El Chaltén Day 3

Our last big hike for a while was today. We woke up early, around 5am, and drove from the campsite to the parking lot for the Laguna de Los Tres hike. This hike is the most popular in El Chaltén and leads to the iconic Cerro Fitzroy.

We had some quick breakfast while we got dressed and packed a bag for hiking. We began hiking around 6am, skipping past the extortionate $45 per person ticket booth that wasn't manned yet ($90 for both of us to hike 20+ km, I think not).

The first few kilometers were a steady incline through a forest. There were a couple of clearing early on that looked out onto a river down below as well as El Chaltén to the right of the river. The path was relatively flat with some rockier parts, but nothing difficult. After about the third kilometer, the path split, one side going to a viewpoint of the mountain and another towards a lake. We opted for the viewpoint and decided to do the other route on our way back down. It was about another kilometer on the steady uphill to the viewpoint. There were a couple wispy clouds, but it looked like it was shaping up to be a clear and beautiful day (just like the forecast said).

Not long after the viewpoint, the trail flattened out for a good 6-7 kilometers. It was a nice break from previous hikes with constant ups and downs and clambering over rocks. We got to chill out a bit here and build up some energy for the difficult finale of the trail. We walked across a few streams, luckily with bridges (no repeats of the W trek...). We also walked through a campsite a few kilometres from the top of Cerro Fitzroy.

The last couple kilometers were very tough. Not only were they rocky, but also incredibly steep. Progress was slow, and at times, looking straight up at the zigzagging rocky ladder it felt like I was climbing, I became disheartened. I kept climbing and climbing, trying not to worry about the fact I'd have to try and get down too, and eventually, reached the top. Legs shaking, we walked the last small uphill to the area overlooking the mountains and the lake.

We stayed at the top for almost two hours. We had some snacks, took pictures, and Allan also went back down the hill to get closer to the lake. We stayed there long enough that all of the clouds cleared at one point and we had a pristine view of bright blue skies, Cerro Fitzroy, and the icy blue Laguna de Los Tres. While we sat relaxing and looking at the gray peaks in front of us, we saw some climbers making their way around the lake to the climbers camp tucked away on the other side at the base of Fitzroy. We also saw some people midway up climbing the glacier on their way to climb Fitzroy. Totally crazy!

Eventually, the time came to make our way back down. I was getting rather antsy about making our climb back down. As expected, it was not easy, but I was glad that we made the painstaking climb early in the morning when the sun wasn't super hot yet. Watching, and frequently stopping, to let people up was making our trip down very slow. But they looked hot and exhausted on the way up (I was too, but at least I wasn't dripping in sweat from the heat on the way up).

Finally, we were down and done with the toughest part of the hike. I was really looking forward to the flat chunk in the middle! We spoke the other route on the way back that brought us to Laguna Capri. There was a campsite nearby, but it also looked like people would hike the 4 kilometers here to go to the beach. The water was a nice crisp blue, different from the icy blue of the glacier lakes. It looked very refreshing, and we could still just see Fitzroy peaking out. We continued the trail through the forest enjoying the slight downhill propelling us forward. I was also fueled by the knowledge we wouldn't be hiking again for awhile. Allan was fueled by the promise of cookies we'd left in the car.

Once we made it back down, I was relieved and felt accomplished. The hike was the longest I'd done distance wise. We drove back to the campsite, chilled out for a couple hours, and then walked into town for some dinner. We stopped at Patagonicus and had some pasta and half a pizza. It did the job (and was a lot of carbs after the big hike). We also bought a Patagonia beer from the shop and enjoyed that back at the campsite while we watched our last sunset in Patagonia. Because the sky was still clear, we had a pretty good view of Fitzroy as the sun went down.

Not long after the sun has set, we got ready for bed. This is our fourth and final night of sleeping in the car at El Chaltén. It actually hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, but I certainly hope we don't make a habit of it!Læs mere