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Fitz Roy Circuit + Vuelta al Huemul

Los Glaciares National Park, El Chaltén, Argentina

 

This is a page with tips for those who want to do the circuits of El Chaltén, being a complement to the book The Most Beautiful Trails of Patagonia. In this page you can see some photos and the list of trails that are part of the book. To purchase your book, send your zip code and country to livros@ricardoferes.com or WhatsApp +55 11 99314-3211 and I will send you the total cost, including shipping.

Days: 7
Distance: 123 km / 76 mi
Total ascent: 4,600 m / 15,092 ft
Download tracklog at Wikiloc

Best season
From December to the middle of March. If you go right on the beginning of the driest season (November), you may still have frozen lakes, if it is a year with a long and cold winter. In summer, temperatures will be more pleasant, the chances of rain are less and, above all, there is more chance of seeing the mountains, which can be hidden for days behind the clouds, despite the sun in the city. As the wind in summer is usually very strong, don’t be fooled when you see forecasts with pleasant temperatures because, with the strong Patagonian wind, the thermal sensation will be much lower.

Considering that the campsites are free and there is no need for booking, I strongly recommend that you go to El Chaltén with several extra days, so you can wait for good weather windows, otherwise the chances of traveling so far and not seeing the mountains are big.

How to get there
Flight to El Calafate and, from there, a bus to El Chaltén.

Costs
Free entrance to the national park and free campsites, you only need to pay to sleep when you are in the village.

Nowadays (2020) it is not mandatory to have harness and carabiners to the ziplines, as usually it is possible to cross the rivers in different places, that are shallower, but I recommend that you take the equipments as it is safer. If you don’t have them you can rent in the village.

Where to eat, sleep and trail marking
The trails of the Fitz Roy Circuit are very well marked and it is not necessary to have GPS and / or map. For Vuelta al Huemul I recommend the use of GPS and / or map because, despite being well marked in some places, in others the GPS will save you a lot of time by not having to keep checking if the path is right. In addition, if you are caught in fog while crossing the mountains, a GPS will be of great importance because you will not be able to see any sign.

Day by day
The Fitz Roy region has several trails that can be done in one day, I gathered some of them to use the time wisely and be in the mountains also at sunrise and sunset, in addition to being able to see them at night. There are a lot of itinerary options, but what I show below is what I find most interesting.

Vuelta al Huemul is made in 4 days or, if you find the last day too long, you can sleep on the trail and go the next day to the village. Usually this circuit is made counterclockwise and there are two reasons for this: the first is that it is easier to descend Paso Huemul towards Lago Viedma, instead of going up, although I have some doubts about it. The second and most important is that the wind is usually strong and, if you do it in the opposite direction, you will have the wind on your face from Paso Huemul to Paso del Viento. The advantage of doing it clockwise (contrary) is that you can take a taxi / remis in the village and avoid a boring 7 km (4.3 mi) walk.

Day 1
El Chaltén – Camping Poincenot
Distance: 13 km / 8 mi
Total ascent: 470 m / 1,542 ft

There are two good options to start the first day, one from Hostería El Pilar, 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Chaltén, or leaving from the village itself. The advantage of starting from the Hostería is that you will not need to do a side trip to see Piedras Blancas Glacier, as you will pass by the lookout. The disadvantage is that you need to hire a transport until the beginning of the trail. Another reason to start the circuit from the village is more directed to photographers, because then you will be at the waterfall with the early morning light, which is ideal for that spot. As you can see, this is my favorite option but both are great.

The waterfall that I mentioned above is at Chorrilo del Salto but it is not the waterfall that has a marked trail and is part of the tourist itineraries. This one, which is well known, does not have much beauty, the one that is really worth it is less than 200 meters (650 ft) from the trail that leads to Laguna de los Tres, but because it is not part of the official map, there is no sign indicating the location.

After visiting the waterfall, leave the equipment at Poincenot campsite and do the side trip to Piedras Blancas Glacier lookout. On your way back, you can still go to Laguna Sucia or Laguna de los Tres, which I describe on the day 2.

Day 2
Camping Poincenot – Camping de Agostini
Distance: 22.1 km / 13.7 mi
Total ascent: 880 m / 2,887 ft

If you, the day before, took the opportunity to go to Laguna de los Tres to face the most imposing mountain in Patagonia, the Fitz Roy, go again. That’s because the most beautiful view happens before sunrise, when the mountains turn orange, creating a spectacular scenery! Important: the sunlight illuminates Fitz Roy about half an hour before sunrise, I saw a lot of people arriving 10 minutes in advance of the sunrise and missing the right moment, since they planned using the sunrise time at the village, but as the mountain is much higher, it is lit before.

Then, go to Laguna Sucia and have another view of Macizo Fitz Roy. This trail is not so well marked, since it is not part of the official circuit. If you lost the trail and as you will be in a valley, just go by the river until you reach the lagoon.

Finally, do the hike to Camping de Agostini, very close to Laguna Torre.

Day 3
Camping de Agostini – El Chaltén
Distance: 14.2 km / 8.8 mi
Total ascent: 400 m / 1,312 ft

Once again, I recommend waking up before sunrise to see the mountains with the most beautiful light, this time with Cerro Torre as the great attraction. As the campsite is very close to Laguna Torre, you will not need to wake up very early or take a long walk, but I recommend that, after breakfast, follow the trail to Mirador Maestri and stay closer to Glaciar Grande. Then, return to the village for a night with bath and comfort, before going to the next circuit.

Day 4
El Chaltén – Camping Laguna Toro
Distance: 17 km / 10.5 mi
Total ascent: 735 m / 2,411 ft

This is the first day of Vuelta al Huemul and it is mandatory to register at APN, which is right on the beginning of the trail. If possible, go the day before to see the weather forecast, because if there is no good forecast for the second and third days, the chances that you will not be able to see anything in these days are big. As the view to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the most impressive of all the trails in this book, it makes no sense for you to walk among the clouds, without any view, apart from the risk of getting lost or an accident.

You will start walking on a long climb, until you are facing Cerro Huemul, and then begin the descent to the valley that will take you to Laguna Toro campsite. Keep an eye on the hares, which are numerous, and occasionally a fox may show up, especially near the campsite, in search of food scraps.

Day 5
Camping Laguna Toro – Camping Paso de Viento
Distance: 12 km / 7.4 mi
Total ascent: 665 m / 2,181 ft

Early in the day you have the famous zipline to cross the Tunel River. If you chose not to take the harness and carabiners, cross the river next to Laguna Toro, because if you do the usual way, you will not be able to cross.

When you arrive at Rio Tunel Inferior Glacier, you can walk along the edge of the glacier or on the hill itself, but as every winter there are landslides, there is no marked path, you will have to choose the points you think are safest.

After passing Rio Tunel Glacier, you will find the trail again and start a constant climb to Paso del Viento. When you reach the summit, hope the sky is totally clear to the other side, as the view is amazing! You will have, roght in front of you, dozens of kilometers of one of the largest ice fields in the world, a landscape that does not have the same impact when shown by photographs, since it is impossible to show the immensity of the ice field without having a reference.

After a long time of contemplation, head to Laguna del Refugio, where Camping Paso del Viento is located and, if it is not the end of the summer, it will be full of water.

Day 6
Camping Paso de Viento – Camping Lago Viedma
Distance: 16.6 km / 10.3 mi
Total ascent: 706 m / 2,316 ft

It is hard to say which is the most impressive view, whether from Paso del Viento or the ascent to Paso Huemul. Both face the ice field, but if I have to choose one, I would say that the view of the third day is even more beautiful. Furthermore, after reaching the summit of Paso Huemul, do a short side trip to the right and go to the tip of the mountain, to have a view of the ice field ending at Viedma Lake, which is one of the most beautiful views of the circuit and very few people know.

After all these views full of superlative adjectives, comes the famous and feared descent of Paso Huemul. Yes, it is very steep and slippery, but it is not the terror that I have been told many times. You need to be careful and the trekking poles help a lot, but if you have experience in mountaineering, you don’t need to be scared because the reports are worse than the descent itself.

Arriving at Viedma Lake campsite, if the weather is warm (for Patagonian standards, of course), don’t miss the chance to take a dip with the icebergs, after all, how many times in your life will you have this chance?

Day 7
Camping Lago Viedma – El Chaltén
Distance: 26.8 km / 16.6 mi
Total ascent: 677 m / 2,221 ft

The last day is the least interesting, so make it more beautiful by waking up before sunrise to see it appear behind the icebergs. Then, start the long walk back to the village and, if you want to have a slightly different view of the glacier, walk across the peninsula that you can see from the campsite, before actually leaving for civilization.

If you didn’t scheduled with someone to pick you up at the end of the dirt road, the walk will be long and boring, but I’m sure that after such a beautiful hike, you will have no reasons to complain.

Useful links

The three times I have been in El Chaltén, I stayed in three inns and one camping site and I can recommend all of them. The 3 inns are very comfortable and have a great breakfast, and the campsite is spacious, with a good kitchen and dining area.