More mountains

So, after that first couple of impressive days in El Chalten, the day of wind and crazy weather kicked me a bit and a cold on edge came on en force... And plans changed for crossing the border to chile, delayed, so I nursed the cold and waited out some yucky weather napping and exploring the wee hamlet of Chalten... Great folks, great pastries, just some nice quiet time. 

They had this cool art thing happening where a bunch of trash cans around town were all made of junk in the form of people holding buckets.... A neat vibe for sure!

Then my final days I took a drive/boat trip to a lake north of town almost to the Chilean border and the sun came out and had some fantastic scenery of grand valleys and braided river beds

And that eve I took a walk up to an overlook of the town and the Mtns...

Then the last day was totally clear and I had planned to return to the hike to see Fitz Roy again since my first try was totally misted and clouded over... (The pointy thing in the background is just part of the lake 'crater' wall... See below pic #2 for perspective...)

And then instead of my planned short hike to an overlook (2hrs) I decided since I had the time and it was so beautiful I motivated to do the whole thing again and get up close... And it was just stunning!

I have to say though that the first hike was incredible and ALIVE with rain and wind and blowing trees, an incredibly rich sensory experience... The return hike was very a to b focused and I wasn't paying as much attention to what I was passing on the trail in favor of making time to the 'goal' of the end view. Two very different experiences through essentially the same territory and I feel lucky to have both in my memory bank!

Next up, drier lands and some ancient culture... La Cueva de Las Manos...