Whilst we head counterclockwise around South America there is a narrow pivot where the clockwise travellers cross paths and for us this happened at the bottom of Patagonia. The standard questions of ‘where have you come from’ and ‘where are you going to’ are exchanged and every clockwise traveller we meet recommends with such passion and exclamation “oh you must visit the Fitz Roy.” Hence for a month now of hearing this, our excitement builds knowing we’re on a bus finally heading to El Chalten, the base town for treks and climbing to the Cerro Fitz Roy (Mount Fitz Roy)
We meet up with Pete and Karin at El Calafate bus terminal also on the same bus. They are our adventurous mentors we have met on this trip who inspire us to one day take on more than the usual mainstream trekking trails. They are avid mountain and glacier climbers and are keen to explore the Los Glaciares National Park around El Chalten, seeking out some glaciers to hike and camp on. The city dwellers in us with no experience at this level are very content in tackling only the main trails the area has to offer.
Although only a 3 hour bus trip we are reminded again of the vastness of Argentina Patagonia. Golden hues of wide windswept open plains with not a tree in sight, large blue open skies and the snow capped backbone of the Andes ranges to our left following us up north. I spend the hours with my nose pressed against the window witnessing the afternoon light casting across the landscape and the intensity of the two colour days we share lately. If it is one thing that photography is teaching us is the awareness of light and tones and it is clearly evident in the picturesque landscapes of this part of the world.
Arriving at El Chalten, the bus pulls into the National parks office and we are given a list of do’s and don’ts instructions, and the ranger informs us this is the first sunny day in 10 days and are fortunate to view the Fitz Roy without cloud. Yes!!!
We say our goodbyes to Pete and Karin and walk to our accommodation. Now into our 2nd month of hostels, El Chalten though being a small and remote place is also a very expensive town particularly in this peak season. We struggled to find a hostel private room for under $60 so splurged an extra $15 per night on a Hosteria (bed and breakfast) and we are not disappointed. Our definition of luxury these days has definitely dropped several pegs to anything with solid walls, carpet, a shower with continuous hot water and a toilet that flushes properly. So to open the door to our room to find a new king bed, cathedral wooden ceilings and a modern bathroom (with hairdryer mind you) inbuilt radio speakers and solid walls you can’t imagine our joy. Ben laughs and reminds me not to get too used to this.
We take a walk around the town and fall in love with it. Only a new town established in 1985 to resolve a border dispute with Chile, it’s sole purpose is for tourism and to create a town base of supplies for the climbers and trekkers to Fitz Roy and it’s surrounding glaciers and mountains. It has that climbers paradise mixed with an almost alternative ski resort feel about it with the Fitz Roy towering above the the town. It is the smallest town we have been too so far and reminds me of modern day Western town about the size of Arrowtown in New Zealand. Quirky inviting cafes, bakeries, outdoor rental shops and warm cosy bars most made of timber logs. We suss out a microbrewery bar that quickly becomes our favourite called La Cerveceria. Yep this is going to be a great little place to stay.
There are many trails to explore but the two main ones are to the base of Cerro Torres and the base of Cerro FitzRoy both with glacier lagoons. What makes El Chalten the hiking paradise is the ability to stay in town and walk an 8-9 hour return day trips to the base of these mountains. It makes for long days with trails of 25km each but the upside is to return to a hot shower, comfy bed and cold beer in the same day makes for the perfect Nobby hike.
Laguna Torres Trek
Cerro Torres is our first trail to hike. After a great nights rest, and tummies filled with a typical Argentine breakie – bread and medialunas (croissants with a sweet glaze on them) and dulche de leche (caramel spread), we pack our day packs and walk out to the edge of town to the trail head. Within less than a week we are walking another 8-9 hour trek, a bit hard to comprehend after our sedentary lifestyle back home. The improvement in our fitness levels seems is evident although I still puff up hills. The lengthy trail of 22km return feels more forgiving than the trails of Torres Del Paine last week. The morning is cool and overcast but it doesn’t take long to start stripping layers as we hike uphill. It is not long till we reach the crest and the view looks like a scene from the Scottish Highlands. We run into a guy called Jim from Brisbane whom we met at the bar the night before. Pete and Karin had previously told us about a guy they met in a hostel who looked like Johnny Howard and instantly we knew this was the Johnny they were talking about. Interesting guy and he kept us company to the lagoon. Such a small world.
We reach the bluff to see our first glimpse of Cerro Torres across the valley. With the morning still overcast it is covered in low cloud and we can only see the bottom of the glacier. However, relief sets in as we can see the trail ahead is all downhill and flat through beech forest and scrubby river flats.
Two hours later we finally reach Laguna Torres. The cloudy day strips it of it’s emerald colour and the Cerro Torres is shrouded in low cloud. Still the surroundings makes us feel like dots on a somewhat lunar landscape. The icy wind picks up and we re-layer with beanie, gloves and wind jacket. We are glad we came up here prepared for four seasons and are very aware how unpredictable mountainous weather can be.
Speaking of small worlds we run into Austin, the guy we gave a lift to in the Isle of Chiloe three weeks ago. He was just walking past as we were eating lunch at the lagoon. The timing associated in running into people here is incredible. We are constantly amazed that even the slightest change in our timing throughout the day could mean missing out on these chance encounters.
On our return the sky towards town is blue and behind us the clouds hugging the peaks slowly dissipate. Ben takes the opportunity to take a timelapse video of the event and as time stands still we sit perched on a rock admiring this breathtaking view. Over forty minutes we watch the unveiling of the clouds revealing the Cerro Torres and the surrounding glaciers with whispers of wind blowing across the tallest peak standing 3128 metres high. Truly a spectacular sight and we sit here absorbing the silence and another of natures triumphs.
Click above to play video
Grateful for twilight days this far south, we waddle back to the hostel around 7pm. We are tired and weary but a hot shower, a couple of beers over dinner and an early night puts a smile on our face after another rewarding day.
Viedma Glacier
The owner where we are staying can only speak Spanish and we use our limited Spanish to book a tour with him to Glacier Viedma the next day whilst we give our legs a rest before our next day of treking. We took off to the bus terminal to book our bus trip back to El Calafate for the end of the week. When we returned to our room the owner pointed to his watch and was saying something hastily in Spanish and all we could decipher was ‘rapido”, “quince minutos” and “autobus”. What? We thought we had booked the tour for 1pm but now it is 11am and our tour was suddenly leaving in 15 minutes. Not sure how we lost that translation but never mind that, we had to race upstairs 3 floor up, grab our gear and then run to the bus stop, fortunately only 5 mins around the corner. Phew, made it. A gorgeous sunny day for a cruise on the lake to see yet another glacier. An hour by bus before we transferred to a modern catamaran to cruise for the next 3 hours on Lago Viedma, the most exquisite turquoise lake.
About 40 minutes into sailing we turned into the right arm of the lake and there in front of us was something out of the Antartic. Striking large sculptured icebergs were the largest ones we had seen so far. Although Glacier Viedma was much smaller than Glacier Perito Moreno, the striking colours in the nearby rocks, water and icebergs made for another photographic experience.
Viedma Glacier is part of the Southern Patagonian icefield and one of 48 glaciers from this icefield. This one is about 20 square km and 2km wide.
Laguna De Los Tres and Cerro Fitz Roy
With a much tougher and longer trek of 25km return we set off earlier knowing we have a 9 hour day ahead. The day is absolutely perfect. Not a cloud in the sky.
We make our way up the first ascent which is deceivingly steep and long and already our legs are feeling stiff. The town starts to fade away behind us. Thankfully there is a mirador (view) not far up and it is stunning over looking north to a valley with the Rio de las Vueltas below reminding me of New Zealand again. Whilst resting, Austin walks past with his friend Stacey also walking to Fitz Roy and we make plans to catch up for drinks later in the week.
About 40 minutes up a steeper hill Ben suddenly stumbles and his face cringes with a “I think I pulled a muscle” look and clutches the back of his calf. It’s a narrow pathway and we find a rock to sit on to rest for a while. It is at this point I suggest we head back and tackle the trail tomorrow. Ben is determined to keep going and hopefully “walk it out” and with a bit of stretching he soldiers on. He limps for another hour through the beech forest, thankfully a bit flatter at the top where it opens out to an awe inspiring view. There it towers over the valley, the Cerro Fitz Roy and its surrounding glory, absolutely breathtaking. Of course the tripod comes out and we spend almost an hour here. With another 2 hours still to continue to the base, the valley looking down ahead of us appears flatter. Ben is resolute to keep walking and we do so with Simon, an Aussie guy we met at the view.
We also run into a wonderful French family who we met back in the hostel in El Calafate traveling with their 18 month old boy. They have been travelling for 6 months with him and we have had nothing but admiration for them. But they have had a fantastic time and said South America is easy to travel with children. They pop him into a child harness and still manage to do 60% of the trails we had done. They are also seasoned travellers and hikers/campers so this would help considerably. We now cross the Rio Blanco reaching the bottom of the next section which is virtually straight up. We learn it is 400 metres high and 2.5km climb with tight zig zagging up the rockface walking over loose rocks. Its difficulty is evident from the tired people returning, but with smiles ear to ear give us the reassurance we were seeking.
The trail is just relentless and I take small steps and stop at each zig zag to catch my breath. Boy this is a tough one and the higher we get the steeper it is. I have deja vu of my volcano climb. Ben walks ahead treading carefully and patiently waits for me. During this time we lose sight of the Fitz Roy and can’t see the top of the bluff at all. Relieved reaching the crest after an hour we find out there is still another 10 minute climb over the grey glacial morraine which rises above us before it drops away to the lagoon. We can’t believe the height of the mountains around us and the valley we had just trekked behind us seemed minuscule.
Ben sets the pace as he can see the Fitz Roy come into view and reaches the top before me. He yells out a wooo hooo. I am right behind him and he watches my face as I reached the crest. I let out a huge wow. It feels like we are on top of the world and in front of us is the most amazing view we have ever seen in our lives. A beautiful turquoise glacial lake below and the Fitz Roy towering like something out of a Hollywood movie in front of us. Its steep granite rock standing formidably tall and majestic. It was first climbed in 1952 by two frenchmen and I read that even though it is half the size of the Himalayan mountains, because of the sheer granite faces it remains one of the most technically challenging mountains to climb.
We plonk our weary bodies at the top and sit in awe of the sheer majesty around us. It is so overwhelming to absorb and we wait a while before we take photos. How can we possibly capture this in a photo to do it justice.
Others are at the lagoon and they look like dots. So we scramble down the loose rocks and run into Austin and Stacey again. They advise us to keep walking around the lake for another 5 minutes where another secret lake is located. A small climb up leads us to a stunning emeral green lake in a crevice miles below in another valley with a waterfall to the side. Truly remarkable. It is stuff that dreams are made of and today life is pretty good.
The afternoon escapes us and it is 4pm. We forget we have another 4 hours walk back to town. It is hard to draw ourselves away from this view and we take a last long look around us, fill our lungs with the freshest air and make our descent down. It is now our turn to be asked by the trekers – “how long to the top”.
We meet a few others all heading back to El Chalten and we walk back together. My legs are tiring and feet are sore now. The last section becomes painful and the backs of our legs are stiffening. The sun has gone and the temperatures drop. We can see the town in site and by the time we reach the bottom everyone high fives and still can’t believe the most amazing day we have all had. The bar seemed the best place to head but we had totally forgotten we were moving to a cheaper hostel. With the legs completely seizing up this was the last thing we needed. If only we had done this in the morning (as Ben suggested)…what was I thinking!
After a much need hot shower, luckily our favourite bar and cafe is two doors down from the hostel, so we eat and drink a well deserved few beers. The next day we can barely walk and spend the day sitting around the lovely hostel catching up on our photos and blog. We meet up with our new acquaintances for dinner and later find a wine bar to sit outside and talk about our travels ahead of us. A great last night in El Chalten and our trekking days are almost over.
Sunday arrives and we take the bus back to El Calafate. With one days rest in between we research accommodation for our next destination, Bariloche. Looking forward to getting on a plane and avoiding the 28 hour bus trip up through the infamous Ruta 40.
Though we only achieved two days of trekking it was another truly memorable experience. We will now be one of those travelers saying “You must visit the Fitz Roy” too.
More photos
For more photos, see the full gallery
Wonderfully written such amazing experiences you will recall forever. The photography is brilliant congratulations to you both. Love you both and kep safe
Fantastic Blog Fleece !! and Ben
I needed a great read and the video of clouds over Patagonia is lovely . As I have said before a tad jealous !!
Thanks Jane. Hope you had a glass of vino in one hand for the read:) Glad you liked it…bit of an epic trying to write it. These blogs seem to get longer each time. A hopeless at trying to condense. We are staying still for a week now till we catch up on the rest of the blogs. Ben is enjoying putting together the videos and more to come. Stay tuned 🙂 x
Thank you both for allowing me to be part of your wonderful lifetime experience. Your photos are amazing and and blogs so descriptive, I feel that I am with you on your adventures. Keep up the good work.