Dec. 25: El Calafate
The town received its name from the small bush calafate, indigenous of Patagonia, its fruit is a delicious berry very good for a jam. After living in the refugio for the past 5 days, it is a welcome respite to stay in a 4-star hotel accommodation. El Calafate is the gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier and the El Chalten area. Hotels, shops and restaurants as well as an international airport have already dominated the pampas landscape. Today was the first time in a long while to have a good meal - parilla (bbq).

Dec. 26: Parque los Glaciares - Perito Moreno Glacier (8 miles, 6 hrs)
Ice dominates the Los Glaciares National Park where 2,600 square kilometers of ice fields from where 47 major glaciers descend. The absolute "star" of all them is the Perito Moreno Glacier – the world’s only glacier outside the polar region that is still advancing.

We drove along the lakeshore of Lago Argentino with the view of Cerro Los Elefantes. Estancias dominates the landscape, lots of sheeps with sightings of condors soaring overhead. As we got closer to the entrance, forests of lengas, ñires and guindos and shrubs such as notros and calafates surrounds the terrain. We got to see the panoramic view of the glacier for the first time at Curva de Los Suspiros.

The Perito Moreno has an imposing front wall of 5 km long and a height of over 60 meters above the level of the water. Known worldwide because of its process of fractures, the front of the glacier closes the running of the waters of Brazo Rico when it approaches the coast. This process continues until, the pressure of the increasing volume of water becoming too high eventually, the ice dam starts to crack, breaks into pieces and is almost entirely washed away, sending huge icebergs downstream.

As it is, this glacier is impressive at any time. Here I watched at a close distance (the closest one can ever be), the detachment of ice blocks of different sizes from a short distance, hear the roaring they produce, and then watch some of them turned into wonderful floating icebergs.

That afternoon, we continued our drive north crossing Río Santa Cruz and along Río La Leona to the shores of Lago Viedma till we reach the village of El Chaltén. As we approached El Chaltén we saw our first view of Mount Fitz Roy (11,171’) and Cerro Torre (10,177’).

El Chaltén only came to be in 1985. Barely 50 families of 300 inhabitants live here. But during summertime, it becomes a mecca for climbers attempting to summit Cerro Torre, and trekkers who wants a closer view of the mountain peaks, giant massifs and permanent ice fields. (The Patagonia clothing company created their logo from the profile of these peaks). It also has excellent local brewery, El Bodegón Cerveza Artezanal, that serves Cervezas tipo Bock (negra) and Pilsner (rubia). It is a log cabin style pub, small and cozy. Manu whose family came from Yugoslavia generations ago, spends her summertime tending the bar and go to school in Buenos Aires during the off-season.

Dec. 27: Parque los Glaciares - Laguna de los Tres (8 miles, 6 hrs)
Today’s hike takes us along a ridge below Cerro Leon (2,840'). We have fabulous views of Mount Fitz Roy, Poincenot and other granite peaks and glaciers. We followed the Chorillo del Salto stream and cross lenga forest until we reach the base camp of Río Blanco. Then a gruelling hike to Laguna de los Tres, from where we can see outstanding views of Fitz Roy, the adjacent Poincenot needle (9,849’), Rafael, Saint Exupery, other granite spires and the Piedras Blancas glacier. Sacred and venerated by local Tehuelche groups and believed to be a volcano, they called it "Chalten" (exhaling fumes mountain). Unfortunately, clouds were covering these peaks that day but nevertheless it was a lovely place to have lunch. We continued walking along the lake’s shore and towards the emerald green waters of Laguna Sucia and its hanging glaciers. On our way down, we passed by Laguna Sucia. For more photos, click here: Laguna de los Tres gallery

Dec. 28: Parque los Glaciares - Laguna Torre (9 miles, 7 hrs)
Hiked down to Río Fitz Roy and follow the river up to Laguna Torre at 2,164’ at the base of Cerro Torre admiring the view from the Fitz Roy valley. Cerro Torre is one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb because of its vertical walls topped by an overhanging mushroom of ice. Countless expeditions attempt every year to reach the summit, but only a few succeed. The vertical east granite face of Cerro Torre is over 7,000 feet (twice as high as Yosemite’s El Capitan). The trail ends in the coast of Laguna Torre which offers a beautiful view of Cerro Torre surrounded by Egger, Standhard, spires and the Adelas range as a backdrop together with the glacier Torre. Then hike continues through Laguna Madre e Hija and descends to El Chaltén. For more photos, click here: Laguna Torre gallery

Dec. 29: Parque los Glaciares - El Chaltén
This was an optional hiking day. While the rest were still up for more hiking adventures, I opted to rent a mountain bike and exercise a different muscle group. I rode to Salto del Chorillo waterfall which is 5 km from the town.

Dec. 30: Flight to Ushuaia
Drove to El Calafate for a flight to Ushuaia the “southernmost city in the world” on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Bid adieu to our faithful guides - Andre & Christian. Overnight in Ushuaia.

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