Patagonia Part II – Fitz Roy, Argentina

As if the Chilean side of Patagonia wasn’t beautiful enough, our time and experience on the Argentina side in El Chalten was unbelievable. And the best part, we had some friends join us! 

We had a very long day of travel and took the 6hr bus ride from Puerto Natales to El Calafate and crossed the border into Argentina. This proved to be a very easy and cheap way to cross the border, just long. We found the Patagonia Brewery (of course) and waited in El Calafate for our friends Adam and Brent to arrive! Once they arrived we then got on a second bus for 3 hrs to finally make it to El Chalten. This town is at the base of Fitz Roy mountain range and really only exists because of tourism so everything is relatively new, it’s very safe and doesn’t feel like you’re in Argentina at all. It’s an adorable little mountain town. We’re already planning our return trip back. Our plan was to sleep in town that night and gear up to hit the trail for our 4 day backpacking trip on Huemul Circuit. The weather had other plans. When we woke up and got everything in order, it was still raining so after checking the weather one more time, we decided we’d have a much better backpacking experience if we held out a day. There was 4 days of good weather starting the following day. We found another place to sleep that night, moseyed around town, bought food for the trip, checked out gear rentals for trekking poles (since we aren’t traveling with ours) and some other gear that’s required for the hike to get over the tyrolean traverses (where you clip into a cable that’s strung across a river and pull yourself over. Basically like a low-class zip line). Of course we found another delicious brewery with giant burgers to hold us over on the rainy day. 

Finally the sun was out and we were ready to hit the trail! We dropped the rest of our luggage off at the hostel we stayed at afterwards, so we could make our packs as light as possible for the trek. Every place is very accustomed for holding luggage. We stopped at the ranger station, watched the video on the hike, got our permits and headed out! This hike is considered one of the top hikes in the world and fairly difficult so they want to know where you’re camping, when you return, and that you have the necessary gear for the tyroleans. The day was a pretty easy 10 miles through the front range hills and a lot of marsh! Our shoes got soaked so many times despite trying to stay on logs…..note to self, waterproof shoes next time. Once we summited the small hill we had an amazing view of Huemul Peak, surrounding peaks, and the valley we were camping in that night. The sights were just incredible already and we had just started! The camp had wind shelters built up with rocks and branches.. There is A LOT of wind in the whole area! Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and we were sheltered by trees for the night. 

Day 2 of the trek was a big one. We had the first tyrolean traverse but there was an hour + wait because we didn’t start as early as we wanted so Tom and I followed Adam and Brent and forged the river. Probably not the best idea. At one point it was just under my waist (thankfully my pack didn’t get wet) and the current was so strong it took all my might to take small movements to make it through, not to mention my legs were pretty cold because the water is run off from the glacier and had chucks of ice it in! Tom came back and helped push me through this point since it was a bit more than I could handle, Brent was ready to throw me a rope (which was essentially a harpoon, tied to a hiking pole) and Adam was ready down river in case he had to grab me. Team effort! Thankfully they were all on stand by, but we all made it across safely. Whew! Next time I’ll be waiting in the queue for the tyrolean, but this did save us a lot of time which worked out well when finding a tent spot at the next campsite.

After this excitement we made our way up the pass and got to walk on part of the glacier! We were all mind blown. It was only a small part right next to the rest of the rocky hillside, but still. Unlike anything any of us have walked on before. In Brent’s words “I’m on a glacier bitches!” Following the glacier was the somewhat gradual ascent up the mountain side with views of glaciers in between the mountain peaks as we made our way to Windy Pass. Rightfully named because boy, was it windy! Head and side winds so strong I had to stand still a few times, fearing if I lifted a foot I’d be blown over. Once on top of the pass we had an amazing view of the Patagonian Ice Field (the world’s second largest contiguous ice field). It was so windy we all got down pretty quick but thankfully the view stayed with us.. and the wind. The views were unreal! A large white expanse with giant, jagged peaks behind, covered in snow.. in the middle of summer. We booked it fast to the next campsite, with help from the wind at our backs now, and went through a pretty little storybook valley with a creek flowing by. At camp there were only 2 campsites left with wind shields so we shoved our tents together into 1 spot. We tried the build up the wind shield wall with more with rocks, I’m not sure it actually helped, but we felt better about it. We had dinner in the refugio (basically a metal box of building) where everyone was trying to cook on a flame outside of the wind. We went to bed early since it was raining a little and we wanted an early start the next day, I also wanted a little break from the dear wind. 

Day 3 was the most difficult. I think. But the most rewarding by far. We set out and had more views of the ice field and the beautiful peaks in the background (photos just don’t do it justice). We made our way up another very steep and windy pass before getting to and unbelievably steep descent. I needed an attitude adjustment from the wind and was not looking forward to the descent (some people said it took them 3 hrs to get down 2000’ in 1 mile). Thankfully once we got over the summit the wind stopped! It was such a glorious moment and the views were completely different! As we made our way down the very steepy section we were getting glimpses of broken off glacier pieces floating by the shore, which was just gorgeous! And thankfully all my build-up of the awful descent wasn’t actually that bad. I took it slow and steady and we made it to camp in under 1.5 hrs. One section was so step you had to down climb, but thankfully there was a rope to hold onto so it was actually one of the easiest sections. We made it to camp around 2 pm and had the most incredible campsite ever! There was a rocky beach with chunks of glaciers floating right in front of us. The boys jumped in the water (I felt satisfied with my water play from the day before) and just laid on the sunny rocks like a lizard. We brought some whiskey on the trek with us and broke ice chunks off the small glaciers and had our whiskey on the (glacier) rocks while we watched the glaciers move and break apart. This was also the best water I’ve ever drank! The rest of the day was play cards and eating dinner with our unforgettable views. Hands down, best campsite and rest spot I’ve ever had.

Day 4 was the longest and most uneventful day, minus the final tyrolean traverse. We had a less than exciting 9 miles to the tyrolean (especially after the last few days). Everyone was pretty efficient getting across the river this time so we had a snack while we waited our turn. Then we harnessed up, clipped ourself to the pulley on the cable with our bag between our legs and shot across! This was so much fun! And way easier than forging a river. We then had other 6 miles of meh trails and a lot of head wind as we made our way back to the hostel. The cool thing with El Chalten is that all the hikes start and end from town. After 43 miles we made it to the hostel, got our room, left our gear and went next door to grab some beers and giant burgers, just as the rain started pouring! 

We took a rest day the following day, caught up on internet stuff, looked into hikes for the rest of our stay and pretty much called that day good. 

The most popular hike in El Chalten is Lago de los Tres, which takes you to the base of the Fitz Roy mountain range. Tom couldn’t stop there and geared us up to then summit Cerro Madsen, which gets you a very secluded and higher view of Fitz. We started hiking at 5 am to summit by noon, when the winds and clouds were supposed to roll in. I was not feeling it. I kept going back and forth and knew if I didn’t summit I was going to haver ridiculous fomo but I could barely get my body the 6.5 miles and 2000’ to the base of the lake. Brent and I sent Tom and Adam on their way to summit and had our own quiet time with Fitz. On our way back, Brent and I linked up a couple more trails through the valley before heading to the hostel, knowing Tom and Adam had a few hours for their summit. All in we hiked 18 miles in 8 hrs, my feet were ready to take my shoes off after that! But when Tom and Adam came back and told us about the summit, my fomo was stronnnng! I’m still conflicted because I knew I wasn’t in the right head space to want that summit and work that hard for it, especially after hearing about the climbing and loose rock they encountered. I would have needed a clear head to make it to the top, but if I had just changed my attitude, I could have made it. Oh well, lesson learned and probably not the worst decision I made. 

On our last day in El Chalten we rented a few bikes (none of us was to go on another hike), grabbed a bottle of wine (it’s hard to resist when it’s delicious and only $4!) and we found some rocks to play on with our final views of Fitz. The sun was shining strong and it wasn’t too windy either! Adam, Tom and I each got massages that afternoon before getting on the bus to El Calafate. Bye Fitz, we will be back with a lot more gear! 

We only had 1 day in El Calafate since it looked like the main thing to do there was Perito Moreno Glacier, so we did just that. We booked a tour to hike on the glacier for 3 hours. Unfortunately they only had 3 spots, so Brent was a sport, found him some friends and signed up for the smaller ice trek by himself :/. At least he was still able to get on the ice because it was otherworldly. (I use this term a lot because it was!). It was like walking on the moon. We were given harnesses, helmets (just in case) and old school, heavy crampons to stick to the ice. They took us to a bunch of crevasses that were full of the bluest water I’ve never seen and through a few tunnels. We passed one arch an the way to our lunch spot and on the way back, it was collapsed! Things move very fast on a glacier in the middle of summer and it was really cool to witness. 

After this adventure we were all fully satisfied with our Patagonia experiences. Although we will be back! This place is just beautiful and so many more places to explore. Off to Buenos Aires we go!