Hiking Ushuaia

At sunrise we woke up, ate a quick breakfast of oats and dulce de leche, packed the tent and hit the trail. The first 5kms of the hike was on a path close to the road, but eventually we turned off and headed into the patagonian forest. We spent a few hours hiking through the lush spring forest, enjoying the shelter from the constant wind and rain. Eventually the path opened up and we reached the first peat wetland of the trail. The wetlands lie in the old glacier basins and have a fascinating range of multicolored mosses and plants. Unfortunately for me, having left my waterproof socks at home, this was the last time I would have dry feet for days.

We hiked up to a public access cabin where we had planned to sleep the first night. Unfortunately it was closed for some reason, so we decided to push on forward. Our trail crossed a river, however by the time we arrived after a long day of rain and melting snow, the river was much to high and the current much too strong for us to cross it. Exhausted and quickly running out of daylight, we pushed forward along the side of the river in search of a decent spot. After climbing over endless beaver dams and navigating difficult terrain along the riverbank, we came across a spot that looked solid enough to ensure we could sleep without being swallowed by the wetland. It was a little closer to the river than we would have liked, but it was elevated enough to be out of the flood plain. To be extra cautious, we also requested the weather via the inreach satellite communicator (no rain was forecast) and set alarms to check the river every few hours through the night.

When we awoke, the mountains were frosted in snow, but thankfully the river had subsided substantially. We could therefore make the river crossing and continue the hike. We trudged through more wetlands, which mysteriously continued up the mountain, traversing the odd snow drift, until we began to reach the ridge line. As we crested it, we were greeted by stunning views of the next valley and winds that seemed fixed on blowing us right back down the slope we had just climbed. After finding a sheltered spot, we ate some lunch and looked at the map. The route we had to follow went directly up the mountain pass at the end of the valley, but unfortunately it was still covered in meters of snow. After two long days of incredibly arduous hiking, striving to push forward, we had to make the difficult decision to turn back. It was certainly difficult to deal with, as after coming so far and overcoming so many challenges, the last thing I wanted to do was turn back. But saftey took the priority, and we made the right call.

Naturally, the way back down was much quicker, and we made it to another campsite just as night was setting in. We slept a cold night, and struggled with mysterious rain that seemed to be falling inside the tent, even when it clearly wasn't raining outside. When I popped my head out of the tent the next morning, the cause of our problems become frustratingly clear. It had snowed the whole night, and the weight of the snow on the tent had caused the fly sheet to press against the inner tent, whose warmth had melted the snow and caused the rain. Making coffee that morning everything was cold and stiff. After forcing ourselves to eat a quick breakfast, we hiked out to the main road, hitched a lift back to Ushuaia and ate a second, much more satisfying, breakfast.Read more