For the following days I have planned another multi-day tour through the wilderness of Patagonia. Not far from Ushuaia is the Sierra Valdivieso Circuit, which takes about 4 days and leads through the landscape over partly unmarked paths. I have planned 3-4 days for the almost 45 km and will probably spend New Year’s Eve somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Lonely Plante wrote the following about the trek several years ago:
‘The Sierra Valdivieso Circuit (SVC) follows a largely unmarked and little traveled route through rugged and challenging country. It is therefore only suitable for fit and independent participants with good navigation skills.´ – Lonely Planet 2009
So I found the route immediately appealing and wanted to try the circuit in the next few days. In contrast to the planned route, I wanted to make a detour to Laguna Esmeralda, which is only a few kilometers away from the actual start of the tour.
The beginning (Day 1) – Saturday 30.12.2023
After spending the last few days preparing my tour and buying enough food for 4 days, I was finally able to start my tour today. I had breakfast one last time in the hostel and then packed up all my things. Then I set off on my new adventure with my heavy backpack.
First I walked from my accommodation to the bus station, which was in the center of the city. On the way I bought a new gas cartridge from an outdoor shop and was equipped for the next few days. At the bus station I then bought a ticket to Laguna Esmeralda, from where I wanted to start my trek.
Shortly after 11 a.m. the bus left and we soon reached the parking lot, which was the starting point of my tour. I got out here and made my way to the lake on foot.
For the first few kilometers I followed the other day tourists on an easy-to-walk path through the forest. It went slightly uphill and further back over wooden footbridges.
After a last short climb I reached Laguna Esmeralda and took a break there at lunchtime to take a closer look at the lake.
There were a lot of other tourists here besides me, so I looked for a place a little bit away from the hustle and bustle for my break.
After I had a little refreshment, I set off again for my actual tour. Instead of going back the same way, I turned right shortly after the lake and more or less disappeared into the bushes. The path markings stopped pretty quickly and I couldn’t see a real path, a trail or anything like that. So for the first few minutes I climbed up the mountain more or less following the GPS. At least I could see a person’s footprints every now and then, which means I may not have been on the wrong track.
It was a steep climb and since I had to fight my way through dense undergrowth again and again, my progress was very slow. In some places it was pretty steep downhill and I actually considered whether I should stop the tour. I looked at my map again and identified a shelter from which there should at least be a way back. I wanted to at least get to this hut and then think again about how far I wanted to go. So I climbed further up and tried to make some progress.
After a while I arrived at a small plateau and from here it was at least fairly easy to get through the area. Although there was still no real path to be seen here, I found it much easier to follow the GPS route in the flatter terrain.
Here I passed some beaver dens and had to walk through very wet grass for a long time. I kept sinking ankle deep. Nevertheless, running here was really fun and I felt like I was in the real wilderness, which I actually was. There was no other person to be seen far and wide and there were no other signs of civilization. Only after another few kilometers did I reach a shelter on a hill.
From here I could at least see a path in two directions and so I decided to continue walking and follow the one path that led in the same direction as my route. The path became wider and wider and soon you could even see signs. But after just a few minutes the well-developed path ended again at a river and from here I went back through the bushes further back into the valley. At least small paths were visible here and it seemed as if other people were walking along them every now and then.
It went through swamp-like terrain for some time and later through the forest. Here I met a small group of hikers who were traveling with a guide and who also had a lot of equipment with them. So I continued walking through the forest. After a while I had to cross a small river. Luckily I found suitable stones at one point to get to the other side with dry feet.
Here I continued walking along the water for a short time before stopping at a small place that was ideal for an overnight stay. At the spot that had apparently already been used as a camp by others, I set up my tent, got water from the river and started cooking my dinner. A few minutes later I ate my delicious curry rice and enjoyed the feeling of being all alone here in the wilderness.
After I had finished my meal, it was already 8 p.m. and so I slowly got ready for bed. As I brush my teeth, I enjoyed the beautiful sight in front of me.
I then use the last few hours of the day to read a bit and then fall asleep in my warm sleeping bag.
New Year’s Eve on top of the mountain (Day 2) – Sunday 31.12.2023
The night in the tent was good and when the weather was nice I took down my tent in the morning. Then I made my breakfast and enjoyed another cup of coffee by the river while enjoying the sun and the beautiful mountains in front of me.
While I was relaxing and drinking my coffee, I saw a hiker in the distance slowly making his way through the swamp-like area towards me. I waved to him and he arrived a short time later on the other side of the river. Here he quickly changed his shoes and then trudged on through the cold water to me. After his river crossing we chatted for a while. As it turned out, he walked the same route as me, but started from the other side, which is said to be the nicer one. The older man gave me a few tips for the next few days and recommended a few more tours in Patagonia, which he himself had really enjoyed. When I finished drinking my coffee, I said goodbye to him and went on my way.
In contrast to the hiker from before, I continued along the mountain on the other side of the river and thus saved myself both the river crossing and the swamp-like area. For me it was a rather relaxed walk uphill through the bushes. Here too, there were only a few waymarks, but overall they were good enough to find a way up.
While at the beginning I struggled a lot through the bushes, I left the green higher up behind me and was soon increasingly walking in the scree. The running here was very pleasant and it went slightly downhill to a mountain river.
When I reached this point, I took my first break of the day. I ate a granola bar, refilled my water and took a closer look at the surroundings.
Then it was on to the climb to the first pass that I had to cross today. Here I followed the GPS again more often because I couldn’t make out a real path in the scree.
I kept stopping briefly to see where I could best get further up and also looked at the landscape behind me.
Shortly before I reached the highest point, I continued up through a small snowfield. But since it wasn’t particularly steep or slippery, I quickly reached the top. From there I had a nice view back and so I enjoyed the great view for a few minutes.
As I continued my tour, I found not only human footprints in the mud in front of me, but also some tracks that looked suspiciously like fresh puma tracks, which didn’t exactly reassure me. Although I was aware that the puma wasn’t actually attacking people, I still continued my hike with a somewhat uneasy feeling and with every noise I looked around to see if I could see one of the specimens somewhere, which wasn’t the case.
The path took me up over stony terrain along the mountain. Here I could look down into a beautiful valley, which I was not supposed to enter. Instead we continued up the slope to the next pass.
Here, too, I continued up over a snowfield and soon I crossed the pass and could look down on the valley on the other side of the mountain range.
I took advantage of the beautiful view and took my lunch break on a rock. Since there were no people to be found other than me, I enjoyed the absolute silence while I ate my cheese sandwich and enjoyed the view of the landscape.
Then there was a longer descent. First we continued down over stones. I followed a small river that would lead me all the way down. Later the landscape became a little greener again and I had to fight my way through some bushes and a lot of mud again.
Here, too, I often found myself ankle-deep in dirt and at one point I stepped into a real hole that seemed to have no bottom. Here I sank up to my thighs in the mud and was just able to catch myself with my hands on the sides to avoid diving deeper into the mud. I briefly washed off most of the dirt under running water at the river and then started the further descent again.
Further down I passed several lakes that had been dammed by beaver dens. The former forest outside was completely dead due to all the water, which looked somehow strange. So I continued walking through a somewhat desolate area.
I actually wanted to set up camp at a spot before the next climb. But when I wanted to cross one last river, I met a couple from Germany who were coming towards me. They recommended that I spend the night further up because there would be nice places there and I could also climb a few meters in altitude so that I wouldn’t have too many more meters in altitude ahead of me tomorrow. After a short conversation, I started the climb.
Unfortunately, this actually turned out to be more difficult than expected. I made very slow progress, especially in the first few meters. It went through the forest again and there was neither a real path nor a path or anything else. Since the forest here was quite overgrown and there was a lot of dead wood lying around, I fought my way further up through the forest for a long time. Again and again I had to climb down a bit to get around fallen trees or I simply climbed over some of them.
But since my progress was so slow and it was also very tiring to fight my way through the dense forest, I changed my route at some point. Previously I had seen a piece of forest that had been burned down by a fire. So I continued climbing sideways through the forest before I finally reached the dead forest. From here the climb was clearly easy. The path was still pretty steep, but at least I had to fight less through bushes and fallen trees.
After a few more arduous minutes, I left the forest and returned to rockier areas. Here I took a short break and marveled at the beautiful landscape that became visible behind me.
A few moments later I found a small path again, which I followed further up the mountain. After the long and strenuous climb, I finally reached the mountain lake around 6 p.m. Here I looked for a place for my tent. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find what I was looking for directly at the lake, so I set it up a few meters further back on a mountain stream. To protect myself from the wind, I quickly built a protective wall of stones and then set about cooking tonight’s dinner.
Since the year ended today, I took a bottle of wine with me for the occasion, which I then opened. Unfortunately the cork wasn’t that good and so it took a while before I finally opened the wrong one and was able to enjoy my first cup of wine. Since I had carried the bottle all the way here, the drink tasted particularly good.
After my meal, I poured myself another cup of wine and reflected on the last year. It’s now been 6 months since I left home for Santiago de Compostela and since then I’ve experienced so many different things that it felt like much more than half a year for me. I also thought about everything else and what might happen next year. Later I went to bed and set the alarm for 11:45 p.m.
Shortly before New Year’s Day, I got up and left my tent for a few minutes. Since there wasn’t a soul around here, I obviously couldn’t watch any fireworks and so the few stars in the sky served as my fireworks for this year. After gazing at the starry sky for a few minutes, I went back to bed and went to sleep again.
Gloomy prospects in the new year (Day 3) – Monday 01.01.2024
So today a new year began. I got up at half past seven and made myself breakfast. While I ate my porridge and drank a warm coffee, I looked at the surrounding mountains, all of which were still covered in clouds. So the new year started with a bleak outlook for me.
After I finished and took down my tent, I headed out for my next hike. Today I had to overcome another pass before heading back down into the valley on the other side. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much on the first few meters of today’s tour due to the low clouds, which didn’t make finding the few trail markers any easier.
Nevertheless, I made relatively quick progress and although I mostly went according to my instincts, I was always able to find small stone towers that served as route markers. In between, I often had to cross snowfields today to get further up. It was completely calm through the clouds and walking was very calming.
After hiking further up for some time, I reached the last mountain pass on my tour. This time it was marked by a large pile of stones and was therefore easy to find despite the thick clouds.
On the other side we went back down a steep gravel road. I went further and further down the slippery scree without being able to see much.
Soon the clouds slowly rose and I could see the lake further down for the first time. While the lake was visible, the mountain peaks themselves were still shrouded in thick clouds.
When I got to the lake, I took my first drinking break. I then filled up my water at the mountain stream and set about getting to the other side of the lake. To do this, I walked around the lake to the left and again saw some beaver burrows on the water.
When I got to the other side, things went uphill again for me. Here the path was fairly clear and so I continued up the steep path. When I reached the highest point, I took my lunch break. I made myself comfortable on a rock and started making a cup of coffee.
The view of the surrounding area was really impressive and while I was enjoying my coffee and a cheese sandwich, an eagle sat down on a rock about 30 meters away from me and then we looked into the distance together.
After the break we went back down to more lakes.
I followed the water further and further into the valley. I first passed various lakes and later I saw the forest again.
Here we kept going through strange red plants that made it feel like you were walking on moss.
Soon I finally left the rubble behind me and had to deal with other problems again. The path was actually supposed to take me through a forest, but because of the beaver burrows, it looked more like a lake than a forest. So I had to keep deviating from the route and finding my own way through the area. Sometimes I was able to use paths taken by other hikers, which were still clearly visible in some places.
Since my intended campsite was unfortunately also under water, I had to keep walking and look for an alternative place to sleep. So I walked through this red stuff again. At least I made reasonably good progress here.
On my map I found a spot marked as “Camping possible”. So I headed for this place and ran for a few more kilometers through the strange-looking landscape. When I reached the chosen point, I left the small path and descended to a riverbed. There was actually a small place there, protected from the wind by the forest and with water from the river. Because of the existing fireplace it was clear that others had already spent the night here and so I set up my tent in this beautiful spot.
After I ate my dinner, I built a small campfire and enjoyed a cup of wine while watching the fire.
So while I was sipping my wine, a beaver actually swam through the river a few meters from my campsite, which made the campsite feel like a real adventure.
Last kilometers (Day 4) – Thuesday 02.01.2024
So today was the last day of my tour. Although I had originally only planned for 3 days, I had to add another day due to the slow progress, although I didn’t have too much to walk today.
Unfortunately, it was raining just as my alarm went off at 7:30am. So I decided to stay there for a few more minutes. Sure enough, just before 8am the rain stopped and the sun came out. It quickly became quite warm and while I had breakfast, my tent dried again in the warm morning sun.
At around 9 a.m. I started running again and went straight through a red landscape again.
At the beginning I made very slow progress, which was partly because I took too many pictures and partly because I had to cross a stream. So I changed my shoes, walked through the water, dried my feet and put my hiking boots back on. After that it finally continued. Due to the delays, it took me almost an hour to cover the first kilometer.
Afterwards it was a fairly long flat walk through the red terrain, which looked very nice. The path was pretty well marked here and I was able to walk almost without GPS, which meant I covered the distance much faster.
At the next river that I had to cross, there was even a tree trunk available as a bridge and so it was quickly crossed.
From here the path alternated again and again between longer forest passages and short sections across muddy meadows.
I made quick progress, especially in the forest. Here the path was partly even separated by branches and I was able to use my hiking poles as turbo propulsion. So I was finally able to travel at walking pace again on these paths and covered a lot of distance in a short space of time.
I soon encountered the last obstacle of my tour. In front of me lay a half-intact suspension bridge that was supposed to help me cross a river. Since it was already hanging in the water on one side, crossing it was actually a small tightrope act, but in the end I managed it quite easily with dry feet.
After that the path became easy to walk. Soon not only were the correct path markings visible, but the path also became wider and wider. When I saw the mountain range that I had encountered at the beginning of my tour, I knew that I didn’t have far to go.
I took a final break in the forest and ate the last of my cheese bread and a few nuts.
Then we continued on the wide forest path and by the time I saw the first day-trippers and a real bridge with seating and signs, it was clear to me that I had returned to civilization.
From here it wasn’t far to the road that leads to Ushuaia. But I walked a little bit in the opposite direction to the Laguna Esmeralda parking lot. Here I waited for a bus that would take me back to the city.
After almost 20 minutes of bus ride, I got off again at the bus station. From here I walked to a hotel where I had booked a room for tonight. There I took a long shower to wash off the dirt from the last few days. Afterwards I quickly washed my clothes and started saving some pictures and videos.
In the evening I went to a nearby restaurant and ordered a large four-cheese pizza. After eating the last few days, the pizza tasted particularly good. When I had eaten all of it, I went back to my room full and went to sleep pretty quickly because the last few days had been quite tiring for me.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a really nice 4-day tour that was very impressive with its many different facets. While I still met quite a few tourists at Laguna Esmeralda, I was pretty much alone afterwards and on my own the whole time. Especially in the first sections, the path was very poorly marked or sometimes not marked at all, which made hiking a real challenge. Later the path got better and was easier to find due to the increasing number of waypoints.
I was particularly pleasantly surprised by the untouched nature and the remoteness of the path and perhaps it was precisely because of the sometimes difficult terrain that I enjoyed it so much.
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