Cerro Torre – Thursday 23.11.2023
After a very restful night, I woke up to my alarm at 7:30am. Despite the outside temperature being 2 degrees, I didn’t freeze in my tent and it was cozy and warm in my good sleeping bag.
I had a quick breakfast in the campsite’s common room and then packed my backpack. Since I wanted to sleep at the campsite again this evening, I left my tent there and only packed a few things in my backpack.
I was happy to finally be able to hike again. As today’s destination I chose Laguna Torres, the mountain lake under one of the most famous mountains in Patagonia.
After just a few meters I left the last houses behind me and climbed up a small mountain. For some time it was easy going up and down in the beautiful landscape.
After a few kilometers I was able to take my first look at the impressive mountain panorama in front of me. Cerro Torre was clearly visible and after a few pictures I continued on my way there.
It went along a river for a while through fairly flat area. There were smaller bushes next to me and I could hear the rushing water. In front of me I saw the mountains, which were clearly visible thanks to the fairly nice weather.
After a final climb I reached the mountain lake. While the higher mountains in front of me were reflected in the water, there were also some chunks of ice floating around in it.
Overall, the view was very impressive and so I took a break right by the water to make myself a coffee and enjoy the view.
Then I climbed further up a moraine along the lake towards the mountains. The further back I went, the better I could see the glacier below the high peaks. At the end of the path I sit on a stone again to observe the glacier more closely.
About 15 minutes later I made my way back.
Since I didn’t want to walk back the same way, I turned off just before the beginning of the lake and continued walking through a small forest. However, it wasn’t particularly big and so I was on the way out again.
But since I was walking in the other direction, I was still able to observe a lot of new things and enjoy nature. As I walked through the area, other hikers kept coming towards me. Some even went with a guide, which surprised me given this simple, well-developed and well-marked path.
After almost 6.5 hours I reached El Chaltén again and walked back to the campsite. I took a short break there and then went looking for something to eat.
In a small snack shop I bought one of the beef loin sandwiches known for this area, which actually tasted extremely good.
When I had finished eating, I bought food for the next few days and then it started to get dark so I went back to my tent to rest there and go to sleep later.
Fitz Roy – Friday 24.11.2023
Since the first hike went so well yesterday and the weather was good for the next few days, I decided to start a two-day hike today.
So today I woke up again at 8:30, had a quick breakfast and then took down my tent. Before I set off on my tour, I briefly went to the tourist information center to clarify a few things for the next few days. Afterwards I bought a sandwich at a bakery and finally set off for my second tour.
First I had to walk to the back end of El Chaltén. There I left the place and went back to the national park.
It was a steep climb straight away and with the high temperatures I quickly started sweating. There was a lot going on on the way again and so sometimes my progress was slow.
After the first climb I was immediately rewarded with a beautiful panorama.
Then I continued uphill through the forest and soon I came across Laguna Capri, from where I got a wonderful view of Fitz Roy, the highest mountain in the area. Afterwards I continued through the forest and soon I reached a small plateau, which I hiked through for some time. From here I had a view of the beautiful mountains the whole time and with the good weather, hiking was really fun.
At the end of the plateau I reached my sleeping place for the night. I set up my tent for the night in the free campsite, which only consisted of pitches in the forest and a very basic toilet. Since it was only 2 p.m., I took a short nap and then had a relaxing coffee. It didn’t take me long to climb to Lago de los Tres and I was able to avoid the tourists who all had to go back to El Chaltén.
At around 4 p.m. I started the climb to the lake again. While I was walking up the mountain, I passed a lot of people, some of whom looked very exhausted and obviously didn’t have the right shoes for the scree. Some clearly had problems with the rocky terrain. While I waited for the path in front of me to clear again, I kept looking at the landscape behind me, which was very impressive due to its sheer endless expanse.
After a while I reached the mountain lake and thus the destination of today’s tour. In fact, most of the tourists had already left and there were relatively few people still up there.
Here’s another panoramic view.
After enjoying the view from above for a while, I descended to the lake, which was still completely frozen over at this time of year and was therefore particularly interesting to look at.
I was one of the last to start the descent again around 7:30 so that I could arrive at the campsite in the daylight and still have enough time for dinner. Since there wasn’t much going on, I made quick progress and was soon back at the bottom of my tent.
I filled up my water at a small river and then relaxed and cooked some pasta with tomato sauce and today I even had parmesan cheese with me to at least enhance my meal a little.
After dinner I chatted with two Germans from Stuttgart who had pitched their tent next to mine. When it got dark shortly before 10 a.m., we went to our tents to sleep.
Lago Piedras Blancas – Saturday 25.11.2023
Yesterday I was still thinking about whether I should get up at 4:30 and go up to the mountain lake again to enjoy the sunrise from there. Since I was exhausted from yesterday’s tour, I decided against it and preferred to sleep longer this morning. As it turned out, that was a good decision because the weather wasn’t as good as yesterday and the mountains were in the clouds.
So I had a leisurely breakfast and then relaxed and took down my tent.
While the two boys from Stuttgart made their way to a viewing point for the Fitz Roy, I decided due to the weather to take a shorter hike to Lago Piedras Blancas to take a closer look at the edge of the glacier.
So with my things in my backpack I walked over the small bridge again to cross the river. Then I turned off into the forest onto a small, unsigned path.
Every now and then I could see footprints of other people, but generally the path didn’t look like it was walked on very often. I had to fight my way through small bushes again and again.
The path itself led directly along the river and after just a few minutes I was so far away from the other tourists that I felt like I was in the middle of the wilderness. I followed the path along the edge of the river before it changed directly into the riverbed.
Here I had to keep looking for the small stone towers in order to find the further route.
With the water rushing next to me, I walked all alone through this beautiful nature.
I soon reached the lower part of the glacier, which was at least marked by a sign.
From here I had to fight my way further forward through the scree field. Here too, the only signposts were the small towers made of stones and every now and then I had to climb onto a larger rock to be able to see the next waypoint. Since I had the route on my cell phone, I could always use GPS to see where I was supposed to go next.
After some climbing I actually arrived at the lake below the glacier. The edge of the glacier, which was perched on the rocks, was really impressive. The blue ice literally shimmered and from here the whole thing looked significantly larger than from a distance.
But since the wind was blowing so much at the lake and the water was constantly being stirred up, I didn’t stay in this place for long. I actually wanted to take a break here. However, due to the strong wind, I decided against it and headed back.
I climbed through the rocks again. I could also hear the rushing water below me. But since I had remembered the route, I found my way back much quicker and I was soon back at the river. Here, too, the wind was now blowing much stronger and I had to be careful not to be knocked over by one of the strong gusts.
So I walked back, partly swaying. Although I hadn’t met a single hiker on the way there or back in the 2 hours, a few people came straight towards me on the tourist route.
Since I still had enough time and wasn’t really exhausted, I decided against taking the direct route back to El Chaltén. I ran across the mountain front towards the south.
Over the next 7 kilometers I again passed smaller lakes and hiked through forest and meadow landscapes. I was always able to meet different types of birds.
I only met very few people on this path, but at least there were signs and the path generally seemed well developed.
For some time we went through the forest, where things slowly went downhill.
After about 2 hours I came back to the path that led to Cerro Torre. From here I made my way back to El Chaltén. Unfortunately, here too I had to repeatedly follow tour groups who were traveling much slower than me.
After a total of 20 km I arrived back in El Chaltén. There I set up my tent again at the campsite, showered, shopped and cooked myself something to eat. Afterwards, I read a book for a bit and then soon fell asleep in the strong wind that kept shaking my tent.
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