Lago del Desierto

Lago del Desierto

Today we ventured outside of El Chalten, driving about 22 miles along a gravel road until it ended at Lago del Desierto (Lago = Lake).  The road was actually the continuation of the main road into the town, but the pavement ends at the parking area for the Fitzroy trail.  The road generally follows the Rio de las Vueltas until we reached the lake.  We started out with Fitzroy in front of us, but with all the twists and turns, we ended up past Fitzroy until we were looking at the back of it.  It was cool to see it from so many different angles.

Lago Huemul in front of Glacier Huemul

Once we reached the lake, we decided to hike the Glacier Huemul trail,  It's  relatively short (less than 2 miles) and generally uphill from the trailhead,   The trail ends at Lago Huemul, a small lake in front of the glacier that feeds a large stream.  The stream runs the length of the trail with several beautiful cascades back into the Rio de las Vueltas.  Just like many of the lakes and streams in Patagonia, this one was a striking shade of blue.

1/2 marghereta 1/2 pepperoni

We drove back to town and ate at the local pizzeria recommended by our host. Argentina has excellent pizza, having been influenced by an influx of Italian immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  We discovered this in Buenos Aires during our Antarctica trip.  The restaurant is a small shop that serves a set number of pizzas each evening, and then they close.  We tried going last night, but they were too crowded with a line out the door.  Today we arrived a few minutes before they opened which worked out great.  A delicious end to another great day.