And the fog ran out...

El Chalten is a ghost town in the winter time. A popular destination for a the warm months boasting itself as the trekking capital of Argentina with heaps of hiking and climbing opportunities all centered around the mammoth Mnt. Fitz Roy - but in winter...ghost town. So we strolled into the pueblo about a week after the high season ended to find most of the place deserted. The only hostel listed in the Guide Book was closed and after a couple more failed attempts we found a little cottage of sorts that would put us up for a couple nights. All the grocery stores were hibernating as well, so we compromised by eating convenient store meals consisting mainly of rice and tuna and whiskey. The next 2 days would prove to be rather uneventful, except of course for that puma incident that transformed Liam into our beloved One-eyed freak and our failed attempt to spot Mnt. Fitz on a couple hikes in the back country through the rain and snow.
I suppose Fitz Roy´s disappearing act was to be expected as it spends most of its time basking in the clouds: "The Tehuelches, primitive inhabitants of the regions, venerated the Fitz Roy Mountain and named it "Chalten", which means "mountain that sends out smoke", since they believed it was a volcano, because its summit is always covered with a layer of clouds. Its special shape and height must have served them as an orientation signal during their annual migrations from the Atlantic Ocean to the Andes." Either way we didn´t really see it and had to speculate that the set of clouds resting where we thought Fitz Roy was suppose to be was actually the awe inspiring peak. Tuesday rolled around and it was time to find civilization once again, we packed up and hit the road at sunrise. Sunrise, in the southernmost parts of Patagonia, in the winter, is around 9:30 or 10 so we weren´t really pushing it or anything.

I was still feeling a bit unsettled, or maybe cheated is a better word, as we drove out of town as I wanted to get a peek at that peak. It was right around this time that one of my traveling companions let out a yelp and insisted we direct our attention to the right. And there she was a massive towering monolith reaching towards the heavens. The pictures started up and seemed to get better and better as the sun painted the peak a light pink while at the same time providing it with a majestic blue canvas...Gas - 80 pesos, rice and tuna from the kiosko - 20 pesos, 2 days of car rental - 300 pesos, 2 nights in some dudes house - 60 pesos, saving a baby from a pack of pumas - Liam´s eye, 20 minutes of intimacy the massively impressive Mount Fitz Roy...priceless.