Our day began with a 2:30am wake up call and 3:00am transfer to the airport from our hotel in Buenos Aires (paid for by the airlines due to yesterday’s cancelled flight).  We arrived in El Calafate by 8:00am and were on the road, headed to El Chaltén in a rented car an hour later. Along the route we stopped a few times to get pictures of distant Mount Fitz Roy in the background on what could not be a more perfect day. Our excitement growing with each kilometer of the three hour drive, we reached our destination shortly after noon.

When we arrived in the town of some 350 year-round inhabitants our first objective was to connect with our climbing partner, Ray Himenez. Easier said than done without cell coverage. Our first stop was the Casa Andina where we had all planned to stay the night before. We bumped into the owner, Laura (the most helpful person on the planet-more on this later) who let us know that Ray was on a bike ride and provided the exact route. Nico independently located a lovely restaurant while I was able to locate Ray just as he was returning to town. After enjoying a lunch of delicious empanadas, we located the trail head, repacked our bags for the climb and set out on our 8km hike to Campamento Poincenot.

Weather conditions were perfect making for a comfortable ascent and good photography. After making camp, Nico and Ray hiked an additional two hours for a nice view of the Glaciar Piedras Blancas from the base of the lake while I opted for photography of the same destination, pictured below, from a different vantage point.

Just add water, dehydrated meals have evolved to a level that make it hard to call it camp food. Nico and I shared a delicious lasagna with meat sauce before retiring to our 2-person tent for a very welcomed night’s rest.