EL CHALTEN (the land of OZ)

El Chalten (the trekking capital of Argentina and definitely Patagonia) is a seasonal town of 600 inhabitants year around if that.  The landscape is oz-like when the weather permits.  Most days the blanket of clouds clings to the shark fang-like jagged peaks of the Fitz Roy mountains, the fabric of cloud never fully tears free, but slowly releases precipitation continuously.  The giant southern Patagonia Ice field, is a giant glacier covering 220 miles and 650 square miles, rests behind Cerro Solo and the Fitz Roy Peaks.  When allowed the sun shines through melting the glacier evaporating small water molecules into the sky creating giant cumulous clouds that billow out behind the peaks then migate out, slithering from the canyons, slithering where the east wind scatters them into anihilation out over the high desert plateau of the Patagonia Steppes.

Most buildings in town are either hostels, hotels, cafes, restaurants, bars or expedition guiding companies.  Guides can be hired for treks to alpine glacier-fed lakes, across glaciers mountaineer style, to climb peaks of 10,000 ft or over 3,000 meters.  Also guides can be hired to scale the world famous climbing routes on phenomenal granite faces that are world renown.

I have met up with many travelers from around the world.  It is interesting how educated and interesting most travelers are; too bad this is a small percentage of the world`s population. Not only are they educated as far as degrees, but that most of them are very well read, eco-conscious, passionate about life and really care about the future and fate of our world and are not trying to escape to some place in the afterlife that is germ-free, tidy and secured by angels but care about this life, the only one we have and may ever have.

I met a guy named Ilan Fuss (translates as Tree Foot), from the last hostel in El Bolson.  He was born in Berkeley and has lived for the past seven years in Seattle working as a solar energy consultant.  His mother is Israeli and he has a dual citizenship in both countries.  He served two years in the Israeli Army.

I also met another guy named Ben ( Benodetto) his dad wanted to name him.  He has Italian heritage and is from Portland, Maine.   His father was a green beret in the Marines and his mom and dad fought a lot growing up, so at some point his mom took him and his three brothers and sought refuge in Maine in a trailer.  He now manages one the finest lobster restaurants and bars in Portland, serving local food with a deck overlooking the harbor with fishing boats arriving and has lots of local bands coming in to play there. I met Ben at a hostel in Esquel.

They are both here in El Chalten in different hostels.  Like I said there is a plethora of hostels here.  El Chalten becomes a booming metropolis during the peak season for trekking and climbing.  Ilan said at his hostel the other night there were four Scandinavian climber dudes that are sponsored by multiple climbing and clothing companies to climb all over the world.  They just put a new route up Cerro (Mt.) Eigger.  It took more than two days of multiple pitches.  They said they have been here for over three weeks and have only had a few fair-weather days.  They do not know how much longer they will be here, but this is indeed their favorite and main places they travel too to climb.

The hostel I now write from is called Rancho Grande and it is that, probably with a hundred people or more inhabiting different rooms.  It has a bar and a restaurant and this morning I had my first ¨Americana Breakfast¨, with bacon, eggs, toasted sliced biscuits, juice and coffee.  I was going through withdrawl from bacon and needed a good ol´fashion artery clogging.  I will be satisfied for several weeks.  It cost 35 Argentine pesos and that roughly comes out to seven American dollars.

The world is indeed a small place.  I had a feeling I would see someone I knew yesterday. I was shopping in the supermarket (supermercado) and bumped into a guy I have seen creeping around at different environmental and science talks.  The ¨Montana Connection¨ might be a small state but is filled with truly amazing people.  Him and his wife are from Canada but he does a great deal of biological studies in the Flathead valley surrounding Glacier National Park.  His name is Dave and we have similar friends in common.  He has worked with my good friend Darren Pfeifle´s wife Erin Sexton.  Erin is an aquatic biologist specializing in preserving one of the main arteries of Glacier National Park and the North Fork of the Flathead Valley studying the North Fork of the Flathead River and trying to help stop mininig from happening in the Canadian Flathead.

Intuition is a powerful sixth sense that cannot be denied.  Science may never be able to measure it, and perhaps that is where the beauty lies.  Science may be able to prod, probe, and in some cases invade every living tissue in the material world, but it will never fully understand or take away the mystery of life or steal it´s magic, at least I hope not.

After the new year Ben, Ilan and I are going to go for a five day backpacking trip into the surrounding terrain.  I have a feeling I could be holed up here for several weeks.  I must get pictures of this other-worldly place like something out of Tolkien´s imagination.