After a couple days in El Calafate we boarded a bus for Los Glacieries National Park. Upon our arrival we were given an entertaining orientation at the Park headquarters. We continue to be amazed at how seamlessly some people can go back and forth between English and Spanish.  Following the orientation we walked the streets of El Chalten looking for our room for the night.  El Chalten is a tiny little town nestled at the base of the mountains. There are outfitter/gear shops abound and we found a great little bakery where we could eat empanadas for hours.

The afternoon that we arrived we headed out to hike the Laguna Torre trail.  We quickly located the trailhead at the edge of town and headed out.  It didn’t take long for our pace to slow to a crawl, around every corner we would all stop to take photos of the surrounding mountains and scenery.

Shortly after Camp de Agostini we began the last small climb before the lake.   As we crested the last rise the wind blew like I’ve never seen before.  At the top of the little hill, looking down on the lake, our jackets were flailing in the wind, we were literally pushed back onto our heals.

Facing the wind we could lean forward, for just a moment the power of the wind would hold us in place, it felt almost like flying.  Down below us the lake was covered with icebergs that were crashing up and down through the waves.  (I say crashing because the wind was strong enough to create white caps on the lake and actual small breaking waves on the shore.)

Looking across the lake we could just make out the glacier.  Unfortunately on the day we were there the mythical Cerro Torre was hidden behind thick black clouds.  In my mind missing the view of Cerro Torre is no problem, it just gives us a reason to go back!  Thanks again to the ultimate Patagonia hiking crew, we had a blast!!!