The massive Fitz Roy dominates us since our arrival yesterday. The weather is beautiful, the mountains are bare and the wind is surprisingly calm.
This is not the Fitz Roy that we will see more closely, but the Cerro Torre at the foot of which we will spent the New Year Eve. Loaded with backpacks, we leave the village of El Chalten on the track to Lago Torre. It is 6 pm and the hike is expected to be 3h on a good path.
After climbing a hill eroded by ancient glaciars, we walk down the beautiful valley of Cerro Torre. At the center of the scenery is the peak of Cerro Torre and its glacier at the base. In the valley, a green hardwood forest covers old moraines while the colors of the very deformed rocks in the mountains attract our attention. We follow the river of milky colour until the Agostini camping, a nice and quiet place well protected from the wind by the trees.
Once setting up the tent, we quickly climbed the last Moraine to see the Lago Torre in which the glacier flows down from Cerro Torre. We are very lucky: the peaks are clear and the wind is absent. The evening lights are already here and it is getting colder. After these last days of physical and moral struggle against the raging wind of the pampas and the incessant roar, we fully enjoy the magical and the silence of the mountains.
From our camp, we can see the summit of Cerro Torre and we happily celebrate the last hours of 2008 with a meal a little more sophisticated than usual (foie gras, green lenses with greasy saussages, etc ...), covered by our warmest clothes! Tiredness, cold and wine overtakes our festive mood and just before midnight, we fall into our sleeping bags ...
5 hours later, the alarm clock rings. A voice comes from the sleeping bag: "Happy New Year! We'll see the sunrise? ". The cold ends our sleeping mood, and we quickly climb on top of the crest of the moraine. Some other courageous hikkers are also waiting for the first sunlight that should inflame of deep red colours the Cerro Torre. Unfortunately, the clouds are stuck in the east and we will not see the sunrise. We remain, however, several hours on the morainic ridge, fascinated by the colorful landscapes.
"Zorro Culpeo! There " I just see a red fox in the moraine, about fifty meters away from us. He moves quietly and slowly, giving us plenty of time to observe and film him.
We finally complete that peculiar New Year Eve with a huge breakfast before returning to El Chalten, our mind full of new resolutions.
We wish you a Happy New Year to all!
