The best outdoor travel adventure in Patagonia: an unforgettable trekking
expedition through an unexplored land. This unique expedition, ideal for
people that love trekking along wild areas, traverse North to South hiking
across the Glaciers National Park at the foot of the most important and
impressive mountain ranges and valleys that lay East of the Patagonia Ice
Field: Fitz Roy, Torre, Moyano and Norte. While the classic trek just get
in the border of the National Park, coming in and out in day hikes, this
Expedition runs in the heart of the Park. In the first part we trek Mt.
Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre area using our Full Camps. After sailing across Lake
Viedma, in the second part we traverse “Cañadón Norte” hiking & camping
Expedition style up to Estancia Cristina. Finally we sail across lake Argentino
and visit the world famous Perito Moreno Glacier. The trip combines overnight
in hostels with nights in full camp. On the traverse trekking between Lakes
Viedma and 
Argentino
we offer expedition style camp. In this traverse we will often walk off
trail crosing this virgin inhabited paradise. Trekkers are requested to
carry their own stuff and cooperate to carry general equipment, food and
fuel. In Mt. Fitz Roy area and Punta Bandera we offer full camp service
es described in Included
Services. Transfer from Chaltén to the far end of Fiordo Moyano depend
on the sailing company. Should the service not be available, we take a ground
transportation to Estancia Helsingfors and start there our trek.Departures 2019/2020:
Confirmed upon request. Please let us know your suitable dates, we will gather all possible departure dates from interested travelers and coordinate among them to establish a confirmed departure with at least 3 travelers.
11 days - 10 nights
Season: October to April
Starts at: El Calafate Airport (FTE). The Meeting Point for the Group on Day 1 is 7 PM at El Calafate.
Ends at: El Calafate.
Itinerary
Day 1: El Calafate
We welcome you at Calafate airport (FTE) and transfer you to town to check-in at your hostel. You get the rest of the day to enjoy the town and later you have your welcome dinner with your fellow trekkers.
Lodging at Hostel double or triple Room with private bathroom
Included meals: dinner (D)
Day 2: El Calafate - El Chalten
After breakfast we take our bus to El Chalten, a little and colorful town next to Mount Fitz Roy. We cross 220 km through the Patagonia steppe and we stop half way at a picturesque inn to enjoy his homemade cakes and hot coffee. While we approach, we get spectacular views of Viedma lake and glacier, Mt. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre massifs and the mountains of the Ice field. El Chalten is located on the edge of Los Glaciares National Park. During the afternoon we prepare our packs for the first part of our trek.
Lodging at Hostel Room with shared bathroom
Included meals : breakfast (B) and dinner (D)
Day 3: Laguna de los Tres, Fitz Roy, Laguna Capri
After breakfast we drive 15 km north to river Electrico bridge. There we start our walk under southern beech forest and bogs towards Laguna Capri Full Camp, following upriver the Rio Blanco valley, visiting the Piedras Blancas glacier viewpoint and Laguna de los Tres, a glacier lagoon and a natural viewpoint of the Fitz Roy massif. We have some of the more incredible sights of the granite Fitz Roy group, its glaciers and lagoons. Fitz Roy walls rise 1350 vertical mts above the surrounding glaciers. We have spectacular views of all the spires and glaciers. Total approx. 7 hours trekking.
Lodging in Full Camp at Capri Lagoon double tent (rural area - without showers)
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 4: Laguna Torre
We go around Laguna Capri to get to the lagoons Madre and Hija valley and then to Fitz Roy
river
valley and then up valley to our camp in the forest close to Laguna Torre.
We reach our camp at Laguna Torre and visit in the afternoon
the northern moraine with spectacular views of Cerro Torre, Cerro Solo and
Adela range in the background, and in front of houus the Glacier Torre and
Laguna Torre. Total approx. 5 hours trekking. Lodging at Laguna Torre Lagoon Full Camp in double tent (rural area - without showers)
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 5: Cerro Torre - El Chalten
Today we perform an impressive and exceptional activity. You will walk and climb on the
legendary
Mount Torre Glacier, with its granite walls just behind you. All necessary
equipment (rope, harness, crampons, ice-axes) and expert guidance are provided.
In order to access the glacier we have to make a Tyrolean crossing of the
Fitz Roy river. This is done by clipping a little seat onto a fixed rope
over the river and pulling yourself, or being pulled, across. We walk on
the moraine around the lagoon and then down to the glacier visiting crevices,
ice caves and holes and all the interesting places that a glacier can show.
The bonus is the close up views of Cerro Torre group spires. We hike
back to our camp and on to El Chaltén in the afternoon. Total approx. 9
hours walkingLodging at Hostel Room with shared bathroom
Included meals : breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 6: Lake Viedma, Estancia Helsingfors
After breakfast we start the second part of our Expedition. We drive to Bahía Tunel port on lake Viedma, where we get the boat to visit Glacier Viedma (glacier calving from the Patagonia Ice Field into the lake) and we sail on to reach the opposite coast of the lake to Fiordo Moyano far end, close to Estancia Helsingfors. From there we walk along the Moyano fjord, a narrow and sharp valley between ranges Mascarello and Huemules, to our first Expedition Camp. At the end of the fjord we can see the glaciers coming down from the Patagonia Ice Field. Is one of the wildest and less visited areas of the National Park.
Lodging in Expedition Camp double tent
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 7: Towards Paso Norte
We hike up the valley that leads to the Paso Norte (Northern Pass). The sides of the valley show the traces of old forest fires. During all day we will have spectacular views of this wild section of the Park. We camp in the upper part of the valley. Total approx. 6 hours trekking and 700 meters to climb.
Lodging in Expedition Camp double tent
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 8: Cerros Norte & Moyano, Cañadón Norte
We walk up valley to the Paso Norte, until we reach the pass that leads to the Cañadón Norte (Northern Canyon). The pass is at 1100 mts above sea level. Once in the Pass we are at the foot of the impressive Cerro Moyano and we can see the Mascarello Natural Reserve (habitat for the endangered local deer, called huemul). We can see the canyon winding down in its long way to Laguna
Pearson. We start our descent along glacier polished rocks and moraines,
we cross some boggy areas and low forest to reach two spectacular lagoons
at the foot of Cerro Norte. The southern one has the beautiful Glacier Norte
coming down from Cerro Norte and calving in its far end. Total approx. 7
hours trekking. Lodging in Expedition Camp double tent
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 9: Fossils Canyon
We walk our way down along the valley, across the forest following old trails of cattle and with the river at our right. Moving from the forest into the shrubland, we climb the ridge of the valley that is to our left and from there we have spectacular views of the Fossils Canyon in front of us, Upsala glacier and Cerro Murallón in the background and Estancia Cristina in the shores of Lake Argentino far away in the distance. Total approx. 400 meters of downhill in 6 hours trekking.
Lodging in Expedition Camp double tent
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 10: Estancia Cristina, Lago Argentino & El Calafate
We start our way down to this big wide valley, dig by the glaciers many years ago. We cross several ridges before reaching its flat bottom. We have to make a final effort as we need to wade river Los Perros, and finally we get to Estancia Cristina. In the afternoon we take the boat to Puerto Bandera and we drive to El Calafate. Total approx. 5 hours walking and 2 hours sailing.
Lodging at Hostel double or triple Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)
Day 11: 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 Hostel double or triple room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B)
Day 12: El Calafate airport
After breakfast we transfer to El Calafate Airport. End of this unique Expedition in Los Glaciares National Park.
Included meals: breakfast (B)
Price (u$d):
| Lodging type |
Departure Month
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[ Oct - Feb - Mar - Apr ]
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[ Nov - Dec - Jan ]
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| Hostel, shared |
please
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ask
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List of Equipment and Clothes you should bring
• Backpack 80/90 litres capacity,
• Trekking boots, already accustomed to your feet (if new, used them before),
• Mountain plastic double boots,
• Sleeping bag, duvet or synthetic, for -20ºC,
• Sleeping pad (therm-a-rest type recommended),
• Thermal underwear: Interior synthetic clothes (polipropilene, lifa o capilene): 1 long-sleeved shirt, 1 long pant,
• 1 cotton t-shirt,
• 1 pant of polar fiber,
• trekking pants,
• 1 polar fiber jacket or coat,
• Goretex jacket with hood or similar (parka),
• Goretex shell pants with full-length sided zippers,
• 1 pair of gaiters,
• 1 pair of wool or synthetic mittens,
• 1 pair of thin synthetic gloves,
• 2 pairs of thick synthetic socks, polar fiber or wool,
• 2 pairs of synthetic liner thin socks,
• Ski sticks, telescopic type recommended,
• Thin scarf or handkerchief for your neck,
• Balaclava of wool or polar fiber,
• Cap of wool or polar fiber ,
• Sunglasses with UV filter for high solar radiation,
• Sun protector creme for skin (factor 30), UV radiation is very strong, and for lips (balm),
• Thermo or plastic bottle,
• Wide adhesive tape (cloth athletic),
• Personal hygiene kit, elements reduced to minimum necessity,
• Swiss Army knife, Victorinox or similar,
• Headlamp (miners type, like Petzl) with batteries.
• Personal Medication,
The crampons, harness, snap links and ropes added to the general camp equipment like tents, heaters, pans, tableware, etc. are provided by us.
Note: At El Chalten you can rent the mountain equipment. Please advise with enough time because there is a limited and incomplete stock.
Included services: Bilingual tour leader (Spanish – English), experienced mountain guide qualified by the Mountain Guides Argentine Association, tents, campsite equipment, all ground transfers in Patagonia (combined private and regular buses), Boat trip from Bahia Tunel to Helsingfors, 12 breakfasts (B), 8 box lunch (BL) and 9 dinners (D), 3 nights Hostel Room w/ private bathroom, 2 nights Hostel Room w/ shared bathroom, 2 nights Full Camp, 4 nights Expedition Camp, Perito Moreno Glacier excursion.
Not included services: international and domestic flights, transfers in Buenos Aires, nights in Buenos Aires, drinks, foods not detailed, entrance to National Parks (5 u$d ea.), Lago Argentino navigation, medical covering, tips. More information
Important: We hold the right of changing the itinerary or to cancel any of the activities when any natural cause (or any other cause of any type) justifies it in order to look after the group safety.
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Adventure Trip