The unexplainable El Chaten (Monday December 27th--Day 48)

I´ve given this a fair amount of thought. I spent the last five days walking and sleeping--I´ve had time. But I can´t think of a blog entry that would properly capture the spirit of El Chalten. El Chalten, a small mountain town about two hours north of El Calafate, is located in the northern section of Parque Los Glacieres, nestled between a raging river and a series of looming peaks. Unlike El Calafate, which lies 100km away from the park´s sites and attractions, El Chalten is right in the heart of the fun. You need not pay for overpriced tours or elaborate excursions. You need only leave your front door and stroll through town to the desired trailhead. In this place, the national capital of trekking, you walk.
So when in Rome, I walked. And walked. And walked. There are trails leading to mountain tops with panaramic views of the daunting Fitz Roy Range. There are trails leading to glacier lagoons, nestled deep within mountain valleyes and fed by enormous blue glaciers. There are trails leading through dense forests where--free from the fear of bears--you can stroll nonchallantly and lose yourself to the sounds and smells of the woods. There are trails leading to boulder fields peppered with giant rocks left behind by slowly lurking glaciers. There are trails following river beds running with cool, crisp, refreshing glacier water. There are trails leading to waterfalls, to clouds, to rainbows, to everything.
So I walked. I can´t really explain what I saw or more importantly what I experienced. There are no advertisements or salespeople feeding me words to regurgetate to you. There are no photos I can take (especially with my camera that doesn´t zoom) that can show the sites I have seen. There are only my senses and my thoughts that developed over the countless hours of being simultaneously lost in my own head and connected to my surroundings. Usually (and I give some credit to the fact that I was sick and hopped up on sudafed) I felt like I was dreaming. I was at a loss for how to react to what I was experiencing. Humility. Shock. Amazement. Most of the time, I laughed uncontrollably or gawked silently. One of the two. I spent my time in awe, trying my best to actively create a memory of the moment, thanking my body for giving me this oportunity, and realizing that I will never be able to relive this situation.
I want so badly to share this with you. Sort of. I´m selfish. What I do want is to possess the means to transform these memories into something explicable. But I can barely understand them. And I was there. It´s strange, I think, to be on a journey searching for some new concept of reality and stumbling upon a place where nothing seems real. But maybe that´s not counterproductive. Maybe that´s saying something about my preconceived concepts of ´realness´. Maybe the best types of reality just don´t seem real at all. Maybe.