Outdoor travel in Patagonia trekking at Torres del Paine National Park and
then an overland trip from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia. A different way of
visiting Southern Patagonia, hiking the three valleys of the Paine W in
Torres del Paine Park (Chile): Ascensio river, Del Frances and Grey Lake.
Then continue your travel south to reach Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) and
Ushuaia, the city at the End of the World. An overland trekking trip filled
with unique and unforgettable landscapes: Torres del Paine and Cuernos del
Paine, Grey Glacier and Pehoe Lake in Chile; and the valley of Tierra Mayor,
Beagle Channel, and Tierra del Fuego National Park in Tierra del Fuego.
Hike among the beautiful Patagonia mountains in this travel adventure mixed
with overland and trekking activities.Departures 2022/2023 & Prices:
9 days - 8 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: Ushuaia Airport (USH).
Itinerary
Day 1: El Calafate Airport (FTE) - El Calafate
We receive you at El Calafate Airport from there you are transferred 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 Hostel shared room & bathroom
Lodge option: Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals : dinner (D)
Day 2: El Calafate - Torres del Paine National Park
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, flowers and buzzard birds, will be available for our eyes and cameras. We will stop at viewpoints for short 1 to 2 Hs. walks, to get familiar with the landscape, to finally reach our camp at the foot of Paine massif, after 6 hs of travel.
Lodging at Camping Pehoe Full Camp double or single tent (with bathrooms/showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 3: Las Torres - Ascensio river Valley
We dedicate this day to one of the most spectacular and classical trekking in the park: the Torres Trail. Early in the morning we start walking towards the bridge over the Ascensio river, headtrail for the world famous Paine towers. We "warm up" hiking a steep one hour slope, ascending the slopes of the Almirante Nieto Mount, bordering the Ascencio river. to get inside the valley itself, a narrow "V" shape alpine valley coming from inside the Paine massif. A gentle downhill leads us to Refugio Chileno, 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 or 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 4: Pehoe Lake crossing Navigation - Del Frances Valley
Early in the morning a 1 h drive takes us to Port Pudeto to board the catamarán that crosses lake Pehoe twice a day. We cross sailing 45 minutes the Pehoe Lake 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 (French) 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 continue ascending the valley walking 1 hour further by Italian camp until we reach 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 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 5: 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 60 km 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 western 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 Mount Paine Grande. We come back along the same trail, crossing bogs, shrublands and forest. At the end of the day we sail back again the Pehoe Lake to the south shore and then we go to our accommodation in Puerto Natales, a picturesque fishermen town located in the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) fjord. We walk this day about 8 hours. To the half way viewpoints, round way from our camp, 4-5 Hs.
Lodging at Hostel shared room & bathroom
Lodge option: Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom.
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 6: Puerto Natales - Rio Grande
Long drive today, though quite worthwhile. We leave Puerto Natales down south to reach the southernmost part of the continent, the legendary Magellan Strait, which we will keep on sight up to Primera Angostura, where we board the Ferry in which we will cross the Strait. This Pass, discovered by Hernando de Magallanes in 1520, was the natural and logical way to all vessels until de Panama Channel was open at the beginning of the XXth century. You will find yourselves wondering how those brave men dare to sail those waters in such fragile caravels. Once in Tierra del Fuego (literally, Land of Fire, due to the fires seen in the coast by the first european sailors, done by the local Indians to cook and heat) we enter back Argentina through Paso San Sebastián. A couple more hours to reach Estancia Las Hijas, where our Full Camp will be waiting for us, as well as a lamb cooked in the classical Patagonian barbecue style. A dinning
saloon, toilettes and showers are available tonight. Lodging at Full Camp in double or single tent (with bathrooms/showers).
Included meals: breakfast (B), box lunch (BL) and dinner (D)
Day 7: Rio Grande - Tierra del Fuego National Park
In the morning we learn about the ranch activities and how dogs deal with the sheep. By mid morning we continue south to visit Lago Fagnano in the middle of Andes Mountains, to continue to our last destination: Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the World. In the afternoon we continue to Tierra del Fuego National Park. This National Park is in the south west corner of the argentinean side of the Island, thus in the border with Chile. The main attraction of the Park and the whole Island actually are the mountains coming down to the sea. We make a short hike in this area.
Lodging at Hostel with shared room & bathroom.
Lodge option: Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B) and box lunch (BL)
Day 8: Ushuaia – Beagle Channel boat trip
After breakfast we transfer to the touristic pier and get on board to our boat trip in the legendary Beagle Channel. We visit Alicia Island where we will watch a colony of Sea Lions, the Island of Birds where we can see Cormorants and the Light House Les Eclaireurs built by 1919. In addition to the great scenery, we should see many species of marine mammals and birds.We get back to the port while we watch the Darwin range to the West and the Andes above Ushuaia. The Beagle Channel, in the south shore of the Tierra del Fuego Island, forms part of the border between Argentina and Chile. The afternoon is at leisure and you can take Optional Excursions. In the evening we enjoy our last dinner in the southernmost city in the World.
Lodging at Hostel shared room & bathroom
Lodge option: Inn Double or Single Room with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast (B)
Day 9: Ushuaia City – Ushuaia Airport (USH)
Morning at your own to visit the town, which is located in the north coast of the Beagle channel. The town features interesting museums and its typical architecture. In the afternoon we are transferred to Ushuaia Airport. End of the Adventure Trip.
Included meals: breakfast (B)
Included services: Bilingual tour leader during all the trip, trekking/mountain guide while on trek, cook, buses (combined private & regular), 4 nights hostel or inn and 4 nights full camping (igloo tents double base with sleeping bags, interior sheets and insulating mattresses, dinner tents with table, benches and kitchenware, cooking tent), 8 breakfast (B), 6 box lunch (BL) and 6 dinners (D), all transfers in Patagonia and trekking activities. Pehoe Lake crossing Navigation (in & out) and Beagle Channel Boat trip. More information
Not included services: international and domestic flights, airport taxes, transfers in Buenos Aires, nights in Buenos Aires, drinks, foods not detailed, tickets entrance to 2 National Parks (5/10 u$d ea.), medical covering, tips, port tax at Ushuaia, services not detailed in the program. More information
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Adventure Trip