November 9
This morning was another travel day. We loaded in the car and stopped at a coffee shop for a quick drink and hit the road. Our drive is 2 1/2 hours. As has been standard, the scenery is beautiful during the drive with wide-open spaces surrounded by snow covered mountains and eroded mesas. We came across a strange sculpture at intersection no idea what it is about
As we get close to El Chatan we head directly into the mountains of Los Glaciers National Park. The town sits just inside the park entrance.
We arrived around noon and were planning to do a couple short day hikes today. We got to the starting location of the first one and there is a park booth. Passes are $90 per person for three days. Today is a half-day. We have three full days ahead of us so we decided not buy a pass for today.
The hike we planned is a 2 mile out and back to a waterfall named Chorrillo del Salto. Looking at the maps there is road to a parking area closer to the falls. The trail parallels and at time joins the road. We took the access road up and found the parking lot half mile from the waterfall. There is no pay station or fee sign at this location to go in, so that is what we did.
After visiting the falls we returned to the car, passing a cool overhanging rock.
We continued up the road to explore a trailhead outside the fee area for one of our longer planned hikes. The parking area sits next to a river with amazing views. There is also a group of soldiers who look like they may preparing for an exercise.
The unpaved road to and from the trailhead also gave its own amazing views. I think we are in for an awe inspiring 3 days of beauty.
We returned to town and checked into our hostel. We are in a shared room with two bunk beds, 4 person total.
El Chatan reminds me of a mountain resort town. It is small, surrounded by tall mountains, and walking is the primary way to get around town.
