I departed El Calafate on a reasonably comfortable, spacious,
and on-time bus for the 3-hour drive to the smaller town and tourist mecca of
El Chalten. The drive was gorgeous,
trailing along the side of Lake Argentino, and then picking up views of Lake
Viedma and the Viedma Glacier a bit later on.
El Chalten basically sits within the Glaciers National Park, which extends
from down near El Calafate (including the Perito Moreno Glacier) all the way
north to here. It is known for its excellent
hiking trails, and a mandatory induction at the national park’s visitor centre
helped me plan out my four nights / three full days there.
Mount Fitzroy towers over the small town and it was out in all
its glory upon my arrival.
Unfortunately, it decided to hide behind the clouds after that until the
morning of my departure, but I didn’t let some cloud cover stop me.
On my first full day, I went out for a 20km hike to the
Laguna de Los Tres (Lake of the Three).
I opted to take a bus from the town to another entrance to the trail
some 30 minutes away so that I could see different views on the walk to the
lookout and the walk back to town. The first
9km of the trail was relatively flat and manageable, with views of the Piedras Blancas
Glacier hanging off the mountains. The last
1km up to the look was indeed just that:
up. And it was a doozy! Steep and a bit rocky, I made it up to the
top out of energy, but had some snacks to refuel. The viewpoint at the lake was very pretty, but
Mount Fitzroy – the highlight of the lookout point – was completely behind the
clouds. Bah!
At least I burned some calories. And at least it didn’t rain!
I awoke on my second full day to some light rain, but I wasn’t
going to let weather dampen my trip. I got
dressed, but on my hiking boots, and trekked the twelve minutes into town for a
2.5 hour spa treatment featuring an hour-long full body massage, a half-hour foot
massage, a foot regeneration treatment, and a decongestive treatment for my
legs, where they were wrapped in freezing cold towels for quite some time to enhance
circulation. Or something like that. And by the time my treatment was finished, the
sun had come out and I had time for a short hike (around 7km round trip) to
some lookouts just on the edge of the town.
Mirador Condores (Condors Lookout) had views over El Chalten,
and true to its name, it had heaps of condors flying overhead, including one
that came super close to me! The nearby
Mirador Aguilas (Eagles Lookout) had stunning views over Lake Viedma and its
floating icebergs.
My third and final full day featured a hike that was equally
as long as the first hike, but much flatter.
The destination was the viewpoint at Laguna Torre, featuring Cerro Torre
towering over the lake. Just like Mount
Fitzroy on day 1, Cerro Torre was also covered in clouds the whole time, but
the hike was pleasant anyway, with some lovely viewpoints of lakes and
waterfalls.
Of course, the morning I left was sunny and clear and everything
was out in full view. But that’s ok – at
least it didn’t rain too much and at least I had beautiful days the week before
in Torres del Paine National Park.
I should, of course, mention the food in El Chalten. There was some fantastic culinary options for
all sorts. I had a beautiful lamb ravioli
on my first night, and an incredible wild risotto on my final night at a little
restaurant and wine bar called La Bicicleta.
I treated my self to a pizza and brownie a la mode after my big strenuous
hike on day one, had some (lacklustre) nachos, and some delicious empanadas. I may or may not have visited the Domo Blanco
ice cream shop three times in four days, and I even found a little Colombian café
with arepas and good coffee!
I would definitely recommend El Chalten as a great place to
come hike and relax. From there, I took
the bus back to El Calafate to catch a flight down to the “End of the Earth”, Ushuaia. More about that next time, but first, let me
take a selfie!
