3/18/07
The drive to El Chalten was difficult to say the least. The winds were notorious! I had to take the bike off the roof and put it on the back of the car because the wind gusts were blowing us all over the road. THIS TIME OF YEAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE MILD WIND! The paved road to El Chalten is nearly complete. The small climbing town is growing with little guidance from public officials and is almost a free for all. Apparently, there are no building codes and hotels and houses are going up everywhere. Roads are dirt, but are in the process of being prepped for paving. El Chalten will be one of those places that you wished you bought property or housing at now so that you can count the money rolling in your pockets over the next 5-10 years. The mountains are beautiful and the trekking 
is easily accessible and free. I think the “no charge” for entering the park will unfortunately be short lived. The best thing about the park is that the trails can be easily tackled by anyone who is willing, regardless of age and physical abilities, even the couch potatoes!
The family and I rented backpacks, sleeping mats and a tent from the Camping Center. Word of advice, make sure you check your equipment in the store before you leave the store. I looked at everything, but didn’t actually try the equipment on. My MISTAKE! To my amazement the
backpack I rented didn’t have a waist buckle. Unfortunately, my stubbornness and eagerness to get on the mountain surpassed the need to go back to the store. Fortunately, we had Payton’s carrier with us, which has a waist strap and buckle, so we were able to rig something together to make the journey more enjoyable for me. The beginning of the trail was frustrating to say the least. We had to climb over wood water bars while climbing a 15-18% grade. I forgot to mention that Payton was riding in her chariot and I was pushing the Chariot with Payton inside. The trail
improved and as the climb progressed and the Fitz Roy Mountains became more apparent the nagging frustration quickly dissipated. Payton hiked the trail for 1.5 hours and loved it. She said repeatedly, “It’s beautiful here,” and “I like
this place.” Of course, Payton got all of the attention while we ascended the trail. I don’t think anyone has seen a Chariot on this trail before; even the Park Rangers were surprised. We took a photo of the Chariot with Fitz Roy in the background, we are going to email it to the Chariot Company and see if they want to use it in an ad. Wish us luck; we need the income!
Nearly 1 mile from the campground, a guide informed us that we were “off roading” with the
Chariot and that it was not allowed in the park. We defended ourselves quickly and informed him that a Park Ranger had already approved of us using the Chariot at the Mirador Fitz Roy and the guide became defensive and stated the fact that he worked for the Park and doubted anyone would allow the Chariot in the Park. We stuck to our guns and blew him off. It felt good to put this a-hole in his place and basically tell him to kiss our American asses. We were going on regardless of what he said!
The views were incredible! I can’t write down what we saw, nor what we experienced. I hope Payton visits this place again when she is older. The funniest thing about this trek was that we met 6 different groups from Seattle, WA. I have to say that Seattle holds the record for the most adventuresome group of individuals. We also met people from Belgium, Finland, England, 
Australia, France, Israel, South Africa and British Columbia
Camping was great for me. Jen wasn’t a big fan! She’s editing this, so I will let her write in what she wants at this juncture. Okay here is my take on backpacking, Jen’s comment, I like the hiking and love the scenery, but 3 people sleeping in a small 2 person
tent is uncomfortable and sleeping in a tent with a two year old is challenging. She kept waking up and crying, asking us to turn on the lights. It is difficult for her to understand that the only light that we have is a headlamp. We finally decided to leave the headlamp on for the night and 
decided that we would only stay out one night, so it didn’t matter if the battery ran out.
We left the campground the next morning after climbing to
Lagunas de los Tres! Great hike, Great Views! Unbelievable view of Ritz Roy! We hiked back to our car and without too much frustration while pushing the Chariot with a flat tire, we made it back to El Chalten with smiles on our faces and landed ourselves 
at the local brewery. The beer was great!
We spent the night in El Chalten, returned our rented gear and I was refunded for the backpack. We left the next morning, heading for El Bolson, knowing that we would stay overnight somewhere along the way. On our way out we saw a large glacier floating in the water from the Glacier Viedma. I couldn’t believe the size of this iceberg. I know that calving occurs often on Glaciers. I just can’t think that things are progressing faster than nature had planned. Global Warming at its best!
We drove and landed in the town of Perito Moreno. We had to drive Ruta 40, Argentina’s equivalent to Route 66. However, Ruta 40 for the most part is not paved. We drove 5+ hours on what felt and appeared to be dried up river/lake bed. The entire area appeared to be a riverbed thousands or millions of years ago. We stayed in a cabana in Perito Merano, which was really 
cute and rustic. It actually gave us some ideas for our next house. We were recommended by the owner of the cabana to try a particular restaurant a few blocks down the street. I was hungry and looking for something good. We walked into the restaurant and the female owner had a glass refrigerated display case of a variety of food options. One of the options appeared to look like fresh turkey with lots of oregano and seasoning on it. I knew that this was going to hit the spot. After a liter of beer our food came out and I took a bite of Lengua. I knew deep down that this wasn’t turkey, but I hoped that it was and was not in the mood for anything that was traditional Argentinean food. Well, after taking a few bites and examining the cross-section of the meat, Jen and I came to the unspoken terms that what I was eating was indeed COW’S TONGUE. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t make the nausea go away either. I didn’t feel right the entire night. I think Jen must have had sympathetic nausea as well. She didn’t feel good either. Payton on the other hand found another dish she likes, Milanesa. Basically, milanesa is like chicken fried steak, except that the meat is better down here. I guess she has a little of my grandfather Eugene in her.
The next day wasn’t enjoyable either, except for the fact that after driving over 2 hours on the worst gravel road EVER, we ended up in El Bolson. El Bolson is a very cute, hippy town. It has lots of green tree’s and multiple national parks and lakes. We will be here for two weeks. We are staying in a cabana that we really like. Unforunatley, after two days in the really nice cabana we had to downgrade to a smaller cabana because the previous cabana had wasp issues in the master bedroom. Everyday for two days when the sun came out the wasps would find a way into the bedroom until evening. I must have killed 12+ wasps in less than 48 hours. This wasn’t going to work for Jen. She has a phobia of bees and wasps, which she will admit openly. We’ve been eating good and enjoying some down time. Will visit the bike shop on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
