During my recent trip to Argentina, I had the distinction of being the oldest man on our team (60 years old). It was a little daunting to face opposing players who in some cases were 20 years my junior. Today, I received photos taken by one of our fans which included a nice sequence in which I dispossessed one of my opponents of the ball. Not a terribly glamorous play, but one which represents the kind of small contributions I make to my squad and an unflattering reminder that I need to drop 20 pounds before the start of the spring soccer season.

While at Laguna Torres last week, I was able to get quite close to this ?falcon? for a nice photograph. The Katabatic winds were gusting and he was happier on the ground than in the air. While I was stalking him, our hiking partner, Ray, was stalking me. Having both photos tells the whole story.

I was delighted to receive this photo today from our fellow Patagonia hiker, Ray Himenez. We exchanged pictures from our respective cameras and I think he may well be the better photographer. The introvert in me enjoys solo trekking and communing with nature by myself. I must admit, that I had an even better time sharing this climbing adventure with Nico and Ray. None of us were big talkers and we could go for hours without saying anything. Once we got to camp, however,  it was nice to have the conversation and companionship.

Jeanine was invited to speak to the Concord Rotary Club this evening. She choose to speak about “What it means to be open,” in the context of Open Table. I was not there to hear her but happy to receive this picture of her while speaking. One of the things I admire most about Jeanine is her ability to speak from the heart and connect with her audience. She has a gift for relating to people in a very deep way through her stories.

As if my commute was not bad enough already, Union Square has been closed for what looks to be several days if not weeks of construction. The detour adds another 10 minutes during times of congestion, in other words, most of the time. I once gave some thought to buying a helicopter for commuting. I think I am going to look into this once again.

Given all the challenges we have experienced with air travel on this trip, there was little surprise that our return flights were cancelled and we had the choice of rebooking a day earlier or a day later.  The former choice would have meant missing our second soccer match, the latter missing an additional day of work.  Our new itinerary had a connection through Bogata.  In my extensive travels, it is the only airport I have ever flown into that features machine gun nests lining the runway.  Not exactly the most welcoming sight.  Of the 8 flight segments planned for this vacation, only one was taken on the originally booked flight.  Despite all the canceled and delayed flights, the unavailability of gasoline for the rental car, and a flat tire, this has still been a wonderful vacation.  Perfect weather at all the key moments, an opportunity to hike with and play on the same soccer squad as Nico, and a great team effort to deliver what we are proudly touting as an undefeated record in South America (1 win, 1 tie; this is the way fat, old soccer players embellish their story).

Colonia del Sacramento, located in southwestern Uruguay is one of the countries oldest with a population of 27,000. Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the UK, it has changed hands a dozen times. It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site. Nicolai and I took the ferry from Buenos Aires for a brief visit this afternoon. It was a nice departure from the hustle and bustle of BA if not the heat and humidity. We made a leisurely walking tour of the tree lined streets and enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner on the waterfront.

This evening we faced the Abril Football Club. Our Concord United team consisted of 13 over-50 players and 2 twenty-somethings (both sons of team members). The Abril club looked to be an over-40 squad of 18 members with one or two old dudes thrown in to maintain appearances. Their goalie was an ex-professional Independiente player named, Gustavo Moriconi. Despite the age mismatch and some very one-sided officiating, we managed a 1:1 tie which felt like a victory. Nico had the lone US goal, a blistering full volley from the top of the box. The game ended a few minutes early when one of their players was ejected for an extremely violent tackle which nearly provoked a brawl. Despite the inelegant conclusion to the match, we dined with several of the Argentine players and parted on excellent terms and with a nice trophy in hand. Playing on the same team with Nico in a highly charged and competitive match will be one of my fondest memories and the highlight of this trip.

The Argentine first division Boca Juniors beat Lanús at the famous Bombonera stadium this evening. Said to have the most enthusiastic sports fans in the world of soccer, the non-stop singing and chanting throughout the match would support that reputation. Our attendance at the game was bracketed by two very memorable meals. We lunched at Napolese in San Telmo, an eclectic Italian restaurant / museum featuring a collection of antique racing cars, clothing, artifacts and motorcycles, all for sale. I had the Malfatti in a lamb stew (being freshly made as we walked in) and Nico had the Gnocchi. Delizioso!

We spent several hours walking about the San Telmo neighborhood taking in all the sights and sounds.  I found the people and artwork  to be more interesting than the famous market of this area.

Diner after the game started at 10 and ended at midnight. It was a fancy affair at La Brigada.  The fixed menu included all manner of meat (kidney, intestines, sweat breads, short ribs, skirt steak, and plain old steak).  Argentinian’s are crazy for their meats.  I would be content to stick with a vegetarian diet for the next month just by way of recuperation.

The motivation for our trip to Argentina was an international friendly soccer match between Concord United and two teams from Buenos Aires.  Our team, pictured above in traditional Argentine jerseys, includes a mix of our over 50 and over 56 teams with the addition of Nico and the son of another teammate. We are pictured below with our first opponents, wearing USA jerseys, after the match which we won by a score of 4-2.  Nico had two assists and played very well.  I had a single blocked shot on frame, a nice mid-air volley off a corner kick.  Once again I skipped dinner to try and rest my vocal cords which have not improved at all.

Today’s travel glitch took the form of a flat tire on our rental car. Fortunately, the spare was is good shape and we lost no more than ten minutes. Our destination for the morning was the Perito Moreno Glacier where we found overcast conditions and more rainbows. I have always wanted to capture images of a calving glacier and that  dream was realized this morning.  I managed a 32 frame sequence which I subsequently converted into a 4 second movie.

Fortunately our afternoon flight to Buenos Aires was uneventful. We arrived at our hotel by 6pm and connected with the rest of my soccer team. I have developed a rather serious case of laryngitis and opted to turn in early rather than join the team for dinner and late night debauchery.

Overnight a weather front rolled in and the katabatic winds picked up waking me several times wondering if I had adequately staked the tent. When morning arrived our tent was still standing and I decided to hike up to Laguna Torre again for first light while Nico and Ray slept in. After shooting the panorama above, I hiked most of the way out to Mirador Meastri for a nice view of the glacier. When I returned, I was met by Ray and Nico and a bird of prey which I do not recognize.

The threat of imminent rain provoked us to skip breakfast and begin our 8km descent to El Chaltén right away. On the bright side, the precipitation behind us created magnificent rainbows.

Ray and I hiked down at about the same slow pace while Nico literally ran ahead. We made a plan to meet up with him at the trail head with careful instructions to take the left hand fork so as to arrive closer to our car.  When Ray and I arrived at the base, Nico was nowhere to be found and we concluded that he took the wrong fork (probably a good thing because we lost the trail and wound up with a VERY treacherous descent into town). Ray stayed with the packs while I hiked another 1km to the car.  We spent the next hour trying to locate Nico.  Fortunately, other hikers were quick to remember a man with one leg on the trail.  I finally found him after backtracking up the Laguna Torre trail.

With that bit of excitement behind us, we had a leisurely lunch in town before setting out for Calafate.  Realizing we needed to gas up for the trip we located the only gas station in town only to discover that they would not have fuel until tomorrow (maybe).  Thank God for Laura (our hostess at the Casa Andina).  She told us this was not an uncommon occurrence and had several liters of gas and hose on hand.  Without her assistance, the remainder of our Patagonian adventure and potentially our flight back to Buenos Aires would have been at risk.  Fortunately, the drive was uneventful and full of beautiful landscapes and fauna.

After dining in El Calafate we continued on to Lago Roca where we spent the night in a nice camping bunk house.

Nico and Ray left camp pre-dawn to complete the very demanding 1 hour climb to Laguna de los Tres so that they could be there for sunrise (if you zoom in you will see them among others gathered at the near side of the lake).  This is the same hike that Kyle and I did when we were here some 7 years ago.  I setup so that I could photograph them in the foreground.  Among the photos I took this morning is a 21 frame stitched panorama which is one of the best images I have ever made in my life.  It will be shared with friends and family but never posted for fear of theft (it really is that good).  After breakfast we broke camp and started another 8km trek to the De Agostini campground, a short distance from Laguna Torre.

After making camp, Ray and Nico opted to rest after their difficult early morning climb.  I opted to make the short ascent to Laguna Torre so I could get some photographs in before the approaching clouds obscured the peaks.  I arrived just in time and was also rewarded with some baby icebergs in the foreground. When I returned to camp, I set out to construct a proper chair with back support (pictured below) with available materials.  The thirty-minute effort was well worth the subsequent comfort.  I am normally very good at sharing but warned Nico and Ray to steer clear of my chair.

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.