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Massive glacier defies the melting trend

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EL CHALTÉN, SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA — The three-hour, 150-mile drive along the provincial highway between El Calafate and El Chaltén, deep in southern Argentina's Patagonia region, passes two of the country's largest lakes, Argentino and Viedma. Fed by glacial melt, their milky, almost phosphorescent turquoise water glows in contrast to the surrounding landscape of flat, brush-covered brown soil. Miles across its namesake lake, the Viedma glacier snakes its way down to the water, an icy white S-shape streaked by dark ribbons of sediment called moraines.

Beyond the lakes, the pavement turns to gravel as it bends east towards the blue-gray Andes, which appear ever more imposing as the road slowly ascends. Approaching the village of El Chaltén, even the stunning lake panorama is forgotten as two majestic summits soar into the chilly, crisp air. A few minutes later the road winds to a saddle then descends into a valley of yellow grassland, paralleling the Vueltas River. At the base of the forested Patagonian mountains is a collection of multicolored gabled houses, dwarfed by the snow-covered granite crests of Mt. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.

In this remote corner of Patagonia there are no banks. Cell phones don't work. The few dirt roads are used more often by pedestrians and the occasional llama than by cars. El Chaltén's idyllic setting stems from the fact that it actually lies within Los Glaciares National Park. It was founded in 1985 to establish a presence on the Chilean border, a source of territorial disputes since the 1800s. (In 1902, surveyor Francisco Moreno contracted to demarcate new boundaries, granted Argentina 26,000 square miles previously claimed by Chile. As a result, Argentina's most famous glacier, Perito Moreno, was named for him.)

But disputes between the neighboring nations continued into the 20th century, over division of Andean water resources. To protect its claim, Argentina's government made the National Park Service cede 370 acres to create a town here, to the consternation of park officials. "Given the environmental impact, the town shouldn't exist at all," says park ranger Juan Landucci.

"I remember camping here as a girl with my family, and there wasn't anything," says María Marcela Cepernic, owner of Domo Blanco, the only ice cream shop in town, where she makes 15 flavors by hand. She was one of the first to move here, arriving in 1988, in search of a quiet, relaxed lifestyle. In recent years, however, much has changed.

Inevitably, word of El Chaltén's ideal location spread. Now known as the "Trekking Capital of Argentina," tourists from the world over come to hike through the Los Glaciares National Park's southern beech forests filled with birds such as large red-crested Magellanic woodpeckers and austral parakeets. Materials about local wildlife, such as the endangered huemul deer, are available in Spanish, English, Portuguese and German at the National Park office. The park's trails ascend through the bracing, constant Patagonian wind toward icy lakes, offering tantalizing glimpses of the mountain peaks. Day hikes range from 30 minutes to four to five hours. Multi-day expeditions into the mountains can be arranged through local guides. In El Chaltén, park rangers and mountain guides outnumber any other occupation.

While El Chaltén now has about 60 hostels and hotels, and despite near-freezing nighttime temperatures from October through April, many experienced hikers prefer to pack their gear to campsites on the surrounding grassy hills or up Mt. Fitz Roy itself.

That iconic peak, named after an English captain of HMS Beagle, was known to the native Tehuelches as Chaltén, meaning "smoking mountain" for the cloud that frequently appears above the top. On a clear day, its 11,000-foot summit glows pink as the sun rises over the valley.

Below it, a few miles from town, Argentina's largest glacier, Viedma, lacks the easy accessibility of El Calafate's Perito Moreno. A boat ride on Lake Viedma to the glacier's face costs $100, including an hour of ice trekking. But most who visit El Chaltén come to hike.

Following their country's 2001 economic crisis and subsequent peso collapse, thousands of Argentines left Buenos Aires in search of work. In the booming tourism of Patagonia, hundreds found it. The rapid growth of El Chaltén, from 70 inhabitants in 1997 to 800 today, has strained the environment. With no sewage treatment system and an open-air landfill alongside the Río Vueltas, much of the refuse ends up in the river. To solve this, garbage from El Chaltén is now being trucked to El Calafate, 150 miles away. Fabio René Oyarzun, head of public works in El Calafate, jokingly describes it as "the most expensive trash in the province."

The National Park won't allow the town to grow beyond its limits, despite increased tourism. Business owners therefore must travel to El Calafate and the provincial capital, Río Gallegos, (280 miles each way) for supplies. Since an appointed commissioner, not an elected official, directs town planning, locals have little say in land and resource distribution. The town was supposed to be limited to no more than 100 families, says ice cream vendor Cepernic, but plots are being subdivided to allow more to move in, to the dismay of earlier arrivals.

While the village's charm remains — a secluded pocket of ruggedly beautiful Patagonian wilderness —population growth crowds those who came here seeking quiet refuge. "I left once," Cepernic says, gazing at the wide sky filled with stars, undimmed by city lights. "But I came back. In spite of the wind and the politics, I love it here. And I'll never leave."