El Perro Negro

From the pass it was an easy ascent to Laguna Pollone. This is a special place. We sat down, ate some energy bars and just gazed at that awesome, dramatic scene. The reflections of the mountains echoed in the waters of the lake, which still had some morning ice drifting across. All was still. No wind. Such a tranquil moment for us both.

We emerged onto the flat plain of the Rio Electrico valley, through some old terminal moraines, continuing over a hillside to emerge at a small pass overlooking the Rio Pollone.

What a view! Ahead was the white wall of the Cordon Marconi and to the right Gorra Blanca towered over the valley. We could see our previous campsite at La Playita, the other side of the lake.

I looked wistfully at the grassy strip outside the refuge. It was there I had laid, battered, bruised, beaten and snow blind after retreating from Paso Marconi in 2010 (photo). Utterly exhausted we had dumped our overweight packs and stretched out in the warm sunshine on the lovely soft grasses to sleep.

15 years later ... @khusky re-enacted those precious moments 😃

Refugio del Fraile is a old fashioned, and at first sight, a somewhat run down mountain refuge that screams "Old Patagonia". It hasn't changed that much in 19 years. The campsite is in a sheltered wood and there are some large wooden buildings that serve as a toilet block and a store shed. We used to cook in the corrugated iron shacks outside that offered some protection from the rain. The refuge sells beer, wine and mountain hearty meals

Beauty of the Patagonian Forest to Refugio Piedra del Fraile.

The forest is a tangled mass of broken, twisted & torn trees. There are natural open glades though that let the sunlight through. It's beautiful. If you are lucky, we weren't, you just might catch sight of the Huemul deer.

Trails now well maintained & wide, nothing like the narrow, thick & spiky bush that tore at clothing back in 2006

Just back from probably the finest 3 day backpacking trip you could possibly imagine. Mostly just @khusky and I with no others on the trails.

Absolutely whacked. Need some time to recover and process thoughts and images. In the meantime these 4 photos will have to suffice.

Another image of Mt Fitzroy and Cerro Poincenot from yesterday's hike. I don't often do portrait aspects but given the scale of the mountain I think this works.

Heading off now for a 3 night backpacking trip up the Rio Electrico valley. Hopefully, the weather will play ball.

Examples today of lenticular clouds over the Cerro Torre & Fitzroy. They appear to be moving real slow but in fact signal very high winds speeds.

Nice to see the very summit of Cerro Torre itself appearing in one of the images. The W face will be plastered with new snow but the E facing side that we can see here is so steep no snow can accumulate apart from the snow mushrooms adorning the summit slopes.

"I can see the mountains again!" "I can see the mountains again!" "I can see the mountains again!" "I can see the mountains again!"

Braving the Arctic weather conditions, we geared up and left the warm apartment. We made the 300 meters to the bridge over the Rio de las Vueltas before we decided to call it a day and head to the warm and cosy Patagonicus Restaurant for chocolate brownies and a pot of Earl Grey tea.

As we thawed, a single, humbling thought crystallized: Maybe we ain't so tough after all 🤣

Heavy rain here in El Chalten. Also an orange alert for wind with 60-80 kph predicted and gusts of over 100 kph. Wind chill just above freezing. Don't think we'll be going anywhere today.

I know its not nor even , but ... sandwiched between brutal weather alerts for wind and rain, we had a precious half-day window. The target? Chorillo del Salto, a popular waterfall just outside El Chalten. A 9km round trip with barely a hill to climb seemed like the perfect, sensible mission.

https://scribbles.page/patagonia-diaries/posts/chorillo-del-salto-and-a-race-against-the-patagonian-wind

Came across this happy chappy yesterday when slightly away from the main trail.Word balloon time? What's he thinking? 🤣

The Patagonian weather is finally breaking. After days of settled conditions, the script has flipped: while patches of sun still linger, the peaks are now swaddled in cloud, and the wind has arrived with a vengeance. These are the strongest gusts we’ve felt in the 13 days since we arrived. A proper Patagonian welcome.

I wrote a blog post at https://scribbles.page/patagonia-diaries/posts/a-windy-morning-on-cerro-antenna

Very windy and cloudy day today. Cerro Torre was clagged in but Fitzroy range kept appearing out of the cloud, especially Aguja Poincenot 3002m, whose summit was often bathed in sunshine.

We did a short half day hike up some lower hills where we came across Condors and Guanaco. When the high hills are out because of the weather you can still have fun.

Few weeks ago I installed MiniOS on a 15 year old Dell Ultrabook to take with me on my travels in South America. Small, lightweight and fast. Runs also from USB. Working a treat here.

https://minios.dev/

minios

Inspired by yesterdays retreat I wrote a blog post ...

We were at 1,276 meters on Loma de Pliege Tumbado, a spot I’d called my favourite viewpoint in all of Patagonia. We had sweated for five hours to get here for this overnight bivouac. Sunset was in three hours. It was cold and winds were building. And now, my wife was offering me a way out, sealed with a single, magical word: Malbec.

"OK," I said. "Let's go."

https://scribbles.page/patagonia-diaries/posts/how-a-bottle-of-malbec-lured-me-off-the-mountain

Last nights proposed bivouac spot!

Many thanks to the person who, unknowingly entered into the frame of this sunrise shot and whose silhouette showed the vast scale of the Cerro Torre mountain behind them. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. Whoever you are, thanks, I owe you a beer in El Chalten!

Campo Base D'Agostini - here is our kitchen, lounge, utility room and bedroom