Two Beers and a Pretzel

Thurs, Feb 19th

If yesterday’s hike wasn’t enough, we tried another one… and I overted a near disaster -

After booking tomorrows glacier hike I walked out of the office and a massive gust of wind blew my cap away.  I couldn’t find it anywhere, and it was my favorite orange cap that I got at the Ryder Cup last year in Kentucky.  I walked down-wind along the street and could not find it.  The nearby construction crew tried to help.  Lynne looked for it too.  Finally, when the lady from the booking office came out we had all but given up hope when another massive wind gust blew the hat into plain view.

WHEW…  close call…  It must have been either on the roof, or up in the porch rafters.  I felt like Indiana Jones when his hat always finds him…

Anyway, back to the real story…  Erin and Katie had started the trek to Laguna de los Tres (under the 3400 meter peak of Fitz-Roy) about 15 minutes before Lynne and I.  They said they would dilly-dally until we caught up to them.  It never happened because we were all too tired from the previous hike, so I walked as slow as possible while observing some interesting signs along the way…

…along with some stellar views… like the West side of the valley where El Chalten sits.

And Fitz Roy…

I thought this one was kind of zen looking…

Lynne and I stopped at a campground 2.5 km short of the Laguna – which was fine with me.  That last section rises 400 meters in just 2.5 kilometers, and we’d already seen some amazing views of Mt. Fitz-Roy.

The hike back was gruelling – shin splints and sore soles.  Even with cutting the hike short, Lynne and I hiked 9.5k each way with a 350m ascent.  So that was 41 kilometers total with 600m of ascent and descent in less than 24 hours.

The next day, Katie and Erin were in more pain than Lynne and I.  I’m pretty glad we didn’t attempt the last 2.5K.