One of the most beautiful places on earth when the skies are clear. El Chalten, nestled into the Andes and host to Mt. Fitz Roy and Las Torres, is surely the money shot for any Patagonia experience. The goal line for me was to visit “Laguna de Los Tres,” or the glacial lake at the foot of Mt. Fitz Roy. This 16-mile hike starts in the village of El Chalten and climbs more than 2300 feet, with the last mile accounting for more than half the altitude. You can’t really go to El Chalten and not visit Laguna de Los Torres, or so the promotional literature goes. I then started looking on the internet for some guides and tour companies to facilitate the trip. All kinds of packages, of course, but all with the same caveat: no one could join the hike if “over the age of 50” due to its physical demands. That’s one thing I love about the Third World: honesty. Be it in Thailand, where advertisements clearly state that no women or men over the age of 25 need apply for the Thai Airlines steward vacancies, trekking companies in Argentina were upfront that they weren’t going to haul any over 50 asses up the mountain.
Screw that; I’m 61 and expended a lot of effort just to get down into this part of the world, so I’ll do it on my own. I’d put in a lot of miles getting in shape in the weeks leading up to the visit. However, on the other hand, doubt existed as those weeks had been spent in Brasil and I’d been enjoying the Cerveja and Bife a vontage. I hit the trail at daybreak, as Katia had let me loose for the day. My plan was to start the trek without expectations, see how far I could go, and then turn and come home without regret. It snowed like Vermont the night before, and it was “nip” that morning, to say the least.
You’re not old until someone or something tells you that you are. While climbing towards the Laguna, I ran into several young hikers my kid’s age, and they didn’t look any better or worse off than I was. Halfway there, easy decision. I was going to man the fuck up and finish this. The truth is, the hike is not that difficult if you’re in any kind of shape, but that last mile or climb is certainly a bitch, especially in a foot of snow. It’s well worth the effort, as the show the lake revealed is something you’ll never forget. Personally, I thought the trek to Laguna Torre the day before with my wife Katia was as scenic and enjoyable as there are really no bad hikes in that part of the world. Don’t get old, regardless of your age. Don’t miss Patagonia either.
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