In the early 1970's I read about climbing Mt. Fitzroy and Cerro Torre in a place called Patagonia. These were climbs for the absolute elite and they remain so to this day. I surely was not an elite climber, but I wanted to see those places. Alas they were completely beyond my meager budget.
The next mention of Patagonia I came across was Bruce Chatwin's "In Patagonia" in the 1990's. This book purported to be a travelogue, but actually was more or less fictitious, as it turned out.
Then a few years ago I stumbled across the videos of Iohan Georguiev who traveled by bike from British Columbia via North, Central and South America to Patagonia, making mesmerizing videos of his travels. Some examples of his work can be found at the following links:
This year I finally made it to Patagonia myself. The objective was to do some backpacking in some of the well-known parks and to get a lay of the land for hikes during future visits. My selection of locales and hikes during this trip was informed by the rudimentary guides published by Alan Dixon (adventurealan).
Parc National
I flew from Santiago to Balmaceda in Aysen province and took a minibus shuttle to Coyhaique where I bought supplies that one cannot take onto a plane, specifically isobutane cartridges (if I could get them) or alcohol fuel. I did indeed find isobutane cartridges in a fishing supply store on diagonally across from the supermarket. Denatured ethyl alcohol I could not find, but in a ferreteria (ironware store) I found methyl alcohol that is sold as a alcohol solvent. It comes in an 1L bottle and is dyed raspberry red lest you drink it which would not be good and may even be fatal.
I then took the bus to Cochrane, some 300 km away along the Carretera Austral. There are two bus companies, Buses Sao Paulo and Buses Don Carlo, that service the route and they do this on alternate days. In high season there may be two buses per day, but in mid-November there is only one bus per day. The journey takes 8-9 hrs, which at first I thought must be a typo, but it turns out that the Carretera is a gravel road past Villa Cerro Castillo and the bus slows down considerably while driving on this surface.
I found a campsite in the backyard of a family home for fee of ~ $7 and next morning walked to the ranger station along. I registered as required and paid my entrance fee (~ $11 for an old codger like me, it's more expensive for young whipper snappers, as it should be). The trail takes off right at the ranger station, straight up the mountain. They don't believe in switchbacks or, rather, it may just be a consequence of budgetary constraints. Chile is not a wealthy country and the fees they charge are certainly not sufficient to fund maintenance or trail building. They likely merely cover the cost of collecting the fees and some services in cases of emergency.
Within a couple of hours I reached Laguna El Cangreja
. There were a few hickups along the way that had slowed me down. The first at the top of the first hill where the trail flattens out into an area that had been logged and was being reforested. The trail disappeared and, yet again!, I checked the GPS too late so that I had to backtrack (will I ever learn? A rhetorical question, I apparently won't). Wanderer if you come toSparta this place, look for a house in the distance and head over there. Do not pass the house, a ranger cabin as it turns out, and enter its backyard where you will find a sign that points you to where to go next. Soon you will hit a stretch where lots of trees have been downed by a tornado or a wind hose. It is a tangled mess that takes a while to get through/over/around. You then climb off trail up a steep slope and once that flattens out a bit you hang left to intersect the trail as it reappears past the downed trees. The rest of the walk is straightforward.
. There were a few hickups along the way that had slowed me down. The first at the top of the first hill where the trail flattens out into an area that had been logged and was being reforested. The trail disappeared and, yet again!, I checked the GPS too late so that I had to backtrack (will I ever learn? A rhetorical question, I apparently won't). Wanderer if you come to
I camped at Laguna El Cangreja at a prepared site, which is a requirement in the park. Next morning I continued on in the direction of Westwind. Once I got out of the forest into open terrain there was snow to contend with and I abandoned my original plan to hike the Lagunas Altas trail out of concern that owing to the snow I would not be making sufficiently rapid progress to stay on schedule.
The valley with the Westwind camp site and the Park lodge
The descent to Westwind first features a long traverse along a moraine with lots of loose footing. One then descends brutally steeply for a while to reach a set of switchbacks in much more moderately sloped terrain where they are much less useful than they would have been higher up. I did not stop at Westwind and instead headed along the road towards Casa Piedra, 26 km of gravel road. Ugh! Luckily it was lightly traveled
I stealth camped along the way, illegally, and continued next morning. The last five or six kilometers I got a ride from a German couple in a camper van to Casa Piedra. This is an official camp site and the starting point for the hike along Rio Avilez. I opted for the hike along the left bank with the goal to make it to a camp site upstream of the hanging bridge where one switches over to the right bank. The quality of the trail deteriorates above the bridge as, apparently, most day hikers just do the loop Casa Piedra-hanging bridge-Casa Piedra.
The Case Piedra campsite, notice the Patagonian windbreak in the form of rows of poplars 
Above the bridge the trail is partially overgrown, there are downed trees to contend with. Eventually you reach the ruin of an abandoned sheep station and shortly thereafter you cross Rio Aviles by fording uneventfully. There are two official campsites on the left bank marked on the map. However, you really have to infer their location, there is really nothing to indicate that they are the official sites. I chose the downstream one, conveniently located in the trees that provided some shielding from the fierce wind.
Next morning I continued on, climbing to about 1000 m altitude and then descending again to river level. On this descent there was again a longish stretch of massive downed beech trees which took a quite a while to get through. After reaching river level the trail swerves right in an ENE direction and eventually leads you out onto the gravel bank of Rio Estero Ventisquero. While there are a few stretches where the markers, such as they are, direct you back into the forest on the right, my advice is to stay out on the gravel as the trail sections in the bush are swampy and overgrown.
After about 2 hrs of this you reach an official camp site (Refugio Valle Hermoso) I did not see any refugio)) beyond which the glacial valley narrows and soon after the markers direct you to the left margin of the valley near the shore of Laguna Verde. Cross the river and contour or climb on rough trail above Laguna Verde. Eventually the trail will start to climb very steeply to Portezuela La Gloria. The steepness here is not of the "staircase" style, but rather of the "ramp" style. Your Achilles tendons will get a stretch here. Once you cross the pass at the top, you go down the other side similarly steeply on a loose dirt slope and reach the flood plain of Rio Jeinimeini.
Soon an official sign will direct you to cross the rio to the left bank. In high season, once the snow melt has abated, this may be a reasonable spot. In early season this location is insane! I had gotten the impression up on the pass that the rive was flowing fast, and, boy, did it ever! I tried to ford and the water was up to mid-thigh very quickly and pushing me downstream. Since the water is milky from silt, you cannot estimate the depth from looking at the bottom. Instead you have to use your hiking poles to probe for depth. Not easy either because the water makes it hard to get the pole down vertically. I got scared and the the hell out of there, retraced upstream where the river was braiding and crossed the braids individually.
After some time the signs direct you to get back on the right bank after you pass a rock face that forces this back and forth across the river. Here the river was again flowing at the speed of light, Albert Einstein may forgive me, and there was no way I was going to be crossing there. About 200 m downstream the main channel was a bit wider than at the official fording site and I gave it a go. The first ~ 8 m of the ford were ok, water to mid-thigh, but then for the last two or three steps the channel was a bit deeper, maybe a hand's width worth, but that made all the difference! Man was this uncomfortable! I made it, barely, and then pushed through the brush to intersect the trail that leads to the Raleigh campsite. For anyone even only marginally shorter than I am (I am 6'4", so that's most of you) this ford is not doable at this time of year in the afternoon. You should then either do this hike later in the season or, at a minimum, cross in the early morning when the flow is lower (this may require an illegal and uncomfortable camp on the wind-swept gravel bank). I would not worry about the illegality. The rangers are very comfortable in their shacks with Starlink internet. I am told that in high season the river is about ankle deep and hence entirely without issue.
I camped at Raleigh on the shores of Laguna Verde and enjoyed some late afternoon/early evening sun and next morning made my way to Laguna Jeinimeini, mostly along a 4x4 road. The wind was blowing hard and it was pretty frigid. I had planned to finish my hike of Parc National by taking a cross-country route from just past Laguna Jeinimeini to Chile Chico. Alas, as I got close it was obvious that there was too much snow still on even the lower ridges to make this a reasonable proposition. Probably a better idea in February/March. Ordinarily this would bum me out, but I looked at this trip as an opportunity to understand this part of the world and so if there's too much snow in November I know for next time that this should be done later in the season. I had greatly enjoyed the solitude (I had only met one couple on the trail) and one would have to trade some of that against a safer or more straightforward hike later in the season. I got a ride with a shuttle to Chile Chico, a bit pricey but the alternative of walking the 55 km to town is not viable as one crosses private land with no or few opportunities to stealth camp and little vegetation tall enough to shield one from the fierce wind.
Next morning took the ferry to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez. It's a good deal, namely free of charge, if you don't have a car. You need a ticket, though, and that took a bit to figure out how to get if you don't speak Spanish and can't ask anybody. Here's the deal:
The ferry dock is close to the town park on the West side of the village. On the East side of the park is the bus station, just across the street, which in the early morning looks entirely dead. Yet there is a door at the West side of the building facing the park and right next to that door, just inside, is a small office where they issue the tickets. The ferry leaves at 8 AM sharp on weekdays and it takes 2.5 hrs to get across
At the dock in Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez the buses that take foot passengers of the ferry to Coyhaique are waiting when the ferry docks. I had intended to hike Cerro Castillo next and had hoped to take the bus to Villa Cerro Castillo to start the hike from there. Alas the buses do not service the town and instead they let you off at the junction of Ruta X-65 and the Carretera Austral ("Cruce Cerro Castillo"). You then walk down the Carretera for 8 km to reach the town. I stayed at hostal/camping Nordic Patagonia. Nordic, very helpful guys. As it turns out, the Cerro Castillo hike was closed owing to late snow and I therefore had to change my hiking plans. There is only one bus per day that goes from Villa Cerro Castillo to Coyhaique and that's the bus that comes from Cochrane. While one is supposed to be able to book a seat online, the websites for the bus companies were not working and it was therefore not possible to determine whether there was going to be an open seat on the bus. I therefore next morning returned to the junction of Ruta X-65 and the Carretera where one can catch either the bus coming from Cochrane around 12:00-13:00 or one of the buses coming from Puerto Ibanez around 10:30-11:00 AM. Worked like a charm.
El Chaltén-Huemul Circuit
My next destination was Torres del Paine. However, when I checked my email in Coyhaique I found a message indicating that the Torres del Paine O-trek was closed and that it was unclear when it would be reopening. Apparently there had been "an incident" where five hikers had lost their lives while hiking the O-trek. How this came about is a perfect illustration of the Swiss cheese model of bad outcomes:
One can hike the O-trek in such a way that one does not have to carry any food, or only snacks, and no equipment as long as one is willing to pay for the privilege. The company provides either tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag or you can stay in the bunkhouse. So who is going to go for this? Of course the unfit, the inexperienced and the clueless. That's the first slice of Swiss cheese. The second slice was the fact that most rangers had a day off because of the presidential elections in Chile and the park had not managed to monitor the conditions and inform the hikers of these conditions on that day. The third slice of Swiss cheese was a blizzard blowing in with extremely strong winds and blowing snow, i.e. white-out conditions. As a result of the holes in the Swiss cheese lining up, you had the inexperienced and ill-equipped hikers heading out into the blizzard. They did not know what to do, were not equipped to hunker down and therefore perished on the trail.
I went down to Puerto Natales anyway and instead of going to Torres del Paine I took the bus from PN to El Chaltén via El Calafate. This is an eight hour affair for 340 km, two hours of which are consumed by the passport control for exit from Chile and entry into Argentina. The roads are mostly narrow and the bus travels at a pretty modest pace.
I arrived in El Chaltén and headed to the ranger station early next morning to navigate the permit process. I was advised to wait a day before taking off as the wind up at Paso del Viento (= "windy pass") were expected to be extremely strong rendering it impassable. The forecast predicted three days of decent weather after that.
It turned out to be exactly right. You register online for the hikes in the backcountry of Glaciares National Park via a Google form that you access via a QR code in the ranger station. When you start out you pass a small shack where you pay your entrance fee and then you climb up through partially swampy forest to the first camp site near Laguna Tunel o Toro. The camping here is in the trees and you'll be thankful for that because the wind comes down howling from Paso del Viento and without tree cover many a tent would not make it.
Day 2 starts off with some use trail walking around the laguna and some scrambling until you reach the first of two Tyrolian traverses across Rio Tunel. Even through I had left camp early, there were already 8-10 people ahead of me waiting to cross the river. At the rate at which they proceeded that looked like an hour wait in the icy wind which I found entirely unattractive. Instead I opted to ford the river some 150 m upstream of the traverse site. While the water was ice-cold, it was only knee-deep, so no biggy. I then made my way cross country to intercept the trail going from the traverse site to Paso del Viento which was dead easy. The trail is rough and can be difficult to see as it crosses moraine terrain that has lost its ice cover relatively recently and the dirt and the rocks have not yet settled. At some point it is easier to get onto the ice of the glacier (Glaciar Rio Tunel Inferior) and hike that for some 500 m. However, pretty soon the channels that the melt water runs in get very deep and steep and one is forced back onto the moraine which, fortunately, at that point is more rocks than dirt and you continue on scree and talus.
Rio Tunel valley in direction El Chaltén
As you cross the pass Paso del Viento at the top you have a great view of the Viedma glacier below Cero Azara. A rather steep and loose descent follows with minimal switchbacks (amplitude about 5 m) that will test your knees followed by a long contour through meadows until you reach Paso del Viento camp at a small pond where you are allowed to camp.
Day 3 starts off as another contour across meadows and through scree. After about 7 km the narrow and rough path starts to climb and the last two km before Paso Huemul will kick your butt. Even though I had started early, the wind was already very strong, gusty and relentless as I climbed the last 200 m in altitude. I just hustled down the other side to find some rock to provide some shelter.
Viedma glacier from the contour to Paso HuemulFrom below the pass on the East side you have a great view of the turquoise waters of Laguna Viedma below. What comes next is in a way the hardest part of the entire hike, the decent through the forest to the shore of Laguna Viedma. It is extremely steep and basically goes straight down after an initial contour through beech krumholz. If you are unlucky you will have a group of clueless and careless people behind you that kick loose some of the plentiful rocks that litter the path. Towards the bottom some ropes have been installed and rarely have I been as glad to see a rope installed by somebody else than I was here. Be assured that it will end eventually and hope that it does in a controlled fashion. You don't want to take a fall here.
Laguna Viedma from just beyond Paso Huemul
Camp Bahia de los Tempanos (bottom Left corner) from the descent to Laguna Viedma
View of the end Viedma glacier from Camp Bahia de Hornos across the laguna
At the bottom I made my way to the second camp on the shore of L. Viedma, for one in the hope that it would be a little bit quieter and secondly going there would knock off two kilometers of the distance I had to hike the following day. I would not do this again since there is little protection from the wind to be had at Camp Bahia de Hornos whereas Camp Bahia de los Tempanos is in the trees and hence more protected. However, the view from de Hornos camp of the terminus of the Viedma glacier was pretty spectacular.
Day 4 is a reasonably straightforward hike on single track. The marking is not what you are told to expect. The red wooden stakes are no longer red, if they ever were, but with the exception of one or two places I did not need to use my intuition to figure out where the trail was.
Eventually you reach and cross Rio Tunel at the second Tyrolian traverse and here fording was not an option. Rio Tunel flowed at the speed of light, Albert Einstein may forgive me, and it is very turbid from silt, so you cannot determine the depth of the water. There were a few people ahead of me, but that turned out to be ok. There was a good vibe of cooperation, equipment sharing and general mutual support and help. The set-up is about as primitive as you can make it and considerations for the safety of the users did not play any role in its design. It certainly helped to have somebody hold your pack while you were clipped into the rope and had to connect the sling attached to your pack to the carabiner on the safety line. Similarly, it was good at the other bank to have somebody help you with the pack after you had released the sling.
It is quite a way to El Chaltén, the last tow kilometers along the highway unless you are in the mood to climb over more moraines to avoid the road walk. I was not. Do not forget to email the rangers once you are in town, indicating that you are back. You are supposed to do this within 48 hrs so that they don't go out looking for you. That's the theory. About two weeks later I got a mail acknowledging receipt of my check-out. In other words don't rely on them coming out looking for you.
El Chaltén- Mt. Fitzroy
I had seen Mt. Fitzroy from town, but I wanted to get closer, of course. You can take the Fitzroy trail from town, but you pass a ranger shack and they'll shake you down for an entrance fee. The alternative is to take the trail to Laguna Torre (no charge) and then slightly more than half way there leave that trail and head for Laguna Nija/Laguna Majie along another trail. You pass right below the Fitzroy massif and get a front row view of Fitzroy. My intention had been to continue on to Laguna Sucia and then to Swiss Bivy. However, in early afternoon a wind storm sprang up of a strength that either I have never witnessed or it would have to have been a long time ago. I was very happy to camp at Campamento Poincenot, protected by the giant beech trees, rather than out in the open behind a crappy rock wall. I am not sure my tent would have made it.
The wind howled all night and into the afternoon next day. I took the Fitzroy trail back to town and had a hard time in the first few kilometers where the trail runs out in the open and the wind had its way with me. Once in the forest it was much easier to walk and only the last kilometer was exposed again. Here two puffs in rapid succession actually managed to throw me to the ground. I snuck past the ranger shack at the end while the ranger was busy fleecing a group coming the other way, so I did not have to pay.
El Calafate
I took the bus to El Calafate because I wnated to see the glacier Perito Moreno. For the first time in two or three decades I took a package tour, a boat ride across Laguna Argentina with two stops along the way for some hiking and then landing at the glacier where we had two hours to explore before taking the boat back to El Calafate. It was expensive and ultimately not worth it to me. The view of the calving glacier from the water is nice, but that's about it. I will return to my policy of not taking package tours.
Ferry Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt
A six hour bus ride took me back to Puerto Natales where I had made arrangements for a ferry ride through the Patagonian archipelago to Puerto Montt. As I arrived in PN I received an email that the ferry would be late as they had to wait out a storm to cross a stretch of open water. When the ferry arrived in PN it was not able to dock because of high winds, so we took off two days late and, ultimately, were another day late arriving in Puerto Montt. The weather during the ferry ride was utter shit with very few views of the Patagonian ice field owing to low hanging clouds and driving rain. It's Patagonia, what can I say? If you want to have predictable weather go to Hawaii!
Cerro Castillo
My last hike was going to be another stab at Cerro Castillo which had been closed earlier during my travel. I returned to Coyhaique and took the early morning bus in direction of Cochrane, asking the driver to let me off at Las Hourquetas (you can also take the bus to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez. It passes by Hourquetas as well).
They let you off where the road makes a hairpin curve and you just follow a dirt road to the ranger shack. The ranger explains the rules to you in fluent Spanish. If you don't speak Spanish, tough luck! Take a picture of the Google-style map, it has all the important bits of information in English. The first day is a gentle walk along a 4x4 track with an occasional river crossing until you reach the campsite at Rio Turbido. It is in the trees, protected from the wind and water can be obtained from the river nearby.
You are only allowed to camp at official campsites and therefore there are habituated mice waiting for dinner to be served.
Next morning you walk along the river for a while, cross it (brrrrrr!) and then climb straight up the mountain along a barranco. Eventually you come out of the forest and climb in scree and talus up a ravine. The last 200 m in altitude you walk on old snow and the wind gets stronger and stronger as you rise. My eyes were tearing up from the wind despite wearing sun glasses. It has been a while that I have experience that. Once across Paso Peñon there is some snow to contend with and then you descend down a scree slope, very loose sand/dirt with big blocks strewn about. There are ropes installed, but they are more useful going in the other direction rather than down. Take it slow and it's ok.
A look back to Rio Turbido from the ascent to Paso Peñon
A view of the "backside" of Paso Peñon
Hanging glacier in the cCrro Castillo massif
Eventually you reach tree line, cross a few small streams and then climb along a bigger stream towards the El Bosque camp. Immediately before you reach the camp it gets really steep on a compressed dirt path. The camp is good but has its share of aggressive mice. Hang your food and don't keep it in your tent lest they chew through the tent wall. Ask me how I know!
Day 3 begins with a continued climb through the forest to timber line and then a walk on pretty decent trail through a moraine landscape. Eventually you reach Laguna Castillo, walk along its shore for a short while and then climb the talus slope to your left. There is no trail here, although on occasion you will find stretches where people have obviously been walking. the general direction you should take is indicated by metal posts with tip down yellow triangles. Once the slope flattens out you walk up the ridge on obvious trail. The wind was howling and it was freezing cold. The park recommends doing this climb before noon as the wind picks up after noon. I would not want to experience this in wind any stronger than the one I walked in. Once across the pass you have another 500 m of steep descent to navigate, completely out in the open. Look out for metal stakes and the yellow triangles to guide you. It is not always obvious. Finally I found a big rock where I could sit down and revive my numb fingers. Once you get into the trees the trail gets worse, but it is considerably more temperate temperature-wise.
Campamento Porta is small and very primitive, but it will do. I had planned to go up to Campamento Neozelandia and Laguna Duff, but low-hanging clouds suggested that there would be now views to be had. I camped and hoped for improvement by next morning. Alas, no improvement was evident next morning and I exited to Villa Cerro Castillo. As you reach the dirt road that leads to town you pass a ranger station where they shake you down for the entrance fee. The equivalent of $20 for an old codger like me.
Laguna Castillo from Morro Negro
Cerro Palo from near Campamento Porteadores If you go
As I wrote at the outset, one purpose of this trip was get the lay of the land for future trips to Patagonia. Here I list a few things that might be useful if you consider going yourself.
Air travel: As you have read above, the climate requires you to be flexible in your travel arrangements, particularly air travel. Patagonia is huge and if your time is limited or if you are tall like me, long distance overnight bus travel may not be for you. The advertised fares of LATAM or SKY airlines are misleading as they do not include luggage. Things like stoves, hiking poles cannot go into the cabin and they mean it that your cabin luggage must fir into the sizing bins. You must therefore purchase at least a "Standard" fare. A fare that includes checked baggage can be rescheduled for a fee, but cannot be canceled if your plans have to change. If you pay for a "Premium" fare, you can cancel, though.
When I go to Patagonia again I would not be booking airline tickets way ahead in order to maintain flexibility, unless the premium for a "Premium" ticket was not too high. I would also not again book through Booking. com and instead would navigate the Spanish-only website of LATAM or SKY directly. Any rescheduling of fares booked through Booking needs to be rescheduled via Booking and they have outsourced this task to GoTOGate in effing India. These people are incompetent, they redefine the concept of density.
Currency exchange: You can't go to a bank in Chile and expect to be able to exchange US dollars or Euros for Chilean pesos. You have to use Cambio outfits in tourist towns and their rates absolutely suck donkey balls. Purchasing tickets for public transport in Santiago is cash only, so you may need CLP two hours after landing. The exchange at the airport is the rip-off to end all rip-offs!
While payment via credit cards is the predominant form of payment in official businesses without any problem, people who run, say, shuttle services to trailheads do this under the radar and do this for cash only, so you need to have some cash. Check out the rates for cash on ATM's before you go, so that you have an idea of what you will be paying.
Keep in mind that many towns have a few hundred (e,g. Villa Cerro Castillo) to a few thousand inhabitants (e.g. Cochrane, Puerto Natales). The number of ATM's is limited. There are many in Coyhaique.
Resupply: There were reasonable supermarkets in Coyhaique, Chile Chico (of all places), Puerto Montt, and Puerto Natales. Options were much more limited in El Chaltén, El Calafate, Cochrane, Villa Cerro Castillo. In the latter towns I was reminded of Jordan where the "supermarkets" where rooms the size of a living rooms were stuffed with an idiosyncratic mix of goods. In these outfits you can find tuna, noodles, rice, cheese, crackers, salami, oatmeal, mashed potato powder, eggs, chocolate and trail mix sometimes, no granola bars that I saw. Fresh fruit and vegetables were invariably rather sad in the small towns, reflecting the length of the supply chain.
I mentioned isobutane canisters and alcohol for stoves above. I would bring a refill valve for canisters next time as partially filled canisters are laying about. Hostels also often sell canisters. I saw denatured ethanol only once (and I don't remember where), but methanol ("meths") was available in paint/ironware stores in Coyhaique and Puerto Natales if you asked for alcohol solvent. They have no idea what you are talking about alcohol for stoves.
Scams: Are everywhere. An example: as you enter Chile you have to fill out an agriculture declaration form. You can do this a few days ahead before you land. The first hit when you google this gives you the form and then wants to charge you US $ 69, when, in fact, you can do this without charge on the government website.
This repeats day after day. Somebody tries to insert himself into interactions to bilk you.
