Fitz Roy Expedition

The most famous hike in Patagonia is the W-trek. It is a four day trek that follows the shape of a W in the Torres del Paine National Park. Unfortunately, due to its popularity it was a bit out of our budget so we decided to skip it and hopefully make the money go further somewhere else. In the search for an alternative, we gravitated towards the Los Glaciers National Park in Argentina. The north section of the park is home to the famous Mt Fitz Roy (the mountain also makes up the logo of the clothing brand Patagonia) and a few other stunning attractions. Access to the park is also free and there are a few campgrounds without facilities that are also open access. We therefore decided to plan a trek in the north section of the park, starting from the town of El Chalten.

Puzzling over the map, one route jumped out at us. It was three days of trekking connecting two different campgrounds. The first campground, Camp Poincenot, was close to the base of Mount Fitz Roy. The second camp, Camp Augustini, was situated just below the Laguna Torre. It was incredibly achievable in terms of kilometers, with each of the three days being around 10km.

We arrived in El Chalten, a small hiking town near the trails that exists solely for hiking and has only been around for the last 30 years. Our accommodation was a big hostel attached to a 24 hour restaurant. It was definitely a strange setup for a hostel. Showering and brushing your teeth next to a confused restaurant patron takes a bit of getting used to. It was, however, a good base camp and we had plenty time to gather supplies and prep our gear. We also found out that another traveler we had met a few days earlier would also be in the area, so we decided to all hike together.

We set out with the most beautiful weather. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and there was not a single cloud. Unlike most of our other adventures in Patagonia up to date, which have been horrifically windy, the air was stagnant except for the heat shimmering off the rocks. The trail began about 80 meters from our hostel and looped back around so that we ascended alongside the town. We spent the first few kilometers peacefully meandering through the lush forests on the mountain until we crested the Ridge and were greeted by the surreal view of the luscious green valley and snow capped peaks. The views looked almost fake, like some kind if lowbrow screensaver from the 90s.

The views continued to improve with each break in the trees. Eventually we reached a fork in the road where we absentmindedly chose the route via the Fitz Roy viewpoint. This turned out to be one of our luckier decisions to date, and we were rewarded with the best view of Mt Fitz Roy we would see the whole trip. The peak of Fitz Roy seemed to touch the panoramic blue sky with only a few white clouds scattered around.

The hike continued relatively easily through the valley, and every now and then we were rewarded with views of the odd glacier or peak. The glacier Piedras Blancas was especially fascinating, as from the valley it looked like it was about to fall off the mountain. Later, while setting up camp, we were stopped in our tracks by a massive rumbling sound, which we were told was the glacier calving, dropping house-sized chunks of ice into the valley.
We couldn’t resist the allure of Fitz Roy. So even though it wasn’t what we had planned, we decided to ascend to the lagoon at the base of the tower that evening. As we got higher, we began to notice that we were walking in deeper and deeper snow. All of us had seen photos of the bright blue lagoon and were completely surprised to see that it was completely frozen and covered in snow. While not what we expected, the white lagoon and slopes leading up to the tower felt like another world. Hard to believe that it was only an hour or two from where we were camping. We enjoyed the sun dipping below the mountain and headed back.

Because once wasn’t enough, we decided to climb up again in the morning with headlamps and try to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, on the way up I began to notice the effects of the cold I’d been harboring for the last couple of days, and with a racing heart and struggling lungs, I slowed down to a crawl. This, combined with a very icy trail, meant that we missed the sunrise. The morning sun hitting the mountains was still definitely worth the climb, and after enjoying the place to ourselves, we descended for breakfast.

Day two was another day of perfect weather and easy walking. Once camp was made, we walked up to the Laguna Torres, not sure what to expect. The lagoon was scattered with icebergs, some of them easily the size of a truck. We really wanted to take a dip with the icebergs, but we decided the weather was just too nippy. The third day simply consisted of walking back to El Chalten. Each kilometer got slower and hotter. We could really feel we were running out of energy, and the last kilometer was a real push. Eventually we made it back to town, and ended our expedition slumped over a cold coke and a hot plate of chips.Read more