Patagonia - Fitz Roy

I couldn't say exactly when I first decided that I wanted to visit Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, but I was in my teens and enthralled by a National Geographic article on the area. The photos were stunning. This was years before I knew anything about the Yukon, and I had no idea there were places on the planet that were so powerful, raw and beautiful. It took me over thirty years, but I finally made it down for a visit in late November.

From El Bolson in Argentina's Lake District, we booked a two day, 22 hour bus trip through Patagonia down Ruta 40 to El Chalten. Ruta 40 runs over 5,000 kms down the full length of western Argentina, and our trip took in about 1260 kms of it. Math wizzes will have already calculated that we didn't move very quickly. The southern section of Ruta 40 varies between a paved 2 lane highway, a rough gravel road, and a fairly wide goat path. It feels as remote and desolate as any place I've been including the Dempster Highway in the northern Yukon.

The central area of Patagonia is nothing like the glacier caped mountains of Torres del Paine or Fitz Roy. It has relatively flat and dry grasslands that support up to 10 million sheep, a million cattle, and half a million wild guanacos - a smaller relative of the llama. Estancias (ranches) range up to 177,000 acres in size. As keen as we were to be traveling in Patagonia, the bus trip became a little monotonous after the initial excitement wore off.

The typical view out the bus window...for 22 hours.

Our first real destination in Patagonia was El Chalten where we were meeting our friend and Cyd's long time Muskoka co-worker Cory. El Chalten is billed as the trekking capital of Argentina, and the name fits. Cerro Fitz Roy is the star attraction. Unlike a loop trail like Torres del Paine, or a linear trail like the John Muir, the trails around Fitz Roy are a loose network of trails that can be explored on a number of day hikes, or over a longer backpacking trip. Hikers can literally walk out the door with their packs on as trails begin right on the edge of the small town. Beyond that, there are kilometers of trails north and south of town that could easily keep hikers busy for several weeks.

El Chalten has a population of about 3,000 people, but if you took away the hotels, hostels, restaurants and gift stores and the people who work in them, you'd be left with about four buildings and eleven people. While it was established in 1985 to secure the area for Argentina during border disputes with Chile, it currently exists only for tourism. This isn't a bad thing. Except for the high costs, it doesn't actually feel too touristy. It has a rough feel with gravel roads, half finished buildings, and raw weather. For northerners, it feels much closer to Dawson City than Skagway Alaska.

One of the first things you learn when researching hiking in Patagonia is that it's very windy. I'm sure I've read that dozens of times. But nothing prepares you for the reality of Patagonian wind. We walked into the wind with our heads down and our bodies at a ten degree angle. When it gusted, it still stopped you dead in your tracks, or knocked you back a step or two. Sometimes it was hard staying on the sidewalk, let alone the trail.

We arrived in town a couple of days before Cory, so we managed to fit in a day hike to Laguna Torre. It was a great first hike, although the clouds hid the top of Cerro Torre from our view. Despite several glorious days of sunshine, Torre would remain hidden for the eight days we were there.

The view back towards town on the way
to Laguna Torre.

Laguna Torre with Cerro Torre hidden in the clouds.

When Cory arrived, we set off on a five day hike. We hiked on day one to the popular Campamento Poincenot where we set up our tents, then up to Laguna de Los Tres for a stunning view of Fitz Roy and back to camp. On day two we escaped the crowds by taking the little used trail north from Poincenot down the Rio Blanco and up the Rio Electrico to the refugio at Piedra del Fraile.

The first good view of Fitz Roy.

A closer look.

Looking across Laguna de Los Tres.

At Laguna de Los Tres.

Cyd and Cory coming down the Rio Blanco.

Refugios are located along many of the more popular trails in Patagonia offering camping, dorm accomodation and food and drink. Bigger ones even offer private rooms. They can be expensive, but refugios allow people to hike without carrying so much food, or even do multiday treks without tents or sleeping bags. We would be tenting for all of our trekking in Patagonia, but decided to eat dinners at refugios where possible to lighten our loads and treat ourselves a little bit.

The refugio at Piedra del Fraile.

Everything a hungry hiker could possibly want!

Day three was a rain day, so we missed our planned hike up to Cerro Electrico to view Fitz Roy from the north side. We headed back past Poincenot through some driving rain on day four to a quieter campsite at beautiful Laguna Capri where we experienced the strongest winds yet. As Cyd and I lay in our expedition tent nestled into the protective trees around the lake, the wind howled around us. You could literally hear the gusts approaching through the tree tops for 6 - 8 seconds before they rushed by us. Occasionally the gusts would hit us dead on and the walls of the tent would buckle and push, but the Hilleberg tent was never compromised. Buying top quality equipment always pays off in the long run.

From our campsite on Laguna Capri.

Our last day was a short hike back to town. None of our hiking days were particularly long and we just traveled about 43 kms over the four days we hiked, but it was a good first trek in Patagonia for all of us. Cory got to break in her hiking legs a bit after arriving from winter in Ontario, and we all got to test our clothing and gear in some difficult weather. We enjoyed some beautiful views, and were ready for our longer trek coming up in Torres del Paine.