First day in El Chalten: Torre trail, jogging, lost llama

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We managed to get a hike in on our first day in El Chalten: the Torre trail. We saw a pretty waterfall and a river running through a gorge that a glacier probably carved. At about the three-mile mark, I gave Catherine the backpack and ran ahead while Catherine walked back. I made it to a lagoon of glacier melt right below Mount Torre.

I drank from the stream next to the trail a couple times. I've never been in a place where I can drink whatever water I see. I really like it.

Running home, I came across a llama eating grass with no other llamas or owners in sight. I tiptoed around it (didn't know whether it would buck like a horse or spit on me) and continued running. Half a kilometer later, I came upon two men leading three llamas. "There's a llama back there," I said. "Oh my gosh!" responded one. "Is it far?" "Yeah, about half a kilometer," I said, laughing. I couldn't believe that the two men were in such an auto-pilot mode that they had never looked back. They both thanked me and one ran back to get the llama.

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