0197 Casa Riera to El Chalten

4^th Feb 2015

Really nice little camp site beside the river last night.  Couldn’t believe there was no one else there.  Got up and had my breakfast in the morning sunshine, and then headed towards Gobernador Gregores.  There was a shorter road, but it was dirt again, and I have really had enough of bad dirt roads for a while !  The scenery was the same plano / desert / steppe that we have had for the last day or so – Just wide open plains – A bit like crossing the Nullarbor, or the Atacama desert – Not really very exciting, but interesting in its vastness.  When you drive through these countries like we have, you certainly get a feel for their vastness, as well as the large stretches of desert that no one ever talks about, so you don’t really expect. 

The book says that G Gregores is a sleepy town that is a good (and cheaper) place to stock up before you get to the tourist centre that is El Chalten.  So I did !  While cruising around town to check out what they had, I saw a Gomeria that looked to have all the tools, and no customers.  Ever since I have owned Troopie I have been aware of a front wheel alignment / balance issue that I have tried many times to address, with each effort not working. (You wouldn’t believe how  many wheel balances and alignments I had before I left Aus) I get a slight wheel wobble on some (not all) LH curves, and this has led to uneven tyre wear, which then compounds the problem.  When I bought new tyres in Houston, the problem seemed to be fixed, and until recently I have not had a recurrence.  But in the last few weeks, as the tyres have slowly worn down, the problem returned, and so will need deeper investigation when I reach somewhere suitable.  In the mean time I decided to put the (still unused) spare tyres on the front, and relegate the fronts to the spares. I have been looking for a suitable Gomeria for a few days now, so when I saw this one in G Gregores, I knew immediately he was the one, and drove in.  20 minutes and $5.00 later, all was done – I had to remove all my bags and paraphernalia that is attached to the spare wheels, and that took longer than changing the wheels over !  And when I asked the guy what his name was, I knew I was at the right place – His name was Damien !!!  And driving down the road later, no wheel wobble !!   So problem solved for the moment, but obviously needs to be looked at later.

Found the market and stocked up with food (must not drive into Chile where they steal my food at the border  in the near future !!), refuelled, and then went to the local Tourist Info office.  The girl there was very helpful and gave me some local maps, and also advised me that there was 75 kms of the road ahead that were ripio – Dirt !!   Grrrr.  G Gregores seems to like statues in their roundabouts, and when leaving town I passed a number on a Gaucho / pioneer wagon theme.  I also saw my first man dressed in traditional costume, with a white shirt, and orange sash tied round his waist, and a red beret that they all wear round here.  Very fetching – I must try to get a photo of someone all dressed up,

The road ahead was not too interesting – Even less so when we got to the dirt section.  Actually the dirt bit was OK for the first 30 kms or so, and I was able to maintain my speed quite easily, but then they got into roadworks on the dirt, and for the next 30 kms it was terrible.  Some 3 hours into my day, I came over the brow of a hill and there was the startlingly blue Lago Cardiel – All the more impressive after all the brown and dusty scenery of the past few hours of driving.  You can turn off and go and calp on the Lake, but this wasn’t my target for today, so I kept going.  You just can’t go everywhere and do everything in life.  Finally, 2 hours later, the black top reappeared – Oh, that feels so good !!  Then outside Los Lagos I found a great big sand hill and went and hid behind it, using it as a wind break while I made some lunch !  The Patagonian winds are starting to howl, and there is little relief from them, as I am finding out – But this big sand hill worked really well and almost completely sheltered me.  I could hear the wind whistling through the telephone wires above me though !   35 kms further I turned off Ruta 40 and onto Ruta 23 to El Chalten, at the end of which is Mt Fitz Roy, and the Glacier National Park. 

I don’t think many people know that when I left Luke’s Exeter in 1968, before going to Australia I actually applied for a job as a family tutor on an Estancia down here in southern Patagonia.  I didn’t get the job – In fact I never heard back from them, and ended up going out to Australia instead.  But ever since then  Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego has always had a special significance for me (what if I had gone out there ? Where would my life have then led me ?!) , so finally getting here 47 years later is quite special for me. So as I drove past the enormous Lago Viedma that runs up almost the whole way to El Chalten, and as the snow covered peaks started to appear out of the haze ahead, I readily admit that there was quite a lump in my throat.  One put a lot of effort into doing trips like this, and as I start to reach my goal, the realization of what one is doing sometimes becomes quite overcoming.

Anyway, driving towards the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and Mt Fitz Roy (if you have never seen it, google it for an image – It is quite a sight), the road eventually dropped into El Chalten. I stopped at the Information Centre for the park and they couldn’t have been more helpful – I left with plans for several 3 or 4 hour hikes over the next 2-3 days – Weather permitting.  I say weather permitting because they are expecting high winds (and here was I thinking it was windy now !!), cloud, and even rain in the next few days.  Hmm – Will just have to suck it and see.    From the Info Centre I moseyed through town – Back packer and hiking heaven !!!  Lots of stores and restaurants catering to the tourist crowd, but these are hardier types – Not the ones who have just stepped of a plane having flown in.  The camp site I am in tonight is mostly tents, and watching them in the wind, I am surprised more of them haven’t taken off !  I have had the pop top up for a while but it is flapping and banging in the wind, so I will drop the roof down before I got to bed.

Looking forward to whatever tomorrow brings – Bugger the weather !!

Photos here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0193CasaRiellaToElChalten?authkey=Gv1sRgCOTU_-nxqs-08wE#