El Chalten: Fitz Roy

Three backpacks.  Three ham and cheese sandwiches.  Twelve and a half miles.  Seven hours.  Us.  This mountain.

 

After four days in El Calafate, we boarded a bus headed north.  Three hours later, we were in El Chalten, a small colorful town situated next to Parc Nacional Los Glaciares (“Glaciers National Park”).  El Chalten means “peak of fire” or “smoking mountain” (due to a cloud that usually surrounds its peak) and is considered the northern gateway to the park.  El Chalten was founded in 1985 and its main attractions are its world-class hiking trails, many of which start right in town.     

 Bottom right photo is of the cabana we stayed in.  It was #totes #adorbs.

Within the park is the Fitz Roy mountain range, the de facto trekking capital of Argentina.  The Fitz Roy range is part of the Andes mountain range.  Cerro Fitz Roy is the highest peak in the Fitz Roy range, with a maximum elevation of 11,171 feet.  Cerro Fitz Roy is one of the most technically challenging mountains in the world for climbers.  Cerro Fitz Roy is also the mountain featured in the logo for the Patagonia clothing company.

Photo credit: HBO, Patagonia

Today we hiked conquered the trek leading to Laguna de los Tres.  Laguna de los Tres is a high alpine tarn (noun, mountain lake or pool formed in a hole excavated by a glacier) with breath-taking views of Cerro Fitz Roy. 

We started at the trail head at El Pilar, located 17 kilometers to the north of El Chalten.  Our plan was to hike south—first to Laguna de los Tres, then back into town.

Before we started the hike, Viv warmed up by doing some dabbing. 

 

 

Top: Viv, Bottom: Other dabbers (they were not on our hike)

Photo credit: Gokudabbing

We then started our trek through forests, enjoying lovely views of the valley, glaciers, lagoons and campgrounds.  Laguna de los Tres is the most beautiful hiking trail I’ve ever been on.  Ant agreed.

Let me count three ways: 

1. Views of Cerro Fitz Roy.  On arriving at the highest point on the trail at Laguna de lost Tres, we were rewarded by majestic views of Cerro Fitz Roy, the glacier de los Tres, and its lagoon.  
    
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
    
2. Glaciers.  I didn’t even know glaciers could exist LITERALLY IN MOUNTAIN RANGES AND NOT IN WATER.  Did they teach us this in school?!  I really felt like I was sick that day or something.  Most of these pictures are of the Piedras Blancas glacier, whose name means “white stones” in Spanish. We were able to view the PB from various viewpoints along the trail.
    
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
    
3. Diversity of terrain and vegetation.  Given that El Chalten has an unpredictable subpolar oceanic climate in which summers (which it is now) can be cool, windy and wet, the Laguna de los Tres trail was lush with trees and plants of all kinds.
    
   
    
   
   
    
   
   
   
   

Next stop: Bariloche