Trekking El Chaltén – Argentina´s capital of trekking
El Chalten was founded in 1985 for geopolitical reasons, after a border dispute between Argentina and Chile, concerning the lake called “Lago del Desierto”. So it is quite a new town, very little developed. In time it became known as a trekking capital, with a network of trails joining their most popular attractions: mounts Fitz Roy and Torre, both very popular among climbers from around the world. El Chalten is a very small town located Southwest in the province of Santa Cruz, part of the Argentinian Patagonia. The nearest airport is El Calafate, 215 km away (3 hours drive). From Calafate you can reach Chalten by private vehicle or public transportation. There are several bus companies offering regular services between Calafate and Chalten.
El Chalten is located inside the National Park Los Glaciares. But at present you do not have to pay any entrance fee to enter the town or the trails (this can change any time). Very important: in Chalten there are no ATMs and most stores do not accept credit cards, so it is advisable taking cash (in local currency) with you. For lodgment you can find hotels, hosterias, hostels, cabins and campsites.
The best time to visit Chalten is during Summer: from November to March. This is a rainy región so it can rain every day and evenings are always cold. Strong winds are very usual here.
A tip: supplies in Chalten are expensive and options are limited. We suggest buying your supplies in El Calafate.
My first trek was to Pliegue Tumbado (7-8 hours round trip) that is only worth with a clear sky. From the top you have a wonderfull view on mounts Fitz Roy, Torre, Viedma glacier, the Rio de las Vueltas valley, Capri, Madre and Hija lagoons, and the town itself. I suggest starting as early as possible to have a pleasant walk enjoying the trip. Do not forget sun protection (as most part of the trail runs outside the forest), water (as there is nowhere to refill your bottle) and your packed lunch. The trail starts in town (you do not need any transfer) and climbs gently up, running through an arid region at first, then crossing a thick forest until reaching stony ground. The last part of the trail goes up and down several slopes with lose stones that can make the climbing a bit difficult. The last hill is the steepest one but once you reach the top you get an impressive view on the mounts Fitz Roy and Torre with its lakes and glaciers. This hike is not the most popular one and it is not the most offered one either. But in my opinion it is really worth. The only condition is to have a sunny day and without clouds. So you will get astonishing views like this:
My next hike was to Poincenot base camp. You can do this as a full day trek returning to Chalten the same day or you can camp at Poincenot. The total distance was 10 km and it took me 3 hours walk with my backpack as I was going to camp there that night. The trail starts in town (there is a big sign indicating the start point) and at the beginning it is very steap, so I walked slowly and did several stops. As soon as you get closer to the camp site you can have a closer look to the mount Fitz Roy. Poincenot is the closest base camp for trekkers to mount Fitz Roy. The camp site has no services so you have to carry your own food and tent.
Close to it there is Rio Blanco based camp, but only for rock-climbers. Poincenot camp is a very crowded place so at night it can get a bit noisy. From this base camp you can see mount Fitz Roy in first line. I suggest waking before sunrise to see the entire massif becoming red and orange before the sun goes up. From the camp site I took a short very steep trail to reach “Laguna de los Tres” and “Laguna Sucia”. This short trail took me 1 hour to climb it. Once arrived to the lagoon you will have the best view of Fitz Roy!! This is a very good place to spend some hours enjoying the landscape and having lunch, off course!.
From Poincenot you can also do a short walk to Piedras Blancas glacier, that is a tiny very beautiful glacier.
Another beautifull walk you can do is to mount Torre. It is possible to reach mount Torre from Poincenot camp, or do it as a full day trek from Chalten. I did this last option. The distance from Chalten to Torre lagoon is 11 Km. It took me 5 hours round trip. The trail starts in the town and it climbs constantly but smooth. Once at the lagoon you can see a wonderful view on mount Torre and its glacier.
A strong wind was blowing that day. I had to hide behind big stones to have my lunch. At moments the wind blew so strong you felt you could almost lay on it and it would hold you. Nearby you can find De Agostini base camp. We did not camp there but it is a good option if you come from Capri lagoon.
My following destination was Lago del Desierto. This lake is located 37 Km away from Chalten so a transfer is needed. There are no regular transfers to the lake. You have to hire a private one at any of the agencies in town. This unpaved road runs aside the river called “Rio de las Vueltas” and the drive was very slowly as the road was in bad conditions. Once arrived to the lake there is a small pier to embark on motor boats that take you to the North end of the lake. Close to the pier starts a trail that leads you to the Huemul glacier. We took one of the motor boats to cross the lake to the North end, where a detachment of the Argentinian border police is located. There is no official campsite there but police allow you to camp on the lake shore. Off course the camp site has no services and you have to carry your own food. From there you have an astonishing view on the lake and mount Fitz Roy.
Next day I took the trail to Laguna del Diablo (the translation would be Hell Lake). This is a very long trail so I suggest starting as early as posible as you may spend some time to find the trail. We started at 8 AM and it took us 10 hours round trip. The ground is flat mostly, but the trail is not well marked. We lost it many times and that slowed us down. There was also no sign indicating if we were on the right path, nor distances. The trail runs mostly through a thick forest. Although it was raining that day we did not get wet inside the forest. On the way we had to cross several streams. As there are no footbridges here the streams have to be waded across. You can get a bit wet but nothing serious. As we were reaching the end of the trail the forest got less thick and that was when we got really wet to the bones because of the rain. Finally we reached a small refuge (it only has one tiny table, a tiny Wood-burner and a tiny floorboard as bed). Luckily, we found a couple in the refuge and they offered us a hot tea that helped to warm up (we only had some cold food for lunch). After having our quick lunch and having dried our cloths a bit we turned back towards our camp site. If I ever went back to that place, I would definitely camp there. The place is surrounded by forests and mountains. It is really beautiful!! And the silence is only interrupted by some bird singing.
This area is supposed to be inhabited by “huemules” (a typical Patagonian deer almost extinct). Of course, we did not see them. The following day we could see a group of policemen heading up to the mountains to look for those huemules as they had not seen them for a long time.
Another interesting camp to visit is Piedra del Fraile. On the same road leading to “Lago del Desierto”, there is a drift at the river “Electrico” where you can find a trail that leads you to Piedra del Fraile. This was a 6 km long hike and it took us 2h 15min of easy walk. The trail has almost no grade and it runs through a forest of lengas (one of the native trees in Patagonia). We had this misty rain during out entire walk. In Piedra del Fraile there is a camp site called Los Troncos and dormis (hostel-like). As Piedra del Fraile is located on prívate ground, you have to pay for camping and also for entering the private property. We decided to camp here. From this place you can start the expedition that takes you to the continental ice field. We had the idea of walking only to Maconi Pass and Cuadrado Pass. But it rained 3 days in a rough, and we were stuck there. All other people left as soon as the rain started. The problem with the rain is that coulds are so low that you cannot see any landscape. Stones get slippery so you cannot do much walking. And our tent had a leak. So we just stayed there until out food runo ut and returned to Chalten.
As you can see Chalten is a destination for nature lovers. Most hikes can be done as a full day returning to your hotel in town, without need for camping. There are also short walks that take you only a few hours from town for those people not so interested in long treks. In Chalten you can also do birdwatching, horse back riding, rafting or ice climbing. The mínimum stay I suggest would be 3 or 4 days. But you can also stay 2 weeks. Most trails are all well marked and can be done on your own. Just keep in mind this is Patagonia and you can have rain and strong wind almost every day, so take the suitable clothing with you.
