Cross the Patagonian Andes toward iconic Mount Fitz Roy
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 77.85 mi
- Elevation gain
- 4,108 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 4,557 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,573 ft
- TrailRank
- 44
- Min elevation
- 827 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 1628
- Uploaded
- July 6, 2014
- Recorded
- July 2014
near El Chaltén, Santa Cruz (Argentina)
Viewed 2299 times, downloaded 35 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Waypoints
Wilderness hut
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Villa O'Higgins
Just about the time that you begin to take the Patagonia landscapes for granted, you’ll reach Villa O’Higgins and your amazement and wonder will return. O’Higgins is one of the most remote villages in Chile, situated at the end of the Carretera Austral and surrounded by the peaks of the southern Andes, the deepest lake in the Americas, the fjords of the Pacific, and the Southern Patagonia Ice Fields. Being a remote community limits access to modern luxuries, but if you are prepared for that, you’ll find Villa O’Higgins full of simple comforts, including excellent options for lodging, cellular service and Internet, a rural first-aid post, grocery and hardware stores, great restaurants, travel companies and guiding services. In fact, you can even find some creative luxuries, like a wood-burning stove assisted sauna at the El Mosco hostel, and the wood-burning hot tubs at the Robinson Crusoe Lodge.
Lake
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Lago O'Higgins
The southern reaches of the Aysén Region are the home for giants; enormous geographic landmarks of incredible mass and beauty. Let’s start with the bi-national lake through which you will sail on this adventure: O’Higgins of the Chilean side, San Martin of the Argentinian side. This lake is one of South America’s largest, with an area of 1,013 km², spread out like a giant octopus. It has a maximum recorded depth of 836 m, earning it the honor of being the deepest in all of the Americas and the fifth deepest in the world. The most striking feature for most of its visitors is its intense turquoise color, produced by the large amount of sediments that flow into the lake from the glaciers of the Southern Patagonia Ice Fields.
Waypoint
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Puerto Bahamondes
You’ll start in Puerto Bahamondes, seven km from Villa O’Higgins, where you will need to pay the fees and take the Quetru across the lake. It’s around three hours navigating to Candelario Mansilla, where you can disembark at the morning stop OR continue aboard to take the day long excursion to the O’Higgins Glacier (costs a bit more but completely worth it), and disembark in Candelario Mansilla in the afternoon, on the way back.
Waypoint
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Candelario Mansilla
Candelario Mansilla is named in honor of the first Chilean settler to make these isolated land his home. Today, it consists of a tiny harbor, a border control post, and the home of Don Mansilla’s descendants who have created a campground and rural hospedaje to meet the needs of a growing number of hikers. The inn’s four rooms are very basic, and share a bathroom with the family, but, the homemade meals are delicious and filling, especially before heading out on the trail. When you disembark from the Quetru, you can spend the night or immediately begin your hike, continuing the upward climb along a wide gravel road that winds above O’Higgins Lake and eventually levels off, in route toward a small airstrip. Either way, you’ll need to head up the hill to the Chilean Border Control to process your paperwork for crossing into Argentina.
Summit
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Monte Fitz Roy
The first 12 kilometers wind up the mountain along an easy but very uneven gravel road. Most hikers opt to hitch a ride from the Chilean Guard Station to the airstrip for around $5.000 CLP. After the airstrip, you’ll enter a beautiful 10 kilometers of trail that wind through high mountain fields and forests, bordering high mountain lagoons, like the Redonda and the Larga, and crossing over the border between Chile and Argentina. The welcome signs marking your departure/entry are a great spot for photos! As you make your way down the mountain toward the Argentine Border Control there are incredible views of Mt. Fitz Roy and the Desierto Lagoon. Be able to access your personal identification, passports, visas, and other relevant paperwork. After clearing customs on the Argentine side of the mountain, around kilometer 22, you’ll walk across a big field toward a rocky shoreline and resume the trail for the last 12 km stretch to the other end of the lake, (on the Argentina side, the lagoon is referred to as a lake). Mt. Fitz Roy will be getting closer with every kilometer you walk so have your camera handy. The trail is well marked, with small metal arrows that lead you through the rolling hills. Around Km 6, after a long climb, the trail arrives at a rocky vista with a breathtaking view of Mt. Fitz Roy and Laguna/Lago del Desierto. This stop serves as a good place for a rest and a snack. Next, the trail gradually descends rolling hills returning you to the shores of the lake. From here you’ll wind along the shore until you reach the dock area. The final two kilometers cross ancient glacial moraine and a few streams before finally ending at a small wooden footbridge in the forest.
Waypoint
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El Chaltén
From the trail’s endpoint it’s another 34 kilometers by road to El Chaltén, so unless you are a HARD-CORE hiker, we recommend pre-arranging for a transfer. To arrange transfer from the trail-head into El Chaltén, we recommend contacting Walk Patagonia - Av. Antonio Rojo 62, Office 2, El Chaltén C.P. 9301, Santa Cruz; Argentina; www.walkpatagonia.com; info@walkpatagonia.com; (5402962) 493275; (5402966) 15577444.
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