Blog post for Tuesday 24 October 2023

We are spending three nights in El Chaltén. It’s great to not have to move and it allowed us to do another hike today.

This morning we drove north from El Chaltén about 25 miles on a dirt road to the Glacier Huemul trail. Nearby you can also take a boat ride on Lago del Desierto. We decided to hike to the glacier lookout.

They charge the equivalent of about three dollars to hike the glacier trail. there were quite a few people on the trail.

The trail up to the glacier outlook started relatively flat but then it got quite steep. It was about a mile and a half to the top. The climb was absolutely worth it. When we got to what appeared to be the viewpoint we had a stunning view of the glacier.

But just a little bit farther up the trail we’re surprised to find an ice covered lake below the glacier.

Today Mount Fitz Roy has been mostly covered in clouds. In the picture below you can just see it sticking out of the clouds between the two branches.

For dinner we ate at a wonderful restaurant called La Cerveceria the service and all our food was absolutely wonderful!

Blog post for Monday, October 23, 2023

Today our plan was to hike the path up towards Mount Fitz Roy. We ate breakfast at 7:30 and were on the trail by 9:00.

It was a perfect day for hiking. We didn’t go to the end of the trail but we hiked up just over 4 miles to some wonderful viewpoints.

After almost 9 miles of hiking a nap was a necessity. For dinner we ate at a wonderful Italian Restaurant, La Mafiosa.

Blog post for Sunday, October 22 2023

After breakfast this morning in El Calafate we walked down to the shore of Lago Argentina. It is the largest fresh water lake in Argentina with a maximum length of 75 miles and width of 25 miles. It is fed by the glaciers in the mountains to the west.

Along the shore of the lake we were surprised to se flamingos

When we got back to the hotel we checked out. Today we drove around Lago Argentina then north and around the next large lake, Lago Viedma. We went up into the mountains to the west to the small town of El Chaltén at the base of Mount Fitz Roy in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.

We are very lucky to have absolutely perfect weather. The ranger at the visitor center said it is not uncommon for the peaks to be hidden in clouds.

El Chaltén is at an elevation of 1,345 feet and Fitz Roy has an elevation of 11,171 feet. The ice mass in these mountains is the Patagonia Ice Field. It is the third largest in the world after the Arctic and Antarctic ice fields. As you can see in this satellite image that was in the visitor center the ice field stretches from Argentina, where we are, across Chile to the Pacific and down the spine of Patagonia for hundreds of miles. We are staying at the west end of the northern of the two big lakes in the picture below.

After checking into our hotel, El Chaltén Suites we hiked to Mirador de Los Condores overlooking the town and the mountains.