When we were staying in Tres Lagos, the locals told us there was nothing in La Leona. So I decided to ride straight through to El Calafate, a distance of 165k. I was hoping the wind would cooperate and I would fly like the condors all day long. My hope did not materialize. I faceda headwind for 60k till La Leona.
During the ride, I knew it would be impossible for me to reach El Calafate, so I said we had to find accommodation in La Leona, even if it was in someone’s house. When we got there, all there was was a beautiful, historic hotel and restaurant. We got lucky, and they had room for us. We ate lunch and changed and headed to the national park and the famous El Chalten and the Cerro Torre and Fritz Roy peaks in the van. We picked up two young backpackers heading to the National Trekking Capital, El Chalten.
However, once we got into the mountains, our luck changed to bad as rains came and clouds covered the famous peaks.
The town had hundreds of trekkers, young and old, restaurants, brew pubs, and accommodations. We looked around and had coffee, and headed back. On the way home, we saw three icebergs in the lake that calfed from the glacier. We got back for a late happy hour and found that 35 fellow bikers from around the world were camping at the hotel site and were on a six-day tour that included kayaking, trekking, and biking.