Argentina: El Calafate & El Chaltén

It's true: we recently went on our third trip to Patagonia this year. Also true: each trip through Patagonia is just as magical as the last one, if not more. 

Okay, so let me do some explaining before I jump into the magic of our trip to El Calafate and El Chaltén in Santa Cruz, Argentina. First of all, this trip was a "last hurrah" of sorts as we are on the verge of making the move back to Minnesota (to be explained further in a future post). Secondly, given the nature of the Argentine economy (also to be further explained in a future post) and its dismal exchange rate policies, we were faced with the "tough" decision of either: a) attempting to exchange all our pesos for dollars and lose at least half the monetary value in the transaction, or b) spending our pesos on a trip we have been dreaming of for quite some time. The decision really wasn't all that hard to make when we factored in the possibility of never living so close to Patagonia again.

It took some effort to make our way down to 50.3380°S, starting with an overnight bus from Cordoba to Buenos Aires, an Uber ride from the bus station to the airport, approximately 8 hours of waiting at the airport, then a 3 hour flight to El Calafate. That night, we slept very well despite feeling excited for the next day's excursion, set to begin at 9 a.m.

At exactly 4:55 a.m. the next morning, we were both woken up, not by our excitement for the day's activities, but rather by an EARTHQUAKE! Our second-story hotel room had a nice shake; Emi said it was the strongest quake he had ever experienced. We later learned that it had a magnitude of 5.4 and epicenter 3 km from El Calafate. Earthquakes in this area and of this size are not all that common, so it became the unifying topic of conversation among tourists and locals that day and the rest of the week. The only damage we learned of was on a bridge on the highway going to Los Glaciares National Park and some fallen rocks nearby. 

We didn't feel any aftershocks as we made our way to see the famous Perito Moreno glacier. As just one part of the gigantic Southern Patagonian Ice Field, this glacier is most famous because of its accessibility. We spent over an hour on the boardwalks, walking and sitting in front of this glacier, admiring its massiveness and keeping a close watch for any possible detachments. We learned that the glaciers in this region are formed by snowfall brought in by winds coming from the west; the winds--after crossing the entire southern Pacific Ocean--hit the wall formed by the Andes Mountains where they deposit their precipitation in the form of snow. This snow gets compacted into glaciers, and, voila! We get the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The air that then passes further east past the mountains is dry, as can be noted in the steppe climate on the eastern side of the Andes.

The day after our visit to Perito Moreno, we took a cruise on Lago Argentino, the biggest lake in Argentina. An hour across its sparkling and freezing bright turquoise water led us to sights of more glaciers, notably the Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers. The Upsala glacier has receded remarkably fast in recent years, so we were not able to see it up close. In fact, we learned that this ice field measured approximately 13,500 square kilometers in 1945 and by 2010 it had lost 1000 square kilometers.

After seeing the southern part of Los Glaciares National Park, we headed to El Chaltén to see the northern part of the park and the much-anticipated Mount Fitz Roy. The day we arrived was extremely windy and cloudy (see previous description of how the glaciers are formed) so there were no sights to be had of Mr. Fitz. We stopped by the National Park Headquarters to get trail information and tips for exploring this "hiking capital of Argentina." The park ranger on duty told us that a lot of people try to hike the roughly 10 kilometers (20 km round trip) to the Laguna de los Tres (the closest one is able to get to the peak of Fitz Roy) in bad weather, with improper footwear/clothing, or despite their unfit physical condition. The last kilometer of the ascent is without a doubt the most challenging, including a 400 meter elevation gain over loose rocks. The day we arrived, she said, would be a very bad day to attempt the hike.

On a clear day, Mt. Fitz Roy can be seen from this road.

The next day started chilly but a lot less windy and much less cloudy than the day prior. We set out just after 8 a.m. to hike to the Laguna de los Tres, and made it there around 1:30 p.m. After refueling with the lunch we had packed while admiring the beauty of Fitz Roy and surrounding mountains/glaciers/lagoons, we started the 10 kilometer trek back to town. I reckon that kilometer 11/20 (with 400 meter elevation loss) was harder than kilometer 10/20 (the 400 meter elevation gain), and by kilometer 14, I knew there would be only one way to properly end this hike: with an ice bath. 

Emi took the park ranger's words we heard the day before to heart and made sure to ask each person we encountered on the ascent how they were doing. After they responded, he would follow up with a piece of advice we received, including: 

• Don't try to hike the last kilometer up if it's raining or windy. 
• Start your descent immediately if you see a grayish-black spot in the sky.
• Walking in a zig-zag pattern helps with the ascent and descent in especially steep areas.

He shared so much advice, in fact, that a fellow hiker we encountered around kilometer 9/20 gave him the nickname "Counselor" when we met again in kilometer 20/20. The same hiker said he had placed an order for two new legs to be delivered post-hike from Mercado Libre, the local version of Amazon.

That brings me to another quirk about traveling through this part of Patagonia: whomever you meet once, you will most definitely meet again. We crossed paths with fellow hikers on different parts of different trails and waved from our Nissan March rental car at other familiar travelers driving in their Nissan March rental cars (other than 4x4 pickups, the March seems to be the only model rented in this province). On our return flight, we recognized people who had stayed in the same hotels and eaten at the same restaurants at the same time we had. 

We woke up the day after hiking to the Laguna de los Tres feeling a bit sore and with a couple new blisters, but we mustered the energy to hike part of the Laguna Torre trail (only to the lookout point because that's all our legs could handle). More clouds rolled in this day, so we were especially thankful we did the hike to Fitz Roy the day before. In the afternoon, we drove to Lago del Desierto where we saw some waterfalls, more glaciers, and more views of Fitz Roy.

Our trip concluded with a drive through the wind back to El Calafate, a delicious fondue dinner, a morning flight back to Buenos Aires, and finally another overnight bus back to Cordoba. More photos from our adventure in Santa Cruz can be seen here.