course with my good Spanish, one came that was all grated carrots. One cannot be sure about such gormet food but carrots and salmon are not bad. Salmon, carrots, boiled potatoes, a beer for $8. Not bad in any language.

3 Feb 02 Onward to Torres del Paine. We were picked up at 8 AM Chilean time. The drive would total over 120 miles on more gravel roads before we would arrive at Laguna Grey at the end of the park. We would see many glaciers and many more lakes. The lakes came in a variety of colors with some sky blue, others were green, some were milk from glacier melt and others were grey. The steppe region would alternate with the mountains to form an unending pattern of green, blue, brown, and black. And always on the edge are the magnificant mountains of the Andes with their icy crowns and blue white aprons of glaciers.

You cannot imagine the vastness of this land and its abruptness for change. The mountains are there, as is the sea, but the mountains dont just rise, they jut. Take the Grand Teton and make it bigger and more rugged and you have Fitz Roy. Then you must see Cerro Torre, then you must see Torre del Paine, all within two hundred mile. No wonder trekkers and mountain climbers come here by the thousands. The wild, untamed, and raw mountains with its fresh air and clean warer are here and form a lovers feast.

We arrived back at the hotel at 7:30 PM. A long day. We had seen Andean Condor, Guanacas, Eagles, Caracara, Patagonian fox, swans, and more mountanis, glaciers and lakes than the mind can absorb. And then what was the date? OF course, SUPER BOWL Sunday. So we headed down to a loca café for a bit of supper and TV. The only one in town. Half time ended at 14 – 3 for the bad guys. We left and went home for a rest. Somehow the Super Bowl is not so important. In a few minutes we will know who won. All things are relative.