Patagonian region of Argentina and Chile

South America » Chile
November 4th 2010

Published: November 5th 2010

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Chris and Patty

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El Chalten - Cerro Fitz Roy hike

Our next stop, a 3 hour bus ride north of El Calafate, was El Chalten, also in Argentina, a tiny frontier town that was only set up about 25 years ago, solely as a tourist destination to access the Fitz Roy mountain range. It is known as the capital for hikers. The day we arrived here, the weather was still horrible, raining heavily the entire day. Towards the evening, as it got colder, the rain turned to snow, which persisted all night, so the following day we woke up to a stunning sight, with the town completely covered in a blanket of snow! This snow also blanketed the surrounding Fitz Roy mountains, so over the coming days during our hikes we got to see these spectacular mountains in all their snow covered glory. So a couple of wasted days of bad weather ended up being worth it. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining!

The two most spectacular walks in this area are to see the Cerro Torres (Mountain Towers) and the Cerro Fitz Roy. These were both full day walks and both mountains were spectacular to see. The mountains are massive granite rock formations, some in the

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Torres del Paine

shape of sharp spires (hence the name “towers”. The granite rock is a light shade of grey / yellow / orange and when the sun shines directly on it, it has this surreal ghostly look which makes you question whether what you are seeing is actually real, it is so stunning! It really is difficult to describe the impact these mountain vistas have on you. Patty and I spent hours just sitting back and staring at their incredible natural beauty, drinking it in. Anyone that wants to see nature at its finest should come to this region, because it is beyond belief! And this is without mentioning the lakes, rivers, forests and wildlife that can be found here. These are worth coming to visit in their own right, but almost pale into insignificance with the mountain ranges.

The hike we did up to Cerro Fitz Roy was the more challenging of the two walks. The first 3 hours of walking was fairly easy through lovely moss covered forests and pastures, most of the time with the backdrop of the Cerro Fitz Roy in the distance. The hardest part of this section was avoiding the muddy and water logged sections

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Torres del Paine - Las torres, the towers

of the path. But the last hour of the walk became difficult as we climbed up to the look out point. The ground was very rocky and midway up the ascent, the path became progressively covered with the snow that had fallen 3 days before. We had to scramble our way up the steep climb, through knee deep snow at times, until we finally got to the breath taking view of the Cerro Fitz Roy. Here we spent a nearly an hour having lunch and admiring the view before heading back down.

Anecdote: Before leaving Australia, both Patty and I bought a new set of hiking shoes each (courtesy of our Outrigging friends). These have been invaluable during our travels to date, with me wearing them almost 100% of the time. However, on our first hike from El Calafate, where we encountered a few puddles (for the first time in a month or so), I realised that the sole of one of my shoes was starting to peel apart and my feet were getting wet. As this was only the start of our Patagonian part of the trip, and there was going to be a lot more mud and

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El Chalten - Cerro Torre hike

water to come, I immediately went shopping for a new set of hiking boots. I found a nice waterproof pair in one of the stores, and the next day I tried them out with a full day hike without any problems. At this point, Patty was gloating that her shoes were still in good condition, and I didn’t look after my gear nearly as well as her. As it turned out, not more than two days later, on our next hike in El Chalten, Patty found that her shoes had also developed a leak! So then I got to make fun of her, while once again heading for the nearest shoe store to also buy her a nice new pair of boots!

Next stop was Puerto Natales, on the Chilean side of the border. This town is the access point to the most famous trekking in Chile, around the Torres del Paine circuit. This is a circuit that takes about 5 to 6 days to complete, however many people choose to only do the front part of the circuit, which is in the shape of a W, and only takes 3 to 4 days. Along the circuit, there are

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Torres del Paine

both camp sites and refugios (little log cabins, most sleeping up to 40 people, in 9 person dorms) where trekkers can sleep and eat. Our plan was to attempt the full circuit, staying and eating at refugios, so that we did not need to carry camping gear, food, cooking equipment, etc. In this way, we would only need one large back pack for all our clothes and sleeping bags, and one day pack for our lunch and water for the day.

As the season had only just started, we really struggled to get accurate information on which refugios were open, to know if we would be able to complete the full circuit. Every person we spoke to gave us a different story on which refugios were open, which were serving food, and even if the track around the back of the circuit was open (as this tends to have a lot of snow covering it through winter). Since we couldn’t get a straight answer, we ended up giving up on the idea of the full circuit, and instead decided to do only the W.

At this time of year, the weather is not supposed to be all that

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El Chalten - media lunas, sweet croisants, very good!

good, however apart from a bit of rain on the first morning in the park we had some wonderful weather! There was still a fair bit of high level cloud cover most days, but at least no low level cloud which would have prevented us from seeing the mountains and other views.

The circuit itself was beautiful. There was a myriad of lakes, streams and forests, a number of amazing granite peaks (the same type as we saw in the Fitz Roy range) and the huge Grey glacier. We also saw a lot of wildlife, mainly birds, including woodpeckers, with the male having this bright red head and black body! Each day we would walk between 7 and 9 hours, normally arriving at the next refugio late in the afternoon. We would then relax away the evening, either reading our books, or me also continuing my Spanish study. This has been a tale of frustration, however I am still making progress. Outside of my evening study sessions, each day for a few hours while we walked, Patty and I would continue to practice what I have been learning. So slow and steady wins the race, I hope!

Each

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El Chalten

of the little refugios we stayed at were lovely. They were all really cosy cabins with log wood heaters and big glass windows to enjoy the spectacular views. Each of them had a staff of 4 or 5, including a chef that would cook up a beautiful 3 course meal each evening, including freshly made bread! They would also bake some bread to make our packed lunch for the following day, a huge focacia style bun filled with meat, cheese and salad. With the season just starting, we were also really lucky with the accommodation, with 4 of the 7 nights having a 9 person dorm room to ourselves!

The day before we headed off on the trek, I booked a four night cruise on a large ship, which left the following week from Puerto Natales, and heading to the bottom of the lakes district, Puerto Montt, a couple of thousand kilometres further north in Chile. We timed our return from Torres del Paine so that we had one night to wash all our clothes and pack our things, and then jumped straight onto the ship. The ship was only a third full, so we were given an upgrade,

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Torres del Paine - glacier grey

so rather than having to share, we ended up with a 4 person cabin to ourselves, with our own private bathroom! We were super happy! The cruise itself took us through the channels and fiords along the Chilean coast. Much of this coastline reminded me of Milford Sound in New Zealand. Rocky, snow capped mountains with scrubby trees. Along the way we got to see glacier Skua, which has receded by more than 17% in the last 5 years, so the ocean surface leading into the glacier front was covered in a carpet of ice bergs, small and large, for kilometres! There were also some volcanoes we saw from a distance, with active one even spewing some ash and smoke into the air.

While on the cruise, the guides gave a number of presentations on the area and its flora and fauna, which were really interesting. A lot of the plants and animals that they described, we recognised from having seen them in the weeks before, during our various hikes and treks, so it was great to find out a bit more about them. We also found out the waterways we were travelling through had been formed during the

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El Chalten - blanketed in snow

ice age, when this whole area had been covered by massive glaciers. The movement of these glaciers over thousands of years had gouged out of the mountains these huge channels. Then after the ice age, when most of these glaciers melted, it raised the ocean levels by about 120 metres, and these channels then became water ways.

The views from the boat were beautiful but you were only able to enjoy them from the deck for an hour or so due to the cold wind and at times rain. These same views could be seen from the dining and living areas. Having a lot of free time on the boat gave us the opportunity to catch up on a lot of our admin duties that have been put aside from all the hiking, and still getting to enjoy the views from the dining area of the ship without the cold. Travelling with a small computer has been a blessing, making life a lot easier to stay on top of everything and in touch with our loved ones.

During our voyage we also celebrated Patty’s birthday and I gave what she considered the BEST present ever… my first birthday

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El Chalten

card to her written in Spanish!! I also had the captain of the ship write her a birthday certificate as a momento which she also liked.

Anecdote: The ship we were on was a combination cargo / passenger ship. The passenger section was at the front of the boat, while the cargo was kept down the back. One of the things they transport was livestock, and we felt really sorry for the cows, and particularly the horses, that were being transported. These poor animals were crammed into open top shipping containers with almost no room to move and no cover from the weather for the 4 days of transport on the ship. The horses were agitated to be so confined, always moving around restlessly and trying to bite each other on the necks and backsides. The animals were fed by dumping bundles of hay on their heads, which would then fall down into the bottom of the container, to get mixed in with their waste, so the poor things were half starved by the end of the voyage!

Having arrived in Puerto Montt, we have another month to visit the lakes region and Santiago, before flying back up