Tierra del Fuego - Amazing two day hike to the Laguna del Caminante

Tierra del Fuego and especially it's national park offer amazing landscapes for trekking. However my best trekking experience started barely 3 kilometres from the centre of Ushuaia. I originally spotted this hike from a guide office's web site. However, because of the easter all the guides were booked, so I decided to rent a tent and a sleeping bag and do the hike myself. FYI, I am confident in moving in the nature thanks to more than two years in the military and my background in orienteering and hunting.

The trek started with a ascent up the Valley des Ojones. A forested narrow valley with a glacier at the end. The colours of early autumn was at their best and every now and then we managed to get a view from over the treeline.

The back of the valley was over the treeline, but the numerous streams from the glaciers above allowed unreal, green grass fields to blossom. We also spotted some wild horses enjoying the flora.

The valley ended in a high rocky pass between two snow-covered mountain tops. The pass was steep to climb and very windy, but manageable even with heavy backpacks.

On the other side of the pass we descended down the mountain ridge and traversed the backside of the mountain before reaching the beautiful, turquoise Laguna del Caminante, our spot for camping overnight.

The lake got it's water from a stream, which formed an amazing waterfall just above our campsite.

The first of our group woke up to watch the sun rise over the lake.

We started the second day with a hike to the main valley, Andorra Valley. The valley was broader than the one we hiked the first day, but included numerous crossings of the mountain streams, mainly by balancing on the fallen trees set up as bridges over the streams.

The best part of the hike was that during the two days, we didn't meet a single other person, which was pretty amazing considering we only were approx. 20km from Ushuaia. For inexperienced hikers, I absolutely recommend booking a guide. However, if you are convenient moving in the nature, this hike is certainly possible to do on your own, given that you have waterproof outdoor equipment, and don't panic even though the path can be very unclear, even non-existent from time to time. Also book extra time for your hikes. Even though the first day hike was only approximately 15 kilometres, the steep terrain made us use 9 hours even though we progressed with decent speed.