3/27/10: El Chalten, Argentina
It all started out innocently enough, with some impromptu sing-alongs (me singing along to the voices in my head and Kevin studiously keeping quiet). Hey, when all you have is (are?) each other for entertainment on a six-hour hike, you have to come up with something to do, and I like to sing. I also like to think that Kevin thoroughly enjoys my singing. Right, Kev?
Anyway, that’s how it all started out. I was treating Kevin to some bits and pieces of his favorite songs (“The Twelve Days of Christmas” in its entirety, some Sugar Ray, a little Third Eye Blind) when he somehow got to thinking about the song that Michael Cera and Ellen Page sing together at the end of the movie Juno.
K: Hey, how does that line go in that song? It’s like I don’t see how anyone else sees anything else in anyone else…?
Z: Hold on, let me think…We sure are cute for two ugly people. I don’t see what anyone can see in anyone else but you. I don’t see what anyone can see in anyone else but you. That’s it!
K: Nooo… that’s not it. I think it must be I don’t see what anyone else sees in anyone else but you. That way sounds much better.
Z: Do you want to bet on it? If I’m right, then we get to eat out tomorrow.
K: And what if I’m right?
Z: It doesn’t matter, because you won’t be right.
K: Well, if I’m right then I get to pick the hikes we do tomorrow.
Z: Ok.
K: You know that means that we might have to go back and do Laguna de los Tres again if the weather is nice, don’t you? And no complaining about it either!
Z: Fine! You could even say that if you’re right I have to give you a million dollars and I’d still take this bet, that’s how confident I am. Are you sure you still want to bet?
(I’m nothing if not a sporting person, you see.)
K: Well, you think you know the song. But me, on the other hand – I’m a lyricist. And I know how the song should be. Let’s shake on it.
Now normally I would never go up against Kevin (especially considering he’s a lyricist) on a music lyrics bet, and I even told him as much, but I knew in this particular instance that I was correct. And, as we would later find out, I was. Which means that we will have eaten dinner out on three of our four days in El Chalten! Aren’t you glad, Mom? (My mom told us on our last call that we should eat out more because “when you’re older, you won’t be able to eat what you want, so you should eat what you want when you’re young.”) The point of this story is this: Kevin, do not make bets against your wife when she tells you in advance you are for SURE going to lose.
Anyway, let’s rewind and actually talk a little bit about the hike itself. Today we did the six-hour round trip (22 km) Laguna Torre hike. I don’t think it was quite as nice as the Laguna de los Tres, but we could actually see Fitz Roy today, so that was a plus.
At one point on our hike, Kevin thought he heard the elusive huemul, which is a very endangered species of deer that only lives in the Southern Patagonian forest. (We saw pictures of them at the El Chalten information center, and they looked just like regular deer to me, but what do I know?) He excitedly motioned me to follow behind him as he tiptoed around the bend. “I think I hear them!” he whispered loudly. We walked quietly and slowly as we approached the sound, you know, so as not to scare the huemul, and this is what we saw:
Two woodpeckers searching for their breakfasts! At least I’m 99% sure that’s what we saw. I’ve never seen a woodpecker in real life, and up until this point I had no idea what they looked like, but I don’t think there could be much doubt that these two things were woodpeckers. I mean, they were pecking wood. And very loudly, at that. We stuck around for a few minutes just watching and listening to the birds, who didn’t seem to mind that we were only a few feet away. It was cool.
We made it up to the end of the trail, which was at the foot of a small lake (we knew to expect it this time, because “laguna” means lake!) and ate our lunch of tuna on crackers and salami on crackers. (Again? Yes, again.) Very similar to our experience two days ago, though this time there was no flying-away-salami incident, which was quite a relief. I don’t think I could have handled that a second time.
The lake itself wasn’t as pretty as the Laguna de los Tres, but it did at least have some bits of ice floating in it, so I guess that was kind of nice.
After we finished our lunch and finished taking our pictures, we set out on the three-hour trek back to El Chalten. And the whole way back I sang out loud, over and over again, “I don’t see what anyone can see in anyone else but you.” Because I like that line.
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Picture of the Day: Either a regular-sized cigarette is burning the crotch of a regular-sized broccoli or a giant cigarette is burning the crotch of a regular-sized tree. You decide.
I Lol’d so loud at Mom’s quote that she looked at me and said, “Are you OK?”
what a story:D