On the Trekking Adventure RTA you will travel through such different areas as the Desert of Atacama, the North of Argentina and Patagonia with the Mt. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre; combining hiking at beautiful landscapes with the possibility of enjoying the culture and customs of its inhabitants. We also get to enjoy the Perito Moreno Glacier (only glacier in the world that shows a closure and rupture process) and trek the three W valleys of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Surely an unforgettable trekking experience. This is a regular group trekking activity but with a minimum of 2 travelers.

Departures 2009/2010:

    17 days - 15 nights

    Season: April to October

    Begins: Thursdays

Starts at: El Calafate Airport (FTE).
Ends at: Salta Airport (SLA).

Itinerary
Day 1: El Calafate Airport (FTE) - El Calafate
We receive you at El Calafate Airport from there you are transfered to your lodging at the town of El Calafate, where at 7 PM the group will meet by the first time. This is the moment when we have the guides introduction and we talk about all the details regarding the trekking we will make. You meet your guide and you enjoy the welcome dinner with your adventure partners while chatting on the program details for tomorrow
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals : dinner (D)

Day 2: Bus to El Chalten - Laguna Capri
After breakfast we travel by bus to El Chalten, a little and colorful town next to Mount Fitz Roy. To arrive to El Chalten we will cross 220 km (part of gravel road) through the Patagonia steppe, stopping at half way, where a picturesque inn is located, to enjoy homemade cakes and hot coffee. Once in Chalten we meet fellow travellers coming from up north (Route 40). We prepare for the trekking, leaving part of our belongings secure at Chalten, and carrying only the necessary for these three nights where we will lodge at the campsites inside Los Glaciares National Park. We hike up a beautiful trail next to ¨Las Vueltas¨ river that will take us to the first panoramic views of the Mount Fitz Roy. From now on, we will walk approaching to De los Patos Lagoon and finally we will arrive to our camp next to the Capri Lagoon. (3 hs approx.) The Camp has been previously mounted, featuring spacious 3 people dome tents, used in double or single base. Each tent has sleeping bags, inner sheet and insulating mattresses. The camp has a large dining tent with table, benches, dishes and kitchenware. The sanitary services are provided with chemical bathrooms or latrine -type. We leave our belongings in our tent and we enjoy an afternoon walk to the sightseeing points around the lagoon.
Lodging at Lag. Capri Full Camp double or single tent (rural area - without showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 3: Mount Fitz Roy, De Los Tres Lagoon
Trekking. Early in the morning and carrying only your coat and the photo camera we can try to match up the morning sunlight getting pink in Fitz Roy granite walls. You only need this to feel the trip is worthwhile. After breakfast, carrying only day personal items such as our polar & wind jacket, gloves, our camera, water bottle and the box lunch we provide, we overcome the "Chorrillo del Salto", always with the impressive needles of the glacier in front of us. The first 2 hours are mainly flat, through forest and open areas along Fitz Roy trail up to Rio Blanco, with diverse bird life, until reaching Fitz Roy base, climbers basecamp on the east side of the mountain. From here it is a 400 m/1300 ft climb to the De los Tres lagoon on a steep trail that takes us around one hour and a half at gentle pace. This walk is one of the highlights in Los Glaciares National Park: Laguna de los Tres, with its zephyr blue colour, lays at the foot of the Fitz Roy massif, offering the views of Mts. Poincenot, Fitz Roy and the other peaks surrounding them are splendid, their needles rise up vertically in front of us approx. 1500 m over the glaciers. Mt. Fitz Roy, with its 3405 mts above sea level, is considered the “King of Patagonia” and also considered one of the three most beautiful mountains on Earth (together with Alpamayo in Perú and K2 in the Karakoram). We return to Capri Lagoon in late afternoon. (Total walking time is 5 to 6 Hs. approx.)
Lodging at Lag. Capri Full Camp double or single tent (rural area - without showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 4: Mount Torre
Trekking. This morning we hike around Capri Lagoon down by the trail to Madre e Hija Lagoons through a dense beech forest following the Fitz Roy river. Through the Mt. Torre trail we get to Mt. Torre Full Camp. From the camp, a short hike takes us to glacier-fed Laguna Torre, where Fitz Roy river begins. This lagoon contained between moraines, generally piles floes that come off of the Grande Glacier that falls in its west side. It is usual to see icebergs pushed by the wind in the coast of the lagoon. The impressive group of Mount Torre needles with its slender 3128 meters/10262 ft height, frame the landscape, and the Adela range in the background complete this spectacular view. Walking time 3 to 4 Hs.
Lodging at Cerro Torre Full Camp double or single tent (rural area - without showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 5: Torre Glacier - El Chalten
In the morning we walk the area near Laguna Torre to reach the old Maestri basecamp, located in a high site up along the north moraine of the lagoon, with nice views of the Solo Mount and the Adela Glacier. For keen hikers we offer and recommend an optional excursion, a unique glacier trek over the Mt. Torre Glacier Grande, the Holiday on Ice Excursion: after an early start we cross the Fitz Roy river on a tyrolean rope (horizontal fixed rope attached to both sides of a river), walk through a forest, descend the lateral moraine to the glacier where we put on our crampons (provided) and trek over the glacier’s surface, where we will visit crevices, ice caves and have the opportunity to develop our ice climbing skills (harnesses and ice axes provided) on the glacier walls with the proper advice of our experienced mountain guides. Late in the afternoon we hike back to El Chaltén along Fitz Roy river valley, where you will lodge that night. Total estimated time of the standard day: 4 to 5 Hs. If you go trekking on the “Holiday on Ice”, it is 7 Hs plus the trail back to Chalten which is 2 and a half hours more.
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Optional Excursion: Holiday on Ice

Day 6: El Chalten - El Calafate
Free day. In the morning you can choose to explore the picturesque village of El Chalten, with the possibility of visiting The Climbers Chapel; or the Madsen family house, one of the first pioneering families in the area; or the Interpretive Center of National Parks. Or you can choose optional excursions taking a bus to visit the area of Del Desierto Lake for a short hiking, that in spite of its name it's a beautiful beech forest surrounded lake, with hanging glaciers in its west side and it's located 45 Km out of town. Other options could be kayaking on Las Vueltas river or sailing on Viedma Lake. Around 5 PM we take the bus to El Calafate, the gateway to the huge glaciers inside the National Park, arriving there around 9 PM. Driving distance: 220 km.
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 7: El Calafate - Perito Moreno Glacier
We dedicate this day to one of the World’s Natural Wonders: the Perito Moreno glacier. After breakfast we travel by bus, on a road that allows us to go through the folds left on the steppe by the glaciers, to the Magallanes peninsula where the southern entrance of Los Glaciares National Park is located. Its major attraction is the Perito Moreno Glacier which, because of unusually favorable local conditions, is one of the world’s few advancing glaciers. This ice field-type glacier flows down from the Patagonia Icefield, a big ice surface that with its 22.000 square kilometres is the third largest glacier area in the world, after Antarctica (14 M sq km) and Greenland (1 M sq km). The Perito Moreno Glacier is the only one in the world that shows a closure and rupture process. Huge icebergs from the glacier wall collapse into the De los Tempanos Channel. The roar of the gigantic ice rocks falling and crashing into the waters of the channel is a unique experience. Our bus will lead us just in front of the Glacier, allowing us to walk and view the Glacier from different viewpoints. We return to El Calafate using a different route. We will drive 80 km (1 and a half hour) to get and then again to come back from the glacier across the steppe, watching a wide variety of birds.
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 8: El Calafate - Torres del Paine
We depart early in the morning (around 7 AM) from El Calafate to Torres del Paine for a 6 Hs drive through the spectacular landscape of the Patagonia steppe following part of the legendary Route 40, to get around Sierra de los Baguales, an impressive range in between Calafate and Paine. Choiques and flamingos are very common in this area. Almost 4 hours from starting our journey, we will be at the border crossing between Chile and Argentina called Paso Cancha Carrera - Cerro Castillo. We continue until we reach the Torres del Paine National Park. UNESCO gave to this park the World Heritage status, due to its unique wildlife and magnificent scenery. During our entrance to the Torres del Paine National Park, we start to see the different mountains that feature the area: Paine Grande, the Horns, Admiral Nieto and the Towers. We enter the Park by Porteria Sarmiento. A rich wildlife: guanacos, lesser rheas, condors and all types of wetland and buzzard birds, will be available for our eyes and cameras. We will stop in Lake Nordenskjöld and in Salto Grande viewpoints for short walks, to finally arrive to the Camping Pehoe Lake Full Camp after 6 hours of travel. Lake Pehoe Full Camp keeps the style of Laguna Capri and Cerro Torre Full Camps, but combined with the first class facilities provided by the campsite: good and clean bathrooms and hot water showers, water and electricity in each camping site. In the afternoon we continue to visit the westernmost side of the National Park, lake Grey area, where a short and easy hike along the south shore of the lake allow us to enjoy the blue icebergs that calving from the glacier in the northern side of the lake are pushed by the wind to this side.
Lodging at Camping Pehoe Full Camp double or single tent (with bathrooms/showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 9: Las Torres (Paine Towers) - Ascensio river Valley
We dedicate this day to one of the most spectacular and classical trekking in the park: the Torres Trail. We transfer after breakfast driving to the trail start at Estancia Cerro Paine. We cross a suspended bridge and ascend the slopes of the Almirante Nieto Mount, bordering the Ascencio river. After "warming up" one hour hiking up a steep slope, we get into the Ascensio river Valley, a narrow “V” shape alpine valley coming from inside the Paine massif. After one hour ascending we go into the Valley, and a gentle downhill leads us to Chileno Refuge, a cozy and comfortable mountain lodge, which can be a good turnaround point for those not willing to make a full day hike. But we don't recommend it as the best is yet to come. From there the trail leads us through the beech forest walking in a gentle slope along the river side, in the middle of unforgettable landscapes, to Las Torres base camp. There the climbers wait good weather conditions to climb Las Torres. We take a final climb through the boulders of the moraine, it's one hour to reach the Las Towers viewpoint: an amazing natural amphitheater at the bottom of the vertical granite towers with a glacier-fed lagoon and the three towers rising vertically 1000 mts from the glacier and reaching 2800 meters height above sea level. The lack of breath will be either because the climb and the sight. We go back to our camp on the same way we came. Walking time: 7 to 8 Hs.
Lodging at Camping Pehoe Full Camp in double or single tent(with bathrooms/showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 10: Pehoe Lake Navigation, Del Frances Valley
Early in the morning we carry only the necessary belongings to be 2 days and 1 night away from our Camping Pehoe Full Camp, where the rest of our luggage will stay secure. After a short drive to Port Pudeto to board a boat, we cross the Pehoe Lake sailing 45 minutes and arrive at the Pehoe Refuge area in the far side of the lake. We leave unnecessary items in our tents and walk from there until reaching Del Frances Valley. It’s a beautiful mountain valley descending from the middle of the massif towards the Nordenskjold Lake. Flanked by The Horns to the east and by the impressive Paine Grande (3050 meters /10006 ft) to the west. The trail skirts Paine Grande south slopes and lake Skottberg, to take us after 2 hs and a half of continuous ups and downs, to the hanging bridge upon the French River. This breathtaking location is at the foot of both the 2700 mts south east face of Paine Grande (to the west) and the Horns, with its characteristic black sedimentary topping, to the east. We ascend the valley until the upper viewpoints located in a natural amphitheater surrounded by some of the most wonderful needles and walls of the massif: Cuernos, Espada (Sword), Mascara (Mask), Hoja (Blade), Aleta de Tiburon (Shark Fin), Catedral (Cathedral), Fortaleza (Fortress) and Paine Grande. The forest and the suspended glaciers that cause continuous ice and snow fallings, give us a unique scenery to this walk. We descend the same trail and turn west rounding Skottberg Lake, hiking back until we arrive to our Camp for this night at Pehoe Refuge area. Walking time for those who reach the upper viewpoints: 8 to 9 hs. For those reaching the lower viewpoints: 5 to 6 hs.
Lodging at Refugio Pehoe Full Camp in double or single tent (with bathrooms/showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)

Day 11: Grey Glacier Viewpoints
Another unforgettable day dedicated to the Grey Glacier, impressive glacier with 300 square kilometers of surface (115 square miles) and 25 kilometers long (16 miles). It overflows from the Patagonia Ice Field falling into Grey Lake. The Glacier produces enormous amount of blue icebergs that sail over the lake pushed by the wind towards the south, given the characteristic feature to this lake. Lake Grey trail leads from Pehoe Valley across ridges to reach Grey valley. The trail skirts the lake, going up and down the westerns slopes of Paine Grande, offering some of the most impressive sights of the Park, leading us to a wonderful viewpoint where we can appreciate the whole lake, the glacier and the mountains that emerge from the west of the Ice Field. From the high sections of the trail, many different viewpoints allow us to see the south end of the lake where the blue icebergs gather, the mountains rising far in the distance above glaciers Grey and Tyndall, and of course lake and glacier Grey. Two more hours walking and we arrive to another viewpoint just in front of the Glacier. All the trek is done between Andean bushes and lengas forest, at the shadow of the ice blocks that drape the Paine Grande Mount. We come back along the same trail, crossing bogs, shrublands and forest. At the end of the day we sail again the Pehoe Lake to the south shore to return to our Full Camp at Camping Pehoe area where we take all our belongings left there and then we drive to our accommodation in Puerto Natales, a picturesque fishermen town located in the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) fiord. We will walk this day about 8 Hs. To the half way viewpoints, from our camp, 4-5 Hs.
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)

Day 12: Puerto Natales
This is a free day for you to enjoy different optional activities. We suggest the navigation of the fiordo Ultima Esperanza which visits the glacieres Balmaceda and Serrano.
Lodging at Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 13: Punta Arenas Airport - Calama Airport - San Pedro de Atacama
We are transferred to the airport of Punta Arenas where we flight to the Calama Airport. We welcome you at the Calama Airport and transfer to your lodge at San Pedro de Atacama in the North of Chile.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 14: Altiplanicas Lagoons
This day we will visit the Miscanti and Miñique lagoons; with their wonderful colours are located over 4000 meters over sea level. On our way to them, we stop at Toconao, an old town made complete of stone, where the art craft is also well known. Another highlight of this journey is the ‘Salar de Atacama’ which has an extension of more than 100 km. We will also appreciate some of the birds and fauna that have managed to survive in one the most deserted places of the earth. We will require around 6 hours. Our lodging will be approx. 90 Km from San Pedro de Atacama.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room
Included meals : breakfast (B)

Day 15: Geyser Del Tatio
This day starts quite early in the morning. We will depart before dawn (4 AM) in order to go to the Tatio volcano, located 4500 meters over sea level. When we arrive we will go to the geothermal field located in Los Andes mountain range. Early in the morning this place has an amazing steamy activity because of the high temperatures that are coming up from the craters. The boiling water, the huge columns of steam and the water that runs underneath the surface make of this day an unforgettable experience. We will have breakfast here, and then we will take a walk and those who want may take a bath in the warm water near the geysers. This is the reason why we recommend you to bring, besides warm clothing, a swimming suit, towel & sun block.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room
Included meals : breakfast (B)

Day 16: San Pedro de Atacama - Tilcara
Early in the morning we say goodbye to San Pedro de Atacama and by bus we travel to Argentina crossing Los Andes mountain range. Through 'Paso de Jama' mountain pass we will be able to appreciate the Salinas Grandes; then descending over the path of the Lipan, we will make a stop at the town of Purmamarca and its famous Mount of ‘Los Siete Colores’. Later we arrive to our lodge at the picturesque town of Tilcara in la Quebrada de Humahuaca, Jujuy.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 17: Devil’s Throat - Tilcara
We will have the morning free to walk and discover the town and its unique places such as: la Plaza Grande, la Plaza Chica, the town Church and the Pucará de Tilcara, an important milestone in the Quebrada de Humahuaca. In the afternoon we will do a small trek to the devil’s throat, walking along the old Kollas paths and watching the amazing view. After 3 or 4 hours we finally go back to Tilcara.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Day 18: Tilcara – Iruya - Humahuaca
Early in the morning we travel out of Jujuy towards the North in a local bus and go to a picturesque village located right in between the mountains, Iruya, just in the north of Salta. From it we can have a special view since its right on the end of the valley. We will have enough time to walk around the town, discovering its beautiful cobbled streets and its typical chapel. After enjoying the town we return back to the Quebrada to spend the night at Humahuaca.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)

Day 19: Uquia - Quebrada de las Señoritas
Alter breakfast we leave Humahuaca by bus and after 10 km we arrive to the small town of Uquía. Once there we visit the church of “San Francisco de Paula” with its altar laminated in gold by the Jesuits in 1691 - year in which it was built - and adorned with the pictures of the 'arcabuceros angels' brought from Cuzco. Then we do a small trek to La Quebrada de las Señoritas or Yacoraite. The intense red color makes of it a shocking place; also because it’s known for its paleontological deposit where fossils of the last great mammals that inhabited the Earth have been found, like milodontes and gigantic perezosos. Back in Uquía we visit a place where vicuñas are raised and an old hydraulic mill. At the end of the day we go back to Humahuaca.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)

Day 20: Pueblo de Santa Ana - Yunga viewpoints
We depart early to the view point of the cloudy forest with our 4 x 4 van until we reach the 4400 meters, lowest point between the mountains of the Zenta. From there we descent to the small village of Santa Ana, last town before the jungle region of Yungas. After lunch we take a small trek through the area until we reach the Abra, natural balcony to the subtropical forest of the Yungas. Finally, we go back to our lodge in Humahuaca. During this night we will enjoy the northern ‘’Peñas’’.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)

Day 21: Quebrada de Sapagua - Hornaditas Community
We travel in our mini bus from Humahuaca to the Quebrada de Sapagua, where we will take a walk around the area. For there we continue to the small community of Hornaditas, where we will be able to share the life experience of the natural inhabitants of the area, who will open the door of their homes. Finally we go back to the city of Salta.
Lodging at Hosteria Double or Single Room.
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)

Day 22: Salta – Salta Airport
After breakfast we are transferred to the Salta airport where the hiking trip ends.
Included meals: breakfast (B)

Price: 3653 u$d (Hosteria - Double room)
           4673 u$d (Hosteria - Single room)

Included services: Incoming services, 15 nights in Hostería double or single with breakfast, 6 nights in Full Camping, Bilingual Tour Leader during all the activities in Patagonia, Mountain guide during the trekking activities, Bilingual guide (Spanish – English) during all the excursions in Atacama and the North of Argentina, 21 breakfast(B), 12 box lunch (BL) and 8 dinners (D), excursions as detailed in the program, all transportation as shown in the itinerary combining private and regular buses, transfers from/to Calafate, Punta Arenas, Calama & Salta airports.

Not included services: international and domestic flights, airport taxes, transfers in Buenos Aires, nights in Buenos Aires, drinks, foods not detailed, optional excursions, medical covering, tips, services not detailed in the program. More information

List of suggested personal equipment:
• Backpack, 50 lts
• Trekking shoes or boots
• Thermal underwear
• Trekking pants
• Fleece
• Breathable parka and over pants
• Gaiters
• Gloves
• Thermal socks
• Swim suit & towel (for a warm bath at Atacama geysers)
• The necessary spare cloth
• Wool hat
• Sun hat
• Sun glasses
• Sun screen / block (UV is strong)
• Personal items
• Lamp
• Trekking poles (recommended, if you are used to them)
• Water bottle
• Photo camera & batteries
• Personal medication
• Personal documents to cross the border between Argentina and Chile.
• Garbage bags (we Leave No Trace)