Our next stop on the “Patagonia World Tour” was the beautiful city of El Chalten.  This quaint little town, established in 1985,  is considered the trekking capital of Argentina being that it is situated at the base of Cerro Torro and Cerro Fitz Roy Mountains.   Our main goal over the next 2 days was to hike a part of Mt Fitz Roy. This little gem has gorgeous views and is, coincidentally, the peak on the Patagonia brand logo.

I really loved El Chalten.  It was just so charming.  You can tell this is a town on its way to bigger things.  Although it is quite  teeny tiny, there was constant construction going on around us; new hostels, restaurants and shops all in various stages of development. It  felt like a town living a double life.  It was calm, seemingly our hidden secret, yet we knew more was brewing beneath the surface.  We kept asking ourselves “What will this place look like in 10 years?”

On our first day, we hiked to Laguna Torre.  It was a fairly easy hike but took nearly 6 hours to complete.

The hike winded its way over rolling hills and ended at a huge lagoon. The lagoon was expansive and beautiful.  As we approached the top we were nearly knocked over from the rushing gush of wind.   We slowly climbed around the lagoon’s edge and took shelter in a walled rock structure to eat our lunch.

The next day we were prepared for the big hike.  This was the granddaddy of all hikes. The infamous Fitz Roy.   We met a new friend on our hike the day before to the lagoon. He had done both hikes that week. We asked him to rate them for us on a scale of 1-10.  “Okay let’s see,” he started.  ” If the Fitz Roy hike is a 10, then today is probably *please say 8 or 9, please say 8 or 9* hmm today is probably like a 4 or 5.” Yikes. Not what I was hoping to hear.

He explained to us that most of the hike wasn’t all that bad.  “It’s about 4 hours each ways and 3 of those hours are totally doable. . but the last hour. . .” Marco’s voice drifted off.   Oh yes, the last hour.  I had heard of ‘the last hour’ from others we had met along the way.  “The last hour of the Fitz Roy hike is straight up hill.”

So there it was.  A line was drawn in the sand.

Theresa versus The Last Hour.

May the most fabulous gal win.

As expected, the start of the hike was just fine.  Through the woods, over a couple of gentle hills, all in all quite pleasant.

Finally after nearly 3 hours of hiking we made it to the final section.  There were many signs warning us about the next 700 meters.  For anyone who has been to Machu Picchu and climbed Wayna Picchu, this would be a good comparison of the last hour.

MANY steps leading up the mountain. Passing some.  Waiting while others walked down the steps beside us having just completed the journey.  Asking “Sooo. . . give or take, are we almost at the top?”  Hearing answers like “Oh no way!  You still have 45/30/15  minutes let.”

 We finally made it to the top and it was so sweet!  Theresa:1 The Last Hour:0

The peaks sprawled out in front of us like majestic family. One slightly taller than the next. The clouds around it gave a reverent feeling to the whole setting.  As if a veil would lift for a short time and then momentarily settle back over.

After soaking it in, we turned around to do the whole thing over.  On the way back we were exhausted.  Sometimes coming down is harder than going up.  Fatigue starts to set in and every step can be an excruciating crunch of bones.

There was a moment when, in a fit of tired frustration,  I yelled “This place is never-ending,” into the open valley in front of us.  Carly (the kindest and sweetest person you’ll ever meet) responded with a quiet “Seriously.  Get me off this *expletive* mountain.”  At that point, we had aching feet and were ready to be done.

Every minute wasn’t extreme elation but every minute was worth it.

A few minutes later we felt sweet joy and pride when we crested over the final hill and saw our little town laid out before us.

We practically skipped back home where we indulged in pizza, beer and dulce de leche delicacies.