Starting Routa 40 and Carretera Austral
- Tobias & Tiffany Hallwood
- Feb 14, 2020
- 5 min read
El Chaltén
El Chaltén is a small town located within Los Glaciares National Park and is a gateway to a number of great hikes within the area. We stayed in a campground, basically a parking lot for campers, just outside the town.
Laguna de Los Tres
The trek to Laguna de Los Tres took us close to the walls of Mount Fitz Roy! The trail head began at the end of town and immediately ascended up to a viewpoint of the valley of the De las Vueltas river. We were really fortunate to have blue skies which granted us clear views of Fitz Roy and the surrounding valley.
The trail took us along streams and through a small forest. As we got closer to the lake, the terrain went from lush greenery to rock and dust. As we climbed higher and higher we could feel the air starting to get cooler. Once we reached the lake we were greeted with beautiful turquoise blue water set in front of the stunning backdrop of Fitz Roy! To top it all off a condor was soaring above!
Laguna Torre
The next hike we did was to Laguna Torre, a beautiful glacier-fed lake that sits at the base of Cerro Torre. The trail took us through a beautiful forest, along a river and over a wetland. Along the way we kept getting glimpses of Cerro Torre, but unfortunately the clouds did not clear up enough to grant us a full view of Cerro Torre. Unlike other lakes in the area Torre did not have turquoise water, but it was still stunning, particularly sitting below a glacier!
Routa 40
From El Chaltén we headed north along the dusty roads of Argentina's famed Routa 40. As we dashed from one small town gas station to another we battled wind that killed our gas mileage. On a flat road we could comfortably get the van to around 120 kmph but at some places the wind was so strong that the van was maxing out at 80 kmph! Because there was no one else on the highway we stopped and put the van in neutral and we were blown backwards!
We eventually turned off Route 40 onto a small side road that led us to a border crossing at Paso Robles, which was at the edge of Parque Nacional Patagonia.
Parque Nacional Patagonia
Parque Nacional Patagonia is part of the Tompkins Conservation project started by Douglas Tompkins, the founder of North Face. The goal of the project is to establish national parks and protect Patagonias vast wildlife and beauty!
As we drove through the main valley of the park we passed over streams and along lakes. As we drove we had to keep alert for darting giant hares and guanacos!
Day 1
We were hoping to get a big hike in on our first full day in the park. However we woke up to some rain and wind. After watching it for a little while we decided that we would chance it. However as we made our way up the mountain we quickly realized the rain was not going to let up! We eventually made it to the Douglas Tompkins mirador and a couple from Boston were kind enough to drive us back to camp. It is just as well we turned back, because shortly after returning to the van the winds picked up and it started to hail! We spent the next 8 hours stuck in the van listening to hail and rain pounding the van! So far this was the only day we got “van fever” and felt shut in all day. We were treated to a nice little rainbow at the end of it!
Day 2
We woke up with the intention of doing a whole day hike, but our shoes were still wet. We laid them out in the sun and spent the morning reading. By the time they dried we didn’t have time for the long hike so we decided to do another quick walk up to the Douglas Tompkins mirador and see what the view looked like on a clear day. On our walk up we kept hearing hammering in the woods but could not see anything, but on the way down we finally spotted a Magellanic woodpecker, the largest woodpecker!
Day 3
Today we did a 23-km (14-mile) trek on the Lagunas Altas Trail. The trail took us up the hill near the Tamanguito Peak, before making its way around a number of alpine lakes and eventually returning to the park headquarters to grab a quick shower and head into town to resupply.
As we were leaving the park we met a family, mom, dad, 8 year old girl, and 5 year old boy who were looking to hitchhike into town. Hitchhiking is very very common in Chile. On the drive we learned they are a Chilean family who are using the kid’s summer vacation to hike and hitchhike their way to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Their goal is to do it to show parents that it’s possible to travel with kids and kids enjoy the outdoors and don’t need to spend all their time on iPads and video games. They had just completed a 6 day trek (should have taken 4, but they got stuck with the hail storm). They sometimes hike 20km/10.5 miles a day! The kids were lovely and energetic and gave us proof that we can continue our adventures with our kids.
Tamango National Reserve
We set up in the reserve for a few days to relax along the shores of Lake Cochrane and do some day hikes. Our first afternoon we took a kayak out on the lake and enjoyed gliding across the clear turquoise waters. It felt like we were in the Mediterranean! Shortly after we started the winds picked up and it started to rain, so after a little while we decided to head back and had to battle the wind!
During our hikes we walked along trails that hugged the lake at times and then took us up over rocks and gave us beautiful views of the lake from above. During one of the hikes, Tiffany stopped to enjoy the view and Tobias pushed on to explore. On his way back happened upon endangered huemul deer! These are notoriously shy animals so Tobias was really fortunate to see one!
Puerto Rio Tranquilo
From Cochrane we headed north along Routa 7 aka the Carretera Austral, one of the main highways in Chile, to Puerto Tranquilo. This tiny tiny town has its claim to fame from the Marble Caves nearby.
The Marble Caves are a series of sculpted geological formations formed from the wind and water whipping against the marble. Depending on the time of day you go and what the weather is like, you may be greeted by some spectacular colors as the sun bounces of the turquoise water and hits the walls of the cave.
We visited the caves by taking a boat and we both left the experience agreeing that though the geological formations were beautiful, the crowds of people and conveyor belt feel of the operation took something from the experience. It’s definitely an Instagram trap!
We continued north to the town of Coyhaique. As we bounced and rumbled our way we noticed the van was struggling to accelerate and was barely making it the hills. So we we desperate to get to town to it fixed! We eventually made it to Coyhaique and when compared to the other places we had passed through seemed like a massive city, where in reality it is more of a quaint ranching town. Or goals in Coyhaique were to restock on essential supplies, hit up a brewery, and get the car looked at!
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