Wearing Patagonia in Patagonia

The last few days when my family was here we ventured waaay down south to El Calafate and El Chalten, in Patagonia! The two towns are on the southwestern end of Argentina, almost in Chile. Even the flight down was exciting because we had a quick layover in Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world! We didn't actually get off the plane to touch the ground, but I got to see it. Ushuaia is in Tierra del Fuego, which means land of fire, is named so because the mountains are all red and ,well, look like they're on fire.

We finally got to El Chalten, and went for a few hikes. The first one was freezing rain and so I didn't bring my camera. The coolest part though was that there was a biathalon going on, with people biking and then running through the mountains. During our hike they would pass us, soaked and covered in mud. They looked so intense and exhausted but when I looked up the race, its only a 6 mile run. I don't get why they all looked like war victims but because it was so cold I'm glad I didn't do it.

The next day luckily was much nicer. El Chalten is known for its mountains, (there's really nothing else to do in the town) Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We did a six hour out and back hike to see Cerro Torre. It was beautiful. And so varied in terms of terrain. First we were in forests and then plains (like the Earth's Children series, I kept waiting to see cave people) and then glaciers. Lets see if I can condense the hike down to just a few pictures:

It was sunny and it snowed a little on our way up but all in all it was a great day. And Easter Sunday, too! No Easter bunny though. The one thing is that my parents had SUCH a nice time that they took an extra half hour walking back taking pictures and so David and I had to sit in the wind waiting for them, and that was cold.

From El Chalten we bussed back to El Calafate. This town reminded me a lot of Jackson Hole--kind of rugged and unspoilt with incredible nature. The big attraction here is the Perrito Moreno glacier. We did a "mini-trekking" expedition and got to go up on the glacier. It would have been super cool except that it was raining and cold and we were all soaked. So that kind of ruined it, and I didn't think that our whole expedition was worth it. But here are some pictures anyways:

I couldn't leave Patagonia without going for a run, and I took my camera as I went out back in El Calafate. Good thing I did, because it was dusk and beautiful. The lake/pond/bay/I'm not sure which is really pretty. There are even flamingos...!

Finally, we went to a parilla on our last night. While Argentina is known for its beef, Patagonia is actually known for its lamb. We got an asado with both, and then calafate mousse, which is a little berry from Patagonia. I'm drooling just thinking about it all now!

Patagonia was really cool and all that I thought it would be. I'm glad that I got to go, and do it with my family. However, my trip the following weekend to the waterfalls of Iguazu totally overshadows Patagonia. I'm a little jaded and whole lot lucky!

Winter outwear,
Rachel