I (Rich), started our 8 hour hike that day with some trepidation as it was only 3 days ago I’d finally been able to walk / limp without the use of a crutch. We left the hostel at 8.30am in the hands of our local guide Pillar and pretty soon we were headed up into the mountains. The weather was spectacular and after traversing a long valley of meandering mountain streams and marshy scrub with vistas of distant mountains and glaciers, we came upon the final ascent for the day. It was up the gravelly mountain for an hour until we came upon the glacial lakes of Madre and Hija overlooked by the peak of El Chalten itself (described by the locals as “smoking” due to the way clouds constantly from around its peak). We witnessed a small avalanche and an ice fall, snow cascading into the lake like a waterfall. The hike back took us on a slight detour to Lago Capri but few of us really had the energy left to appreciate the scenery. Our 8 hour hike had turned into 11.5 hours and after covering 25km we were all exhausted so we opted for a night in at the hostel with some spag bol and a good bottle of red to help my foot recover.
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