El Chalten - Hiking Laguna Torre

After a few days in El Calafate, my dad and I took the bus to El Chalten, which is said to be the hiking capital of Argentina. We would stay there for just after new year, which gave us plenty of time to explore the surroundings and hopefully stunning hikes.

The bus ride to El Chalten was already a good start and among the most spectacular ones that I have ever been on, as the beautiful Andean mountain range unfolded directly in front of us against a bright blue sky. It was also the first time that we could see the Fitz Roz mountain peak, which is famous due to its presence at the heart of the logo of the clothing brand Patagonia.

The next day, the two of us went on our first hike to Laguna Torre. It would be 9km one-way hike and even though the sign suggested it is a medium-difficult hike, it was mostly flat and not really hard for both of us - apart from maybe the beginning which was a bit of an ascent.

Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy and the peaks of the mountains were kind of covered in the clouds, but we were hopeful that throughout the hike, the sky would clear so we would get a perfect close-up view of the mountains.

The hike itself was nice, but nothing to write home about. It gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs and introduce us to the regional flora and fauna. The endpoint, by contrast, was quite cool, as it ended in a lake with floating chunks of ice and the mountain range and a glacier rising right behind the lake. Upon arriving, it was quite windy, so we found ourselves a nice little spot by the lake that was wind-protected, had our packed lunch and enjoyed the stunning scenery. We also picked out some ice chunks from the lake and had some fun with those. Dad also took a little nap while I was trying to figure out a few cool shots.

We stayed there for quite a while, before we were heading to a little viewpoint on the side of the lake to get a better glance at a glacier that was a bit hidden from our current location.

Going up to the viewpoint (a mere 5-10 minute walk), the wind was so strong that at times we had to take cover. Rarely have I ever experienced winds like that. Since we were walking up on a ridge, we were fully exposed to the elements with hardly any cover besides a few large rocks. I am gonna be honest, it was kinda fun, though! At the viewpoint, we enjoyed the view of the glacier for a short while and tried to get some shots in, which was rather challenging, as the wind blew us off any stones that we tried to stand for a cool shot.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite clear, even though we started to see patches of blue skies and hoped that the sun would be strong enough to push through. So, on our way back, we constantly looked over our shoulders to see if we could see the entire mountain, but to no avail - the clouds were too strong that day.

It was nonetheless a cool destination and a good introduction to hiking on the Argentinean side of Patagonia. We were slightly exhausted after 18km of hiking, but happy to have done it. Plus, the weather forecast for the next day looked very promising, so we were hyped up as we were planning to do the most famous hike in all of Argentina - to Fitz Roy!Read more