Patagonia, named after the "Patagones" (a now-extinct group of natives known for their large feet), is an immensely remote region with invisible borders stretching endlessly across both southern Chile´s Andes range and the wind swept, grassy plains of southern Argentina.Unless travelling on a super-star budget no visitor could hope to escape the infamously endless, dirt road known as ´Ruta 40´ which links Argentina´s many southern sparsely-populated cities and National Park highlights together. With world class trekking and rock climbing, plus options for glacier traversing, the dramatic Mt Fitz Roy mountain massif is a "must visit" for any outdoor enthusiast.
Amazingly the entry to this National Park was free (a welcome change from Torres del Paine), however park rangers quickly explained that in order for Patagonia´s arguably, most amazing scenic-scape to remain accessible for all visitors, strict rules about hiking, camping and even excrementing were to be followed, else the place become the next "Disneyland" for any non-caring tourists to visit in the future.So after complimentary plastic baggies were handed out unabashedly, our bus entered El´Chalten; a sleepy town with a half-built frontier feel, with expensive lodgings and a few select overpriced shops but no trace of a bank or ATM machine in site.
Having managed to somewhat fix my tent with the help of a local plumber in Ushuaia, Nicole and I assessed our existing food supplies and set off for 2 days hiking and camping beneath Fitz Roy and her accompaniment of surrounding jagged granite peaks. Comparable in grandness to ´Torres del Paine´ but with amazing scenery more easily accessible with less physical effort, we found hiking here almost perfect and despite occasional strong winds, we were favoured with the sunny weather.
Irrespective of this, after our pre-sunrise ascent to Laguna de los Tres and having snapped many amazing shots of the autumn coloured forests around, the ligament in my right knee once again started seriously playing up on the way down. After packing up the tent, I hobbled back to El´Chalten with a mind to get some serious drugs and perhaps find a local Physiotherapist once we moved further up north before the next wilderness adventure.
