Someone I trust said “Don’t do Puerto Natales / Torres del Paine, to many people, you’ll hate it, head straight into Argentina. You’ll love the vibe in El Calafate and the walking around El Chalten”. So I took them on their word and boarded a bus to El Calafate (via a change in Puerto Natales) and about 10 hrs later arrived at Schilling Patagonia Travellers hostel. On arrival at the bus station in Calafate I booked a bus to go to the local glacier national park next day (Wednesday) and another to take me onto El Chalten on Friday. When I arrived at Schilling I was shattered so just had a quick beer on of to bed.
The bus journey had been reasonably interesting with, from time to time, views of distant mountains but, other than near the coast, the dominating scenery had been that of arid steppe punctuated with aqua marine jewels of glacial runoff lakes. Despite the predominately arid nature of the landscape there were signs of life in the form of cattle, sheep, horses, guanacos, rheas and even splashes of bright pink around some smaller soda lakes indicating the presence of flamingos. From time to time there would appear a green oasis in a fold in the land which indicated a water source and was invariably accompanied by an estancia.
Up and out early on Wednesday to visit Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park which is about 1.5hrs on the bus. Other than the last section into the park most of the route follows Laguno Argentino, a massive lake fed by melt waters from the various surrounding glaciers. As the park entrance and the higher ground is approached the scenery becomes gradually more verdant until you are surrounded by woodland. Again I saw a gaucho on horseback working sheep but another aspect of rural life witnessed was, when passing a small estancia, I could see several men working on the carcass of a cow that they had hanging from a trestle, food for the family no doubt. On rounding a corner we caught our first glimpse of the Perito Moreno glacier which, even at a distance looked pretty impressive.
Arriving at the parking lot saw me distracted by two 750cc Africa twins probably dating from the late 1990’s or early 2000’s, the bike that I used to own in Thailand. These two were registered in France and, 20 odd years later, still doing what they were designed to do. Good to see.
Having overcome this distraction I teamed up with Richard, a fellow Brit that I met on the bus and we went to take a closer look at the glacier. Richard had been travelling in Chile / Patagonia for 3 months and was happy go find someone to talk to as he explained that his Spanish was very limited and that he had not found many people who spoke English. It turned out that one thing we had in common was that we have both spent approx. 10 years living in Thailand although, he was there more recently than I was having only left just prior to commencing on his current travels. He had originally gone to Thailand as an English lecturer at one of the Bangkok universities but for his last 5 years there had worked with a friend promoting MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in SE Asia.
To facilitate viewing of the glacier the park has built a series of elevated walkways and viewing platforms that allow you to within about 100m of the snout of this frozen behemoth. With a surface area of approx. 750 square kilometres it’s 30km long and 5km wide at the terminus and is the third largest glacier in Argentina. It is surely the most easily approachable.
Being at an elevation of less than 200m and at relatively high temperatures it seems that this glacier should be heavily impacted by global warming but, on the contrary, it is one of a few glaciers that is relatively stable and has in fact grown slightly over the last century, why?
We spent the next few hours walking up and down the walkways / viewing platforms at the end of the glacier. Having seen several glaciers in my time I have no hesitation in saying that this was by far the most impressive I’ve seen. The terminal is very broken ice and there was the almost constant sound of ongoing fracturing with ice falls, some substantial, not infrequent.
As the glacier terminates in Laguna Argentino these falls are evidence through the large amount of floating ice and waves resulting from the large slabs of ice hitting the water. Although the falls were visually and audibly spectacular, what was probably even more impressive was a large flow that was calved from the face of the glacier underwater. This flow silently raised itself leviathan like from the depths in a very sedate fashion and rolled on the surface exhibiting a whole range of colours from white though electric blue through cobalt to coal black. The section that reflected black sparkled a thousand stars as the light reflected of the water on its surface.
One of the impressive aspects of the glacier was indeed the colour variations in the ice. How colour ice blue obtained is name is very obvious were the ice was newly fractured but, depending on how the light strikes the ice, the thickness and the nature of the ice the colours range from deep blues through to pure white. Anyone familiar with an arcing electrical connection would surely find the colour match somewhere within the glacier. In some areas the ice also exhibited thin brown veins running more or less diagonally across its face. These are presumable the result of windblown soil landing on the surface of the glacier and then becoming an integral part of the body of ice which, in time, gets tilted by the action of the glacier moving into the valley. I would highly recommend a visit to this glacier to anyone who happens to be in the area.
The next day, Thursday 19th Dec, was spent in and around Calafate and the hostel. In the morning I walked down to the edge of the lake and round to the municipal nature conservation area. This is a small area that they are trying to keep in good condition as a refuge for wetland bird life. The most interesting birds spotted being Austral Flamingo’s and a Cinereous Harrier. One of the major challenges they have is that dogs frequently break through the fences and chase the birds. I witnessed this happening and, despite it lending me the opportunity to capture so good images of flamingos taking-off and flying, I felt this was really an issue that they needed to resolve.
On talking to one of the staff I was advised that they are powerless to do anything as the dogs are not strays but privately owned pets that are allowed to wander the streets. The authorities are apparently powerless to do anything about this.
In the evening I sought advice from the staff at the hostel on the best place to eat and was directed to Parrilla Mi Viejo which was a restaurant which had previously caught my eye as it had a number of whole lambs on spits roasting in front of an open fire in its window. Further the recommended eating lamb as it’s local and very good. If I wanted good steak, they suggested that I should wait until I was in Buenos Aires where the best steak is to be had. I followed their advice and went for the roast lamb accompanied with roast vegetables and was dully presented with what looked like a week’s worth of food on a platter. The lamb was indeed delicious and I managed to battle my way through the whole serving washed down with a local beer.
Friday saw me heading on to El Chaltern by bus. A couple of observations made during this leg where that back packing is not what it used to be and that some fellow travellers were very self-centred with little interest in the wellbeing of those around them. The busses, although not the most luxurious, are certainly a cut above those that I’ve used in the past, seem to attract a large number of wheelie bag packers in state of the art outdoor adventure fashion gear and accessories. They seem to have little interest in their surroundings or the act of travel as evidenced by the habit of closing the bus curtains and excluding themselves and their fellow passengers from the views to be had. I can only assume that the driver is to arrive at a destination, get your selfie and then isolate yourself once more from your surroundings on the onward trip.
Its better to travel well than to arrive – Buddha
In El Chalten the only accommodation available was in shared rooms. I had booked into Rancho Grande hostel where I was to be sharing a room with 3 others. It has also a long time since I stayed in this type of accommodation, but I survived. The advantage of this arrangement is that you do get a chance to know some of the other people travelling.
El Chalten is a new town established in 1985 specifically to cater for hikers and climbers who come to the area for the Chaltern and Fitz Roy mountains. There are multi day hikes that originate from the town but, as I had nothing arranged and little in the way of hiking kit, what specifically appealed to me about the location was that it is the start point for numerous day hikes of different severity ranging from a couple of hours to full day walks. I was going to have 6 full days in El Chalten but intended having at least one rest day on Christmas day.
On Saturday morning, despite the day being heavily overcast, I set out at about 07.30 to walk up to the viewpoint at Laguna Capri. This was classed as one of the easy walks which would take about 4 hours with a bit of climbing, nothing to severe.
Unfortunately, as I started climbing the weather started to deteriorate further with a strong wind and the rain gradually getting harder. Persevering I made it to Laguna Capri in good time, walked around the end of the lake then climbed up to the return loop and viewpoint. There was no view. Fortunately a lot of the route was through forest that protected me from the worse of the weather but the combination of moderately heavy rain and driving wind left my waterproofs wanting, by then end of the walk (actually took 3 hours) I was pretty wet.
One thing that caused me amusement during my return leg was to see a younger couple coming up the trail who were wearing cheap plastic ponchos for extra protection from the rain. As I was approaching the man decided to look up the valley from an exposed shoulder and stepped into the full force of the wind which immediately caught the poncho and ripped it to shreds. I know it was rather mean of me to be amused but I did note that, as I passed, his female partner also had a large grin on her face.
Having dried out back at the hostel I did venture out again in the evening as the weather had improved and walked to a waterfall that is about 3km out of town. The falls were quite pleasant but, as there was a parking place within about 200m of them they were quite busy, not to bad though. The walk there and back was on a path a little way off the vehicular track through wood and heathland and was very pleasant.
The weather was expected to be miserable again on Sunday (22nd) and, it did not disappoint. In the face of the prevailing conditions I decided that a day spent trying to catch up with my journal and blog would be a day well spent so stayed in the hostel common area.
The forecast for Monday was better so I had decided to attempt on of the longer hikes to take me to Laguna Torre with the possibility of extending it by following the path along the moraine around the edge of the lake. As it was to be a longish day and I was awake early I set out at 06.00. There was some clear weather in evidence but the valley I was to follow up into the mountains was clouded in with light rain falling. The rain was not heavy enough to cause concern and added to the ambience as it meant that there was a rainbow moving up the valley ahead of me for much of the route.
The climb was not particularly challenging with the only steeper section being at the end where you have to climb over the terminal moraine that marks the extent of the original glacier to drop back down to the glacial lake. Unlike many of these lakes which are aquamarine, Laguna Torre is more khaki. This colouration is presumably due to the presence of sediment carried down with the melt water from the adjacent glacier.
The surface of the lake was studded with ice flows of varying colour and of weird shape whilst along the shore, on a pebbled beach, were small water polished fragments of ice that glistened in the sun like so many diamonds. I found myself wishing that I had a wee dram of single malt to take with one of mother nature’s supplied ‘rocks’ but, failing that, whilst reflecting on the fact that each fragment was probably 100s if not 1000s of years old I sat quietly on a log and munched on a couple. The ice was crystal clear and the taste? Well, it tasted of ice 😊.
My enquiry into the culinary merits of Laguna Torre’s ice thus concluded I moved back up onto the crest of the moraine to complete the further walk of 2km along the crest to the viewpoint overlooking the terminus of the present-day glacier. It was at this point that I came to realise that, in the interim, the wind had strengthened quite significantly. After battling with the wind which virtually flattened me several times and considering the very rough terrain with only approximately 1/3 of the distance covered, I decided that this really was a situation where discretion should be exercised. Consequently, I back tracked a little way to pick up a small trail that led away down the outer face of the moraine and through the forest for a couple of kilometres before meeting up with the main trail I’d previously used on the way up. This trail was then taken back down to the village and my hostel. In all I had covered approximately 24km with an altitude change of only about 240m.
The early start had paid off as I saw virtually no other hikers on the way up to the lake and had the lake vista to myself for close to 15 minutes before anyone else appeared. As was to become the norm as I descended the trail was becoming increasingly busy with people making their way up. The only negative aspect of the walk was the fact that the weather never cleared substantially throughout the day with the mountains stubbornly remaining socked in with only occasional teasing glimpses of their true magnificence. However, the walk was still very rewarding passing through varied terrain including beautiful mature woodland that was alive with bird life. The other positive I could take away was, despite recent challenges to my health which had severely curtailed my exercise regime, I found that I was walking well and after approximately 7 hours out on the trails was not feeling particularly fatigued.
Tuesday 24th, Christmas eve. As, once again, the forecast for today was reasonable I had decided to go for the big one, The Fitz Roy Trail. This trail retraces the earlier walk up to Laguna Capri but then follows through a glacial valley that is studded with lakes and bisected by the Rio Blanco before climbing over the shoulder of the mountain and up a moraine to Laguna de los Tres. Just short of the start of the climb is a camp site at Poincenot which was a veritable tent city where many people camp before making the climb next morning. This walk is considered to be the best and hardest in the region with glorious views of the mountains on a fine day. Consequently, it is very busy. My normal ploy of making an early start paid of again as, although I met several groups who had presumably camped at Poincenot, on their way down I only encountered one other person heading in my direction and again, on reaching Laguna de los Tres mirador had it virtually to myself.
After spending some time at the viewpoint hoping for the weather to open and afford me some views I eventually gave up and headed back down. As I was still feeling strong I decided that, rather than just follow the normal route back down, I would take a route up a side valley that branches off not far below the campsite and takes you back across the face of the range to eventually drop you back into the valley of the Rio Fitz Roy and joins with the Laguna Torre trail to take you back to the town.
This side trail, Sendero Madrere Hija, is not heavily used and runs through another beautiful lake studded glacial valley adding another dimension to the overall walk and allowing me to avoid the worse of the crowds who were by now swarming up the main trail. Again, this trail ran through mature woodland which is scattered with deadfall and where the trees are liberally draped in long trailing pail green lichen. These woods conjured up images of Fangorm or Mirk Wood form Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in my mind.
With such a healthy environment there is a wealth of bird life and on this walk I was treated to a sighting of a giant black woodpecker which has a bright scarlet crested head. This is an iconic bird in the Patagonian woodlands. By the end of this day I had covered approximately 27km and more than 1000m of ascent/decent. I knew I had done something but, other than a feeling of well-deserved weariness, was again very satisfied.
Wednesday 25th Dec, Christmas Day. Decided that, being Christmas Day, I could justify having a relaxing day so kicked off the day by calling MJ and wishing her a happy Christmas despite the fact that she was working. I then settled down in the hostel’s common area for more blog writing. At about 4pm, as it was a very pleasant evening, I decided to walk to two miradors that are situated on the edge of the town just the other side of the Rio Fitz Roy. Mirador de los Condores and Mirador de las Aguilas. In total, from the hostel, this walk was around 7 or 8 kilometres and due to its proximity to town is very popular. Although the trail up to each is a bit of a motorway there is an unmarked trail that connects them via a ridge line which is little used and, at times, a challenge to follow on the ground. Naturally I sought out and followed this. In all the walk to just over two hours after which I adjourned to the bar adjacent to the hostel for happy hour. This bar has a very pleasant atmosphere and offers a good range of locally produced craft beers which are really good and, during happy hour, only about £1.50 a pint. Sufficiently mellowed by a couple of pints I retired to the hostel restaurant for a Christmas dinner of roast lamb and then adjourned to bed. Not a traditional Christmas day but quite a pleasant one all the same.
Weather wise, Thursday dawned more of the same, some sun but mostly cloud. Today had been set aside for what is billed as the most challenging day walk from El Chalten. The peak of Loma del Pliegue Tumbado at 1520m gives an altitude gain of 1100m and is a 22km round trip. Bagging my first Patagonian peak, albeit a small one.
I set out early once more to avoid the crowds and had made it most of the way to the mirador, which is some distance short of the peak, before seeing another person, a young American guy who overtook me. On reaching the mirador I stopped to take in the view and, sheltering from the wind behind a small wall had a chat with my fellow walker. After another 5 minutes we were joined by two further Americans, a father and son. All three lived in San Francisco but had not met before this. After getting acquainted for a short while the others decided that, as they could see no obvious trail and due to the strength of the wind, they would not try for the peak but rather drop back down.
I stayed on at the mirador a while longer to enjoy the solitude and consider my options. As the peak did not look as if it would be at all technical, I decided to investigate further and see if I could find the route up. Walking back away from the mirador I noticed what looked like a cairn built on the top of a large rock approx. 100m of to the right of the trail and, on investigation, this marked the beginning of a reasonably obvious route up the hill. At this point the wind was not an issue so I decided to give it a go. The route, steep at times, climbed steadily and then, as the slope steepened zig-zagged its way up the South East side of the hill with a couple of rocky semi scrambling sections. Although there was the occasional strong gust the wind never became an issue on the climb. At the top the high point consisted of a jumble of broken rock which was exposed to reasonably strong gusts but, to the North West side someone had crafted a couple of rudimentary seats into the rock pile which were quite sheltered and looked out on to the summits of the Chalten / Fitz Roy ranges.
Other than for me the summit of Tumbado was deserted and, although the distant summits were cloaked in cloud, I settled in to admire the view. In this sheltered spot I enjoyed complete solitude in which I could contemplate the distant peaks as the clouds eddied around them until, eventually after about 40 minutes, my revelry was disturbed by a group of 4 arriving. A stayed a while longer and then waved goodbye to a highpoint in my Patagonian walking and for the 40-minute period had belonged solely to me. Following the trail back down into the forest I stopped after some time to eat a bit of lunch in an idyllic glade by the side of a small stream.
Again, the overall route had been very enjoyable. On the lower slopes it ran alongside a small canyon with a stream in the bottom through an open moorland type habitat until, after topping a small ridge it proceeded into, what had become to me, the forests symbolic of the walks in this region. Exiting the forest, you enter a much harsher environment of broken rock and scree, home only to small ground hugging alpine plants. Two episodes on the way up which stay with me were, rounding a corner to be confronted by a small herd of Hereford cows and calves which had positioned themselves beautifully for a photograph and, a bit higher up on the edge of a clearing in the woodland, a group of parakeets. A bit of a surprise as I did not realise there were any such exotic birds on this region.
In the evening a joined a young Dutch lady, who had been in the same room as me when I arrived and had just done a multi-day walk, for a beer and a pizza. It was interesting talking to her about the hike she had done which was unsupported, but she had teamed up with 3 American siblings (2 boys and a girl). As there were several river crossings that they had to do by using a harness and fixed cables and a couple of passes with at least one technical descent it sounded like it would have been very difficult to have completed the route solo.
WoW! You are having an amazing trip. Your detailed accounts makes me feel I am there.. please write more… many thanks