El Chaltén – Argentina’s Hiking Heaven
Due northwest of El Calafate, El Chaltén is a town with hiking at its core. All of the trails start (and finish) at the town, so we did not have to move Big Bertha.
We bumped into the Happy Family, who we last met in Torres del Paine, and weren’t so happy; their truck’s batteries were flat (listening to too much Belinda Carlisle). Big Bertha stepped up and we jump started the truck and Happy Family were happy again.
Our hikes
| Day | Hike | Distance | Height | Timing |
| 1 | Laguna de los Tres / Mirador Piedras Blancas | 20km | 750m | 06:00 – 16:00 (10 hours) |
| 2 | Mirador Los Condores and Mirador Las Águilas | 5km | 100m | 17:00- 19:00 (2 hours) |
| 3 | Laguna Torre | 22km | 250m | 06:00-14:00 (8 hours) |
| 4 | Loma del Pliegue Tumbado | 17km | 738m | 07:30-14:00 (6.5 hours) |
| TOTALS | 64km | 1,838m | 26.5 hours |
Our first hike was the forbidding Laguna de los Tres. We set off at 6am to beat the hoards that flock to this iconic hike. The first 8km was a gentle climb, but then the warning signs relating to the final 2km climb to the laguna stood prominently alongside the trail – 400m gain over 1km. Steep!! We buckled down and slowly slogged up the mountain. The view from the top was awesome and, because we had started at 6am, long before the tour buses arrived, there were relatively few people there. After feasting on our packed lunch and beer (there were definitely some ‘I wish I had thought of that’ faces when we cracked the latter open), we took our selfies and headed back down the slope.
To vary our route we detoured to the Mirador Piedras Blancas and from there to the El Pilar hostel, where we thumbed a lift back to El Chaltén. We arrived back with Big Bertha at 5pm, fairly comatose. We showered, ate Pizza and just about made it to our bed.
The next day was a rest day. We made a short hike to a Mirador just outside of town to take pictures of the town with Mount Fitzroy behind, then had a lunch of delicious empanadas with salad. In the evening we climbed to two Miradors overlooking the town. Fantastic views from both.
The day after was another 6am start, this time to Laguna Torre. This was a fairly level hike in comparison, but quite long at 22km. Again, the views were stunning and coming over the final rise, to be greeted by the laguna with icebergs floating in it, the glacier behind and the mountains surrounding us was just incredible.
On our last day in El Chaltén we climbed towards, but didn’t quite reach, the Mirador Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. It was all uphill for 8km, but there was beautiful scenery and we managed to survive the wild cows! [Francine: We might have abandoned the hike if we had understood the sign (only translated it when we got back), as there was one large bull near to the sign that had been bellowing and kicking up dirt.]. Back in town, we treated ourselves to very nice artisan IPA beer.
And that concluded our stay in El Chaltén – a hiking Mecca.
To our delight with the amazing sceneries from the “top of the world” high up in the mountains hiked to over 26.5 hours by Dave’s “definitely NOT old legs”, this time with Francine in accompaniment, we continue to savour the truly remarkable moments of the adventures of the trio with Big Bertha always selflessly helping out in times of need – towing trucks stuck in the mud or buses conked out in the middle of nowhere or shielding other trucks from the wind or, as now, making the Happy Family happy again. Never going to tire of the three’s adventures.
We are looking forward to watching Episode 2 of Simon Reeve “Wilderness” when he seems to be going to the same places as you. No doubt the buses will be edited out of shot 🙂
(Available on BBC iPlayer)
Inspired picnic choices 😄😉
Love the views, a fair reward for all the hard slog 🙂
That’s quite some ground that you both covered over a few days, surrounded by what looks like truly spectacular scenery. Well done. Like the video clips too, and won’t read anything into Francine always seeming to be walking away from you Dave 🙂
Thanks Nigel! It really was spectacular. We are back in May if you are down our way..
Loved this latest walking adventure
From “Three [Two] Go To El Chaltén’s Top”, we learnt that “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”!
From “Three [Two] Go To El Chalten’s Top”, we learnt that “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”!
Wow! I’m worn out just reading it (ha ha)
The views look spectacular and well worth the hard slog!
Can’t wait for your next instalment. 🐂