35.09 Reaching for the stars and receiving gifts of great beauty packaged roughly.
In a harsh and unforgiving climate, with surrounding mountains of great beauty, forests filled with color, varieties of trees, plants and birds, numerous lakes and glaciers, it's not surprising that one feels like crying out to the heavens and expressing how beautiful the days are, commencing from daybreak. This town is mainly and mostly about and for hikers, one of the world's few. We are about to depart from El Chalten following the greatest amount of distance we've ever accomplished in a short period. Phew! Dawn breaks. Glacial flow, Rio de las Vueltas. Cerro Torre just protrudes on the left, Cerro Fitz Roy on the right. After 11.5kms from our cabin, we arrive 3,300 feet higher to confront the 'gang', in unusually bright light, seen earlier that morning at sunrise. One of our top hikes of all time. In a period during which we are both still suffering injuries, we hiked 97kms in six of eight days, a record for us. (See picture following wh...