Argentina Los Glaciares National Park Plan

March 20 – March 21, 2016: Los Glaciares National Park @ El Calafate, take bus from El Calafate (6pm) to El Chalten (9pm) at the last evening.

March 22 – March 24, 2016: Los Glaciares National Park @ El Chalten, take bus from El Chalten (6pm) back to El Calafate (9pm) at the last evening.

All excursions, bus transfer, and park entrance fee can be purchased via Chalten Travel in advance without commission fee. See El Calafate and El Chalten excursions sections from its website.

March 25, 2016: Take bus from El Calafate (departure 8:30am) to Puerto Natales (arrive 2:00pm, 5.5 hours may delay) to Punta Arenas (departure 3pm, 3hr).

March 26, 2016: Fly back from Punta Arenas to Santiago, then to Toronto, will arrive in Toronto at 6am on Sunday March 27.

March 20: Mini trekking @ Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina:

The excursion begins in the embarking pier located in “Bajo de las Sombras” port, about 6 km before the glacier Balconies- where you embark for a 20 minutes navigation across the Rico Arm, enjoying breathtaking views of the Perito Moreno glacier’s front wall (this is a growing glacier with an average height of 74 m (240 ft) above the surface of the water of Argentino Lake).

You disembark on the opposite shore, where specialized bilingual mountain guides welcome you and lead you to a small shelter. After checking the last details, groups of not more than 20, follow their guides along the lake’s shore towards the edge of the glacier. Once on the ice the guides put each participant a pair of crampons on, and explain how to use them.

The two hours circuit that follows introduces you to the fascinating landscape of the glaciers: streams, small lagoons, gullies, cravasses and plenty of ice formations of the most incredible blues. The trekking is moderate. The ice surface over which you walk is irregular, but firm and safe. You will receive explanations about flora, fauna and general glaciology of the region and also about the particular phenomenon that happens in the Perito Moreno Glacier and eventually produces its rupture.

After the walk, a stroll through the forest brings you back to the shelter.

The catwalks or panoramic viewpoint of Perito Moreno Glacier:

Boat off the south wall of the Perito Moreno Glacier:

Breaking ice at Perito Moreno glacier:

Perito Moreno Glacier ice trekking (we only do mini trekking not the big ice trekking, so we probably not going to see something as amazing as below, but this is still going to be a good experience):

March 21: All day glacier tour to Upsala Glacier to see the icebergs (pick a small boat) + late afternoon bus from El Calafate to El Chalten:

Rios de Hielo Express with trf and vip tkt or  Experiencia Glaciares Gourmet  are 2 options!

Duration: Full day excursion Departures: 7.00 a.m. Returns: 2.00 p.m. Lunch, transfer, vip tkt and entrance fee are not included.

You will be carried from the hotel to Punta Banderas Harbour, from where the catamaran departs to sail across Lake Argentino towards Upsala Glacier. In addition to the mentioned ice rivers, you will get astonished by the huge icebergs that, sometimes, are bigger than the catamaran.

After that, you will take the catamaran again in order to visit Spegazzini Glacier, the highest one into this national park and, after that, start the way back.

Upsala Glacier:

Upsala Glacier iceberg:

We may have a look of flamingos at lago argentine before catch the bus to El Chalten (departure @ 6pm):

At this point, we have visited the south part of the Los Glaciares National Park (El Calafate), which is famous for its extraordinary glaciers. For the next 3 days, we will visit the north part of the Los Glaciares National Park  (El Chalten), which is famous for its hard to climb mountains. El Chalten is called as the National Trekking Capital (Click map to enlarge):

What you expect to see here is typical: on top of the mountain, there is glacier, and since it will melt, normally there is a small lake in front of the glacier, and from the lake, there is a river, and all the rivers eventually go to the sea. For people who like waterfalls and streams, we should be able to see these at El Chalten:

March 22: Trekking Mt. Fitz Roy & Laguna de los Tres

The first of the traditional trails, and probably the most popular one. Leave the town and head north into the park with a medium difficulty section at the beginning until you arrive at a fork in the trail, roughly 1:30 hs from the town.

To the left the trail will take you to Laguna Capri, a small lake in the mountains, surrounded with lengas and ñires were you will be able to see Cerro Fitz Roy. To the right, the trail takes you to the Fitz Roy viewpoint, for a panoramic view of the mountains around Cerro Fitzroy.

Continuing on the trail it will merge again, until you get to Campamento Poincenot and then Rio Blanco. Cross a wooden bridge and from there, the trail gets steeper as you start to climb in a zigzag to 500m. At the top you have a stunning view and will be able to see Laguna de los Tres with its electric blue waters and the face of Cerro Fitz Roy and its glaciers. Return to Chalten on the same path.

Total return distance is 24 km and will take between 8 and 10 hrs. The total ascent is around 770 m.

An alternative one way hike is to walk from Hosteria El Pilar, located 17 km from town, by minibus transfer. Once there, the trail follows Rio Blanco southwards until you get to Campamento Poincenot, passing though the Piedras Blancas glacier viewpoint. From there, the trail is the same as before, up to Laguna de los Tres, or return to El Chalten. The advantage is that the trail is a little easier and you don't walk it twice.

The total distance from Hosteria El Pilar to El Chalten, including Laguna de los Tres is 20 km, and takes between 7 and 9 hrs. The total ascent is around 650 m.

Glaciar Piedras Blancas:

Laguna de los Tres:

Mirador Fitz Roy:

March 23: Trekking Mt. Torre & Laguna Torre

This is the second of the traditional trails and one of the most simple to do. We leave the town and head west into the park with a medium difficulty section. Roughly 1:30 hrs from town you  arrive at the Cerro Torre viewpoint, to get your first good look at Cerro Torre, Cerro Solo and the Grande glacier among others.

Continuing along the trail heading west to the Fitz Roy river, which will accompany you all the way to Campamento Agostini, and then to Laguna Torre. Once there you can continue a little more to the Maestri viewpoint were you will get a better view of the glacier.

The total to walk is 20 km to the Lake and it will take between 6 and 8 hrs. The total ascent is 250 m.

To get to the Maestri viewpoint, continue to the right (looking at Cerro Torre), along the edge of the lake following one of the many trails that go to the top. Once there, all the trails merge into a single one that will take you to the viewpoint.

Total return distance from the lake is 4 km and takes 2 hrs. The total ascent is 100 m.

Mirador Cerro Torre:

Laguna Torre:

Mirador Maestri:

Marc 24: Trekking Loma del Pliegue Tumbado

One of the least traveled trails, but maybe one of the best is the trail to Pliegue Tumbado, which starts at the APN office in the south entrance of town.

With a medium difficulty all the way, the trail ends in the highest viewpoint in the park, but because its distributed along the way, its easier than Laguna de los Tres. You climb steadily through a forest of lengas and ñires (Patagonian Beech trees), following creeks until you get to a fork in the trail. Going left you get to Laguna Toro (only with APN authorization), so continue to the right for Pliegue Tumbado.

Leaving the forest for the last hour you'll cross a shingle scree were you'll find ocean shell fossils from when the Andes were formed. After the last incline you'll get to the end of the trail and the viewpoint where you get a magnificent view of all the major peaks in the park.

In front we will have Cerro Torre and Laguna Torre, Cerro Fitz Roy and Poincenot Needle, Laguna Capri and even Laguna Condor, located 20 km away from us. After a well deserved rest, we return following the same path, looking down on Lake Viedma.

Total return distance from the APN office is 24 km, and will take between 8 and 10 hs. The total ascent is 1000m.

We probably won’t be able to do the “Solo con permiso de APN Only with APN permit”, since we need to catch the 6pm bus from El Chalten to El Calafate (since there is only early morning bus leave from El Calafate (8:30am) to Puerto Natales). However, by skipping the second part of the trail, each person will save $160USD guide fee.

Pliegue Tumbado:

March 26 – March 27, 2016: Take bus from El Chalten to El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, Chile. Fly from Punta Arenas, Chile to Santiago, Chile, and then fly back to Toronto, Canada.