El Chaltén

Another fantastic bus ride with great mountain views took us to El Chaltén. This small, somewhat remote place, which lives exclusively from tourism, is also located in the Los Glaciares National Park and is included in any classic Patagonia route.

The advantage here is that you can start your hikes directly from the town instead of having to drive long distances as you usually do in Patagonia. Unfortunately, since the end of last year, there are also horrendous parking fees for every visit here - whether it's a short walk or a big hike - which, combined with the high costs of accommodation and food in the town, can be a bit discouraging. But now that we are already here, the costs in Euros matter less and less. We enjoy the great conditions in Europe, where access to nature is mostly free.

The town is in a constant state of work-in-progress; nothing is really finished. Even in our accommodation, floors were missing, the water pressure was almost zero, and the temperature could only be regulated at full blast through a very small window opening due to a non-adjustable underfloor heating system.

All of that was forgotten as soon as we had a chance to catch a glimpse of the magnificent mountain backdrop on our first short hike. And the wind was blowing, and the condors were circling above our heads - splendid!

A longer hike followed to Laguna Torre, a glacial lake with a great view of the glaciers and small icebergs. 

Again, the next day we hiked in the best weather on the opposite side, where we were overwhelmed by a postcard panorama with fully visible peaks of Cerro Torre, Torre Egger, and Fitz Roy.

But as beautiful as the weather was that day, it was just as bad the next. From the Rio Electrico a few kilometers from El Chaltén, we wanted to hike to Laguna de los Tres, a hike that Marike has dreamed about for a long time. It was raining in the morning, and the clouds hung so low that nothing could be seen of the mountain range. Nevertheless, we started out, as it is said that the weather in Patagonia never stays the same for long. After our ride with the mini taxi ended earlier than expected because another car got stuck on a bridge, we trudged off in a drizzle, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, that did not happen - surprisingly, there was no wind at all throughout the day, the clouds hung low in the valley, and it rained beautifully. The hike was still enjoyable, except for the fact that no damn mountain wanted to appear (luckily, we could see a bit of the Piedras Blancas glacier on the way). But the 20 km in the rain were a drag. With heavy hearts, we decided to skip the last kilometer/the last 400 meters of altitude, as it just didn’t make sense to ascend to the lagoon in freezing rain with zero visibility. One can’t have it all!

The next day the weather was better again, but we couldn't gather the motivation to repeat the hike. So we just went for a stroll in the valley to a small waterfall. The path was lovely, but the waterfall was disgustingly overcrowded since you could almost drive there completely by car.

The nature in this little corner of the Earth is truly beautiful, and we felt a bit envious of the more nature-oriented and tougher types around us, who could dive even deeper into nature with longer treks and (ice) climbing than we could.

It was beautiful, onward we go!