Fitz Roy, king of El Chaltén

3 days, 65km, a total of 2,100m heights hiked and incredible sunny weather for the season. That definitely made up for the 24h spent sitting and eating on the bus, to travel the 1,400km that separate Bariloche from El Chaltén. As long as it sounds it passed by faster than expected, driving through the most amazing landscapes of Patagonia on the famous Routa 40.

El Chaltén is a small village located in the National Park Los Glaciares. The area is famous for trekking, so that’s what we did and in great company! On the bus, we met 2 Frenchies who have travelled for 7 months through Asia and south America, and while we are spending our first month in Argentina they are spending their last. 2 younger Frenchies from the hostel, studying for one semester in Santa Fe, joined us as well.

The long hikes have been absolutely worth the incredible views on Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, several lakes, lagoons and a panoramic view on the Cordillera de los Andes. El Chaltén was a lot of fun, adventure, cold, avalanches (yes, we saw an avalanche), laughs and well deserved beers!

But we were not part of the most adventurous people there… In our hostel a few courageous ones went trekking and camped in the mountains to be the first ones to see the sun rise over Fitz Roy. As tempting as it sounded during the day when sun was shining and the air was slightly warmer, we were quite happy to be in a warm hostel in the evenings enjoying wine and beers while temperatures were dropping to –10 degrees.