Not in Kansas Anymore

It´s a little bit windy.

Last night I slept with earplugs, but was still awoken by the sound of wind slapping my tent against other parts of my tent. Walking is challenging; flying, on the other hand, seems closer and closer to the realm of possibilities with each footstep.

Escape to El Chalten

I got to El Chalten yesterday around noon (after a sneaky escape from my hostel... the owners did not want me to leave because, reportedly, I am the only non-Israeli they´ve had there in months. The hostel owner, Emilio, even made me a bracelet to encourage me to stay. They tried to hold me down by telling me there´s no space on the buses to El Chalten for the next few days... but I caught the first bus out).

Mountains

If you ever have a choice between going to Patagonia and doing anything else, you should probably choose to go to Patagonia. Actually, I feel like I´m cheating on Huaraz by enjoying it so much here. I think I am too quick to fall in love (with places, that is).

I went on a little hike yesterday (22km) to Lago Torre, a lake at the base of the Torre and Egger peaks. A glacier on the other side gifted two icebergs to the lake. One of them was within swimming distance, but alas it was too windy to get in. I did however manage to use a renegade block of ice as my ivy in an Adam and Eve glacial photoshoot (don´t get what I mean? use your imagination). It was rather cold.

For those who don´t know, Torre Egger is a mountain close to Mount Fitz Roy that is made of two sharp peaks (Torre and Egger) and is one of the world´s most iconic mountaineering challenges. A few years ago, two guys who did an attempt of Torre Egger gave a speach-slideshow for the Stanford Alpine Club and their story left me utterly shocked -- shocked by their daunting pictures, shocked by their many miraculous escapes from adversity, and overall shocked that they both came back alive. They had a good sense of humor and made the whole thing sound lighthearted, but I think they are also very shocked to be alive. After hearing their story, I knew I´d have to come see Torre Egger, and it´s amazing that now I´m here. (And because of my chaotic planning skills, when I came to El Chalten I didnt actually know that I was coming to Torre Egger... I just was told that it´s a place I should be. I was surprised when I got here and saw the mountain because I recognized it out of pictures).

Friends

Traveling alone, I stand less of a chance of being lonely and more of a chance of not having enough time for myself! I abandoned my Israeli travel buddy (because he was not awake when I left) and instantly made friends with two young French boys, Aurelien the calm and courageous, and Alexandre the slightly frazzled. They asked me to travel with them, but they´re going in a different direction from me.

Bedouins and Refugees

Ohad, an Israeli friend, told me a story about a 1000km trail he did across Israel. In the desert, he encountered a tall black man walking alone off the path. The man was obviously not a backpacker, and Ohad knew that the man could only be a bedouin or a refugee. The man approached him and spoke in broken Arabic--Arabic is close enough to Hebrew that Ohad and the man could sort of understand each other. He asked, ¨Where is Israel?¨and Ohad told him, ¨You´ve found it, you´re here.¨ The man showed Ohad a bottle of piss that he´d been recycling for some time, he hadn´t had real water in four days. His friend had died on the way several days before. Ohad set him up with some food and water and sent him in the direction of the nearest town. He thinks the man was a refugee, but who knows from where.

Rocks!!

There are some great boulders around here! I think I will go put some rocks in my tent and then go climb some other rocks.