Hail Mt. Fitz Roy!

After disembarking from the ferry, we bused back over the border into Argentina and headed into Los Glaciares National Park. The northern section of the park is home to two of the more famous peaks in the world of mountaineering: Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We planned a three-night / four-day trek in this popular area.

Our spirits were about as low as the clouds, however, as we headed on the bus towards the mountains. After the rough seas and mostly poor weather on the boat ride, we were starting to lose hope of seeing Patagonia´s famous scenery. As our bus pulled into the visitor center at Los Glaciares to hear the obligatory five-minute introductory talk from the Argentinian park ranger, we were depressed to see a sign out front pointing out the names of the mountains we could theoretically see, if only the clouds were about 10,000 feet higher. The ranger sensed the dire mood of the crowd and assured us that we shouldn´t worry too much about the weather, because the forecast is always wrong, the weather can change quickly and, regardless, all those glaciers are only there because it rains and snows a lot, so we are actually seeing the park in its most common state. Everyone laughed at this, including myself, until I realized that her little speech was almost word-for-word what we say in trying to cheer up visitors at the Wilderness Office in Marblemount who are about to head out into the rain for a week. I knew from personal experience what she was really thinking was: "These sad souls, they´re going to head out into the park for days and get soaked, shiver in the cold and not see a thing! I sure am glad I´m not them and I can wait until the weather gets nice!¨

Well, our fears were right and wrong. The weather was awful and then wonderful, wonderful then awful, repeated about 20 times. The weather seems to change in Patagonia every 2 hours, no exaggeration, and we would go from sideways snow and winds so strong we literally could not hike, to warm summer sun and stunning views.

We managed to see the famous peaks, if somewhat fleetingly, but more than anything, we stood in awe of the tremendous forces of nature that exists in so narrow a geographic space: the mighty Pacific, its westerlies continually thrashing the windward side of the Andes, dumping enough snow to create the largest glacial ice field outside of the polar regions. This landscape of ice and rock quickly dissipates from west to east, as lush forests and broad valleys dominate the leeward side of the range. And moving slightly further eastward, towards the endless plains of Patagonia, there is an arid desert-like landscape very similar to Utah or Wyoming, all moisture captured in the glaciers high above. We saw this entire range of conditions visible from one spot, looking just a few miles in either direction, from glaciers to desert. But the land´s wildness is actually felt more than seen: the incessant winds of Patagonia start as air masses super-cooled by the massive ice field which then explode down the valleys. More than the beauty of the terrain or the grandeur of any one peak, I am sure it will be the winds that we will remember most.

The dry east-side of the Andes, stretching away and known as the Patagonia Steppe.

Mt. Fitz Roy, named for the captain of one of the first European exploration ships, which also carried Charles Darwin. The native name is Chalten, which means "peak of smoke¨ (they must have meant the clouds). Rosemary in the foreground, after we had scrambled up about 3,500´from our camp in the valley below.

That´s us with our friends Mike and K.B. These are not friends we just met down here, but friends from back home. Mike and I were in grad school together at Western and shared an office. Incredibly, we ended up in Patagoina at the same time on exactly the same schedule. We ran into them a couple of weeks ago in Bariloche, and then again here in Los Glaciares. We actually think they are stalking us.

Cerro Torre is the tallest pinacle on the left. It is considered one of the hardest climbs in the world. An assessment I heartily agree with after attempting to put in a new route. Unfortunately,we forgot the compressor drill and couldn´t get past the trail.

We´ve grown accustomed to glaciers at North Cascades; but there are glaciers and then there are GLACIERS. This one, below Cerro Torre, knocked us off our feet.