November 4th
Another rainy morning in El Chaltén. With a few more people staying at the hostel now, we made plans to go on some hikes together. We were planning on tackling a longer trek, but the weather had other ideas. After hyping each other up a bit to go after something anyway, we opted for a little waterfall hike in the pouring rain because someone said it’s sheltered by trees. In fact, most of the hike was not at all sheltered but wide out in the open along a road. Soo, we got absolutely soaked. The silver lining: we spotted a Magellanic woodpecker! No photo, though—just a mental snapshot of its black feathers and bright red crest pecking away at a tree.
We also tested out a rumored shortcut (more like a long-cut) whispered about by other travelers. It skirts around the park entrance and lets you skip the fee entirely—shhh! That small victory didn’t make the hike any less frigid, though. By the time we made it back to the hostel, I was so cold and drenched I promised myself I’d never do a hike like that again without better rain gear. Poncho, jacket rental, whatever it takes. Lesson learned.
After thawing out with coffee and some time by the cozy little woodstove, I felt human again. The afternoon started to clear up, and with the caffeine kicking in, I couldn’t resist heading out for another hike to take advantage of the better weather. A couple of hostel buddies joined me for the trek to Laguna Capri.
The hike was perfecttt. The breaks of sun warmed us enough to shed some layers, though as we reached the lake, a few fluffy clouds above decided to drop a dusting of flurries. Not to sound too cheesy, but it felt magical—walking through sun-kissed trees with a few delicate snowflakes falling around us.
On the way, we spotted more birds—small, lively ones darting through the underbrush. Back at the hostel that evening, I flipped through my bird field guide, marking off new finds with a nerdy sense of satisfaction.
Dinner, on the other hand, was less inspiring: sad backpacker pasta with some mysterious free sauce left in the cabinets ( just hoping it hadn’t been there too long…) Later, a group of us wandered over to a bar for a couple of drinks to round out the day.
29 kilometers (18 miles) total today. Not bad for a day that started with a soaking.
