El Chaltén
The 140-mile drive from El Calafate to El Chaltén takes three hours. We pass by two large lakes; Lago Argentina and Lago Viedma. Even though there is not much in between these two towns, the crisp turquoise water, bright blue skies, white puffy clouds, and snow-capped mountain peaks keep our eyes busy.
Every so often we see the bones of a guanaco on the side of the road. The victim of a bus like ours or the main course of the elusive puma? Who knows. We encounter some crosswinds near El Chaltén and tightly grip the seats as the wheels of the right side of the bus feel like they have left the ground. The bus finally rolls into to town and stops at the local ranger station. There, we listen to a safety presentation and get a brief run down of the trails.
This small town nestled in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares has multiple day hike options of varying difficulty. There is anything from a flat 2-hour hike, to a multi-day trek through the mountains. El Chaltén, which only had 41 inhabitants in 1991, now boasts a population of 3,000. This growth is all fueled by tourism and being named the trekking capital of Argentina.
Fitz Roy
Our first trek is a partial hike to Fitz Roy. This hike is rated difficult and from the trailhead to the end point it is almost 7 miles. We take it a little easy and only hike to the lookout point (Mirador), which is 2-3 miles in. The first mile is where you gain the most elevation, so it is a bit strenuous. Mile 2 and 3, the trail flattens out and we arrive at the Mirador del Fitz Roy.
We watch the clouds roll over one of the most famous mountains, if not THE most famous mountain in all of Patagonia. Did you know that the silhouette of Fitz Roy is the inspiration for the Patagonia clothing company logo? Once we get back into town, I learn that many tourists and locals think the complete Fitz Roy hike is better than the iconic Torres Del Paine hike. Learned that one a little late.
Chorillo del Salto
On the second day of our stay, we wake up to the pitter-patter of rain. Not wanting to be cooped up in the camper, I decide to throw on the raincoat and face mother nature on a solo adventure. It’s windy and rainy and after 5 minutes of walking, my shoes are already squishy. A little past the edge of town, the sky opens up and a big bright double rainbow shows up and motivates me to keep going.
If you’re looking for a leisurely stroll, Arroyo del Salto is it. The roundtrip trail is 5 miles (8 km) with no elevation change. You follow a footpath through the forest and end up at the glacier-fed waterfall. In the winter months, this 20-meter fall will completely freeze over.
Laguna Torre
Laguna Torre is the longest hike of our stay in El Chaltén. It is around 11 miles (18 km) roundtrip and rated moderate difficulty. We leave our camper a little before 9am and it’s a 5-minute walk to the trailhead on the west side of town at the end of Los Charitos street. There is another trailhead in town, and they merge within the first 5 minutes of hiking. The whole trek takes us about 6-7 hours, with multiple stops to take in the amazing views and also lunch.
Fuego! Fuego!
After our hike on the Fitz Roy Trail, we are winding down for the night in the trusty old camper. It’s been a long day, so we crawl into bed early. That’s when I hear a kid yelling and running down the street. My Spanish isn’t good enough to know what he was yelling, but I hear a tone of urgency. I tell Kristin, “I’m going to check it out, I’ll be right back.”
I open the door, walk down the path towards the street, and smell smoke. It then hits me. That kid was yelling, “Fuego!” A half-block from our camper, I see smoke at the end of the street. I run and look around the corner and we definitely have a fire. I am the third or fourth person there and am trying to make sure nobody is in the blaze. The most I understand is that the fire has something to do with horses. I run back to tell Kristin what is going on.
There are a lot of things going through my head right now. It’s very dry and windy, and there is a huge blaze 200 hundred feet from our home on wheels. Will it spread? I reach the camper and tell Kristin there is a raging fire right down the street. I go back to see if there is anything we can do, and Kristin follows. As I am talking to a few locals, an older El Chaltén fire truck shows up. I get a little more info and it sounds like the fire started in a stable where horse food was kept … I think.
Locked Out
Kristin heads back to the camper and after a few minutes, I follow. We soon find out that in our haste to get outside, neither of us grabbed the key, and the door automatically locks. Kristin’s phone is also in the camper. Luckily, I have my phone and can contact our host, who actually lives in a house right by the camper. I end up knocking on the door, telling him we locked ourselves out, and oh by the way, huge fire.
Like some sort of magician (or weird Airbnb host who happens to keep a key on him at all times?), he pulls the key out of his front breast pocket as I am trying to tell him about the fire. He hands it over and runs to check out the blaze. A water truck eventually comes as a backup for the fire department and they get everything under control.
