Mount Fitzroy Trek - Hiking from El Chalten to Campamento Poincenot

After endless bus rides, with a few highlighted by full rainbows, we arrived in El Chalten to start our trek around Mount Fitzroy. Our spirits disappeared along with the rainbow once we arrived in El Chalten. As we got off the bus, a dead silence overcame both Kirk & myself as we both thought but dared not say , "What the hell did we get ourselves into." A cold rain permeated the dreary looking town. Visibility was zero, clouds engulfed all, including our hopes.

We stopped for lunch, trying to mentally regroup. The winds continued to howl and the world outside was just like the guidebooks warned: unpredictable, rainy, cloudy, and windy. Especially during the season we are here. The beautiful blue pictures shown are probably taken during there winter. SHIT! Did we just expect to get lucky?

With our spirits at an all time low, I was eager to get going. Hell it took a week of travel to get here. Once moving we felt better. A steep slope, up into a lush forest. Go figure, lots of rain and a lush forest. However, the trees provided some shelter and we were greeted by a bunch of large parakeets  that help lighten the mood just a bit. Unfortunately, only for a few minutes. We turned the bend to a viewpoint, but instead of a vista we got horizontal sheets of rain in the face. It was impossible to take photos and I was really feeling good about shlepping my equipment all across the world and on my back.

We got to Campamento Poincenot and set up our tent. While making some tea, low and behold the world around us started to clear. Little by little the mountains peered out from behind the clouds. Completely grayed out skies started to recede, allowing the peak of Mount Fitzroy to pop out and say hello. Not the best light, but we certainly weren't complaining.

As the weather improved, so did our spirits as well as our luck. A white throated caracara walked around the edge of camp and then took off. Anyway, we chatted with a few campers (of which there were a lot) and called it an early night.

As we headed to bed the sky cleared enough to see a few glaciers as well. Hopes were high and we were getting along great, all we needed now was a little help from Mother Nature.