Itinerary
Day 1. El Calafate /El Chaltén.
Arrive at El Calafate Airport where you will be met by your guide and transferred across the Patagonian steppe to the mountain village El Chaltén. Following an equipment check, you’ll be briefed about the upcoming adventure and enjoy a welcome dinner.
Day 2. Laguna Torre.
We’ll begin our weeklong journey warming up on one of the more accessible treks in the park. Leaving early, we take a quick drive through the Fitzroy River Valley to Laguna Torre, and begin our trek. Halfway up, we’ll be treated to magnificent views of the Adela range, Cerro Torre and its satellite granite needles. At the end of the trail, we’ll view the Grande Glacier that descends into the Torre Lagoon, with its floating icebergs. Return to El Chaltén for the evening.
Day 3. Laguna de los Tres.
We’ll leave El Chaltén and transfer by van 10 miles along Rio de las Vueltas until we reach Hostería El Pilar where we’ll begin our hike. The first 4.3 miles follows the Rio Blanco to Poincenot’s basecamp, where we’ll begin to hike a steep slope up to Laguna de los Tres at 1,200 meters (1,640 ft) in elevation, for the highlight of the day: the Cerro Fitz Roy viewpoint. The return descent is 4.9 miles / 7.8 km down, with views of the Capri Lake.
Day 4. Pliegue Tumbado.
Leaving our hotel at 8am, we’ll walk to Glaciers National Park visitor center, from here we’ll begin our hike up for about 5 miles until we reach the summit at 1,640ft (500m). From this viewpoint you can see the Range of Cerro Torre, Cerro Fitz Roy and River Fitzroy Valley.
Day 5. Rio Eléctrico.
This is a more demanding activity and it was created outside of the conventional hikes, with distances that are longer and the terrain more technical. Following an early-morning transfer to the “Rio Eléctrico” Bridge (10.5 miles from El Chaltén), the trek heads through the Rio Eléctrico Valley to Piedra del Fraile, where we will set up camp. An afternoon hike takes us to Lake Pollone where we’ll have outstanding views of Mount Fitz Roy’s north face. Return to Piedra del Fraile to overnight in our tents.
Day 6. Mount Fitzroy & Cerro Torre.
This is a strenuous day. We’ll depart from our camp en route to Paso del Cuadrado, a demanding 5-hour climb to access rarely observed views of the northwest face of Mount Fitz Roy and its needles, as well as views of the east face of Cerro Torre. Back at Piedra del Fraile, we’ll close camp and hike along the same path to the bridge where our transfer to town will meet us for a well-deserved rest.
Day 7. Good-bye Patagonia.
Transfer to the town of El Calafate, where we bid farewell to our guide. End of trip.