Collapsing Glaciers and Frozen Lakes

We arrived in El Calafate, ready to meet up with Jo's dad and sister after their long flight from the UK. We'd picked this area for their holiday as there's plenty to do in a small-ish area, and I'd missed a lot of the hikes with my bad leg when we were here before.

El Chaltén

After they'd arrived, we set off the next day to El Chaltén - Argentina's 'capital of trekking'. Jo had done two of the major walks here before - to the Torre and FitzRoy mountains - but they were new to the rest of us. Both are full-day walks to glacier-fed lakes at the base of amazing granite spires. Unfortunately, the Torre mountain was covered in cloud when we arrived, but we were treated to wonderfully shaped icebergs in the lake.

Finally made it to Laguna Torre!

FitzRoy was more spectacular - not only was the sky clear, but its lake was frozen and covered in snow. After reaching the lake, we continued a bit further around and nothing could have prepared us for the sight of a second lake, lower than the first, that had recently thawed leaving a mosaic of ice on top of the perfect blue water. From the viewpoint you could see the thawed lake alongside the frozen, snowy lake both crowned by the FitzRoy peak. It was spectacular.

Mosaic-ice lake on the left and snowy lake on the right

A third trek, called Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, was different to the others in that the peak at the end wasn't so notable and didn't have a lake at the bottom. It did afford a view across the whole mountain range, though, and we finally got a clear view of the Torre mountain alongside FitzRoy. We didn't make it quite to the end of the trail as the steep climb at the end was completely covered in snow and seemed a bit too treacherous.

The Franklins and the FitzRoy range at the end of the Loma del Pliegue Tombado hike

After exhausting the trekking possibilities in El Chaltén, we returned to El Calafate. This is close to the Perito Moreno glacier that we had visited before. We couldn't wait to return and show it off to Jo's relatives. It didn't let us down - it had grown since we had last visited and now crossed to the shore with the viewpoint, cutting the lake in two. We had much better weather this time, so we could stay out on the walkways admiring the sheer size of the wall of ice. We were once again lucky enough to see huge, 60m high, columns of ice breaking off the glacier and smashing into the lake below.

Watching for more ice to fall

Jo's family has now departed to return home, and we are preparing to end our own Patagonian holiday by flying back to Lima, Perú. We'll spend a couple of nights there, recovering from an overnight flight, before heading north towards Máncora and then Ecuador.

Trekking Torres del Paine: No Torres But (Big) Paine

Paine Grande, that is - the highest peak on the W-trek in the Torres del Paine National Park.

The Torres del Paine are in the cloud behind us

The renowned W-trek (named because its route looks like the letter W) takes in a stunning array of scenery - snowy mountains, valleys, turquoise lakes and several glaciers. At one end are the eponymous Torres del Paine granite spires and at the other is the Grey glacier and lake, both flanking the beautiful French Valley. We were unlucky not to see the Torres del Paine but had wonderful weather for the rest of the trek, including Paine Grande.

The entrance to the Valle Francés, with Paine Grande on the left and Los Cuernos on the right

There are several ways of doing this trek - ranging from expensive to very expensive. The cheapest would be to camp (although you still have to pay a large fee for many of the campsites), taking all of your own food, and the most expensive to stay in dormitories in refugios with all food provided. There are myriad variations on this - the refugios can provide tents, sleeping bags, etc. We decided on a happy medium - staying in the (warm!) refugios and having dinner there, but carrying our own breakfast and lunch. This meant that we didn't have to carry stoves or utensils for cooking, but it saved us some money on the extortionate food costs. Staying in refugios does limit your options a bit - you have to book in advance so you can't change your route (east-west or west-east), and the campsites are better located for the French Valley day.

Refugio Paine Grande and its namesake towering above it

We took the (expensive) bus from Puerto Natales to the park entrance to pay the (expensive) entrance fee. The weather was pretty bad - grey and snowing lightly - and it was recommended to go west-east as there wasn't much chance of seeing the Torres in the east. Unfortunately, we'd booked our refugios to go the other way round, so we took an (expensive) shuttle bus to the start of the trail. We walked through the snow to the Refugio Chileno where we left our bags and continued up to the base of the Torres which, predictably, were hidden in the low cloud. The day was brightened by coming across two of the critically endangered (1500-2000 remaining) huemul deer, making a perfect Christmas card picture.

A huemul deer - there are only 20-100 in the national park

On the second morning we saw that the Torres were still covered in cloud, so we decided not to make the 4 hour round trip up to them again, and instead returned back down the valley towards Lake Nordenskjöld. We were able to enjoy the weather beginning to clear as we walked with the aquamarine lake to our left and the cordillera to our right. The colours had dramitcally changed from a black and white film yesterday to technicolour today. Our second refugio was at Los Cuernos (The Horns), named after the nearby distinctive grey granite peaks topped with a stripe of black rock. Our third day took us past the Cuernos into the French Valley. This was our favourite day of the trek - the steep valley passes the Glacier del Francés, where you can see avalanches of ice falling towards the valley floor, and continues to an amazing viewpoint surrounded by mountains and spires of rock. The return from the valley takes you back past these mountains and the glacier, back towards the bright blue lake.

At the top of the Valle Francés

After the valley, we continued through a section of skeletal remains of trees that were burnt in a forest fire in 2011-12. It was started by a hiker and burned around 176km² of the park. There are now strict rules about fire use - there are no fires or stoves allowed on the trails and you are only allowed to cook inside when at the refugios or campsites. Despite the lack of green trees, there are still fantastic views of the mountains reflected in the still lakes.

Los Cuernos reflected in Lake Sköttsberg

Our final two days took us from the Refugio Paine Grande up to Refugio Grey and back again. This walk takes you along the banks of Grey Lake, with icebergs floating in it which have fallen from Grey Glacier. It was a fitting end to the trek to emerge from the forest and see the glacier stretching across the lake in front of you.

Glacier Grey

On the final day, we took the (expensive) catamaran back across the lake to the starting point for our (expensive) bus back to Puerto Natales to relax for a couple of days. We are now returning to Argentina to meet Jo's family for a couple of weeks of trekking around El Calafate and El Chaltén.

Leaving the park, we finally got to see the Torres!
The granite spires in the centre of the photo.

Trekking Again: Peru's Stunning Cordillera Blanca (And Falling Into a Cactus)

We've spent the past few days in and around Huaraz, a pleasant city in the northern highlands. Huaraz is surrounded by some spectacular scenery in the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash mountain ranges, and is fast becoming known as the trekking and adventure capital of Peru. You can see several beautiful snowcapped mountains just from the city centre, with the skyline dominated by the majestic Huascarán, the highest in Peru at 6768m. Ready for some more hiking after a break since our long Machu Picchu trek, we were excited to explore the region.

Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca - Santa Cruz Trek, Day 4

The city of Huaraz is up at 3100m, and having had a while down at sea level we needed a couple of days to re-acclimatise to the altitude. Our main objective here was to undertake the famous 4 day Santa Cruz hike in the Cordillera Blanca, voted as one of the world's best treks by National Geographic, and we spent our first day in Huaraz looking round all the local trekking agencies. In fact this hike can be done independently, but we didn't fancy carrying all our own gear (including tents and cooking equipment) around, especially at altitudes of well above 4000m. We decided to sign up for an organised trek with a small company called Eco Ice, departing in two days' time.

Following the river at the start of our Laguna 69 trek

Having got that sorted, we needed to do a day hike to acclimatise further prior to the longer trek. We chose the trek to Laguna 69 (inventive name!), which came highly recommended by several other travellers. The hike started at around 3800m and proceeded across mostly flat terrain, following the river and passing numerous gorgeous waterfalls. After some fairly easy switchbacks, we reached not Laguna 69 but its sister lake, Laguna 68, and from there it was a lot tougher going. Kev was okay with the altitude but I was gasping for breath and had to slow to a snail's pace for the last section! However as we crested the summit and got our first view of Laguna 69, it was all worth it. The most dazzlingly turquoise lake you can imagine, ringed by snowy mountains and glaciers (that from time to time would creak loudly!). The weather had been very changeable on the way up but as we arrived it cleared nicely and we had a wonderful view of the tops of the mountains emerging from the clouds.

Laguna 69

Laguna 69 is hard to do without taking organised transport, and while this was fine on the way it was a little frustrating on the way back. We were some of the fastest people in our busload of people; in fact having got to the top and spent an hour there eating lunch, on our way down we passed the majority of the group still going up! So it was quite a long wait for everyone to finish before our bus could depart for the long 3 hour trip back to Huaraz.

View down the valley at the end of our Laguna 69 trek

On our return from this hike, we found an email from Eco Ice advising us that our Santa Cruz trek had been postponed for two days due to the illness of someone else who'd signed up for it. We were actually not too sad about the delay - it was pretty good not have to get up before dawn again for the second day in a row, and I was grateful for some more acclimatisation time. Rather than hanging about any further in Huaraz, we decided to switch our plans around and visit the nearby historical site of Chavín de Huantar before the trek.

The main plaza at Chavín, with temple behind, surrounded by mountains

We took a very rural local bus out to Chavín, opting to stay a night in the town itself rather than do a day tour from Huaraz (which would have been another 6 hours round trip!). The road wound up into the mountains and then through a tunnel into the neighbouring district of Chavín, where the road surface changed dramatically for the worse: an hour of bumping along, often next to a sickening drop, with feathers blowing in the windows from the dozens of crates of chickens on the roof. Arriving in Chavín town itself in the late afternoon, we checked out what Lonely Planet describes as 'thermal baths'. Expecting some nice hot springs, we were a little disappointed to find they really were 'baths' - several private cubicles with bath size holes in the floor, which we had to fill with a hot tap to a maximum depth of about 8 inches. Not quite what we'd hoped for.

Snake carvings on the steps at Chavín

But our main reason for coming to Chavín was to see the ruins near the town, which make up yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This site was built by the Chavín culture between 1200 and 500 BC, and used as a ceremonial centre where local people would come together to worship. The main temple was a huge pyramid, with a sunken plaza in front and stone columns still with original carvings. The whole complex had a ventilation system, earthquake proofing and even a system of channels that would have acted as a sound system, amplifying sounds during ceremonies. Perhaps the most impressive feature was the elaborate series of underground passages, or galleries - some have unbelievably high ceilings and you can still walk though them today. One passage has at its centre a huge carved stone monolith of the Chavin supreme deity, the Lanzón: most of the gallery was dark but the lighting was cleverly designed by the temple's builders so that light from outside beams directly on the sculpture. It was pretty incredible.

Underground gallery at Chavín

The monolith representing the Lanzón deity

We returned that afternoon to Huaraz and the next day were up at 5am to start our Santa Cruz trek. Like Laguna 69, this trek goes through the Huascarán National Park in the Cordillera Blanca. The trek was amazing, with scenery reminiscent of Patagonia. The Cordillera Blanca has 33 peaks over 5500m and over 700 glaciers - there were magnificent snowy panoramas everywhere we looked.  We even saw Paramount Mountain; yes, the one in the Paramount Pictures logo! While easier than our ridiculous Machu Picchu trek, it was still challenging at times, particularly with the altitude. Day 2 took us up to a 4750m pass, the highest I have ever hiked to, and that day we camped at 4250m. Two sleeping bags still weren't enough to quite keep out the bitter cold; it's the highest we've slept at on the whole trip and the first time we've had ice inside the tent! We were lucky with the weather though, with clear skies most of the time allowing us stupendous views at both of the highest points.

Looking out on the Paramount Mountain

We were in a group of eight, all lovely people - an Aussie couple, two Israeli brothers, and an Aussie girl and Canadian girl travelling together - plus two guides, a donkey driver and several donkeys. And a dog, which ostensibly belonged to the donkey driver but was nameless and spent most of his time trekking with us. In fact he became rather overprotective, one night waking everyone up barking wildly and attempting to chase away nearby cows.

Kev with 'El Perro' ('The Dog') - we gave him a name!

On the last day of the trek we had a fairly easy walk downhill, next to a lovely river with so many waterfalls that we beat our record number in a day. Kev managed to fall over spectacularly on top of a cactus - the guide got to practise his first aid skills bandaging his hand and later extracting a cactus spine at least an inch long! We celebrated the end of the trek with beers at a shop in the tiny village at the end that was actually run by our guide's aunt and uncle.

One of numerous waterfalls along the river on day 4

That evening we were all also invited to the house of Orlando, the owner of the company, for delicious homecooked dinner and pisco sours, with a demonstration of the making of the latter. Orlando invited us on to the birthday party of one of his colleagues and we had a great evening drinking, chatting and watching the (somewhat odd) Peruvian style of dancing. We'd definitely recommend the Eco Ice company to anybody!

Our final campsite at Llamacorral 

There's plenty more to do here, and in fact we'd like to come back here on holiday in the future to do the challenging and perhaps even more impressive 10 - 12 day Huayhuash circuit in the other cordillera. But for now we're pushing on up north before we fly back down to Patagonia in 2 weeks' time to meet family and do yet more hiking!

Our trekking group at Punta Unión, the high pass on day 2 - new height record!

Trekking to Machu Picchu

A few weeks ago, after hearing about the less-visited Inca ruins at Choquequirao, I looked at my map and saw a very wiggly, mountainous trail that continued on towards Machu Picchu. I remember saying 'that looks ridiculous'. We've just returned from hiking that trail, and the 8 days it took have been some of the hardest, and most rewarding, trekking of our lives. There was very little walking on the flat, and relentlessly steep descents and ascents into and out of canyons:

Day 1: down 800m;
Day 2: down 700m; up 1500m;
Day 3: explore Choquequirao ruins; up 300m; down 500m;
Day 4: down 700m; up 1100m;
Day 5: up 1300m to 4150m San Juan pass; down 700m;
Day 6: up 1100m to 4660m Yanama pass; down 1800m;
Day 7: down 700m;
Day 8: up 500m; down 500m;

The main square at Choquequirao

We'd chosen this trek to avoid the crowds on the other trails in the area and we weren't disappointed. On the first couple of days we saw just a handful of people making their way to, and from, the Choquequirao ruins. We felt privileged to have this remote hilltop city to explore almost to ourselves. This site is also host to the unique 'Llama Terraces' - white stone depictions of llamas making their way up the dizzyingly steep hillside. We were also lucky enough to spot a condor soaring past.

Llamas climbing up their steep terrace

Nobody else continued on past Choquequirao as we did though - we didn't see any other hikers until day 7. This part of the trek contained some of the hardest days - clambering up to passes above 4000m in both sun and snow. The views (when it was sunny) were incredible - of adjoining canyons bordered by mountains topped with glaciers. On one day we also had the unforgettable experience of camping on Inca terraces, looking down to a foaming river far below.

Camping on Inca terraces

On the 7th day we joined the more popular Salkantay trek and were dismayed at the large groups going the same way as us. We managed to find more solitude on the final day, however, when we left at 4:30am to climb to some more Inca ruins at Llactapata. This gave us our first view of Machu Picchu, on the neighbouring peak, although it still seemed a long way away. From there, we made our final descent of the trek, where we had lunch while waiting for a train to take us the short distance to Aguas Calientes - the (tourist trap) entrance town to Machu Picchu.

Our group at the end of the tough, snowy, ascent to the Yanama Pass

During our trek, we were accompanied by a mule train that carried tents, food, cooking equipment and spare clothes for us. It was hard enough with this assistance; it would have been absolute torture to have attempted it without. We were also joined by two amazing chefs - they prepared miraculous food throughout, given that we were camping and they only had two gas hobs to prepare it on. It would have made chefs in many restaurants in Cusco jealous.

Our mule train crossing a stream near Choquequirao

Machu Picchu itself more than lived up to expectations. It's an amazing feeling to see the view that is instantly recognisable across the world. As predicted, it was incredibly busy during the morning, despite getting one of the first buses into the site. After we were given a tour of the main points of interest though, we found a quiet place to have some lunch and read for a while before venturing back. This proved a good strategy as by the afternoon many people had left and we had a much more relaxed time exploring the rest of the ruins.

The culmination of our journey - Machu Picchu

We thought that we'd had the end of hard trekking, but had decided to ascend the mountain behind the city, Machu Picchu mountain. This was another hour of climbing up steep steps, but the view from the top was worth the pain. As well as a fantastic look at the city, it gave a great perspective of its precarious perch atop the famous ridge, surrounded by steep cliffs, glaciers and other mountains.

Machu Picchu from the top of Cerro Machu Picchu

We feel we've had a good introduction to the Inca civilisation now, following our time in and around Cusco, and we're now going to head back down towards the coast and another ancient civilisation - the Nazca and their famous Lines.

Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego was named by Ferdinand Magellan when he explored this area in the 1500s. Sailing past the island, he saw the smoke rising from the fires of the native people living there and thus called it 'Land of Smoke' - this name was later changed by the Spanish King Charles V to the more exciting 'Land of Fire'.

The end of the road

We arrived on the island by boat from the mainland, with dolphins jumping all round us, and then had a bus ride of several hours down to Ushuaia in the south. While Tierra del Fuego is now home to a population of nearly 150,000, it still retains its feel of undiscovered wilderness, with an air of mystery and enchantment. Driving through the island, gazing out at the beautiful mist clad mountains, lakes and forests, it felt otherworldly; I have rarely been so strongly affected by a place.

The mountains rising behind Ushuaia

Ushuaia is quite a touristy town as most Antarctic cruises pass through here, however it is also a working port and nearly half of Tierra del Fuego's inhabitants live here. There are two main museums in the town, both of which we visited. The first is based in the old prison building and is HUGE, attempting to cover maritime history, the prison's history, Antarctica and local art all in one. Although we enjoyed the model ships and the opportunity to see the original prison cells here, there was really far too much information, most of it dry and irrelevant, and we gave up after two visits feeling somewhat brain dead!


On the other hand the second museum, about the Yamana indigenous people, was excellent. We learnt a great deal about the native people and their plight after the arrival of the Europeans. In the 1830s Captain FitzRoy of the Beagle thought it was a good idea to bring four native Fuegians back to England, supposedly to educate and Christianise them. The four were given the names Jemmy Button, Boat Memory, Fuegia Basket and York Minster. In a similar vein, British missionaries travelled to Tierra del Fuego in the 1870s to establish a settlement and 'educate' the indigenous people. As a result of the spread of hitherto unknown diseases, sadly nearly all the Yamana and other local tribes were wiped out.

Tierra del Fuego national park

A beaver dam on the way to Laguna Esmerelda

In addition to Ushuaia itself, we have enjoyed getting outdoors. Tierra del Fuego national park was stunning in its autumnal colours, and we also managed a long walk to Laguna Esmeralda. The latter trail was more of a bog than a path but we enjoyed the challenge (and got completely covered in mud!). We also saw several dams built by beavers, as well as the destruction they'd wrought in the forests - trees reduced to stumps, and others in the process of being gnawed through. There was plenty of other wildlife to see in the national park, birds especially - my favourites were the white throated tree runners, which as you can guess from the name run up and down trees, tapping with their beaks like woodpeckers.

Laguna Esmerelda

We'll be leaving Ushuaia tomorrow for Puerto Williams, the sourthernmost permanent settlement in the world. The plan is to then take a ferry back to Punta Arenas, then a second ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt along the Chilean fjords.

Although Ushuaia claims to be at the end of the world,
Puerto Williams (our next destination) is further south

Glacier Perito Moreno and a Change in Plan

When Jo last posted, we were monitoring the state of my leg to see if it would hold up for future treks. I rested it for a few days, before testing it out on a short walk near El Chaltén. It was fine for the first part, which provided marvellous views over the town with the two peaks of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitzroy behind it. I was glad to have finally managed a walk that let me see them. On the way back, however, my leg gave up and it was a very painful walk home.

Successfully made it to the viewpoint looking over El Chaltén

Our original plan had been to go to El Calafate next to trek on the Perito Moreno glacier before heading further south to do the famous 5-day W-trek around Torres del Paine national park. These plans would have to be shelved for now. We decided, instead, to carry on with that route but only with brief stops to break up the journey south to Tierra del Fuego. Hopefully I'll be able to rest my leg on the way before coming back to the treks we've been looking forward to.

The Perito Moreno glacier

In El Calafate, although we knew we couldn't do our ice trek we decided to visit the Perito Moreno glacier anyway It was a trip well worth doing. There is a series of walkways opposite the glacier, which flows into two lakes divided by a narrow channel. They give spectacular views of the huge wall of ice, up to 60m high, as large sections sporadically tumble and crash into the water below. It's one of the most awe-inspiring natural sights I've seen. It's easy to spend hours there, even in the cold and rain, listening to loud cracks and scanning the blue-coloured ice waiting for the next chunk to fall.

Not trekking on the glacier

From El Calafate, we've now arrived in Puerto Natales, having crossed our first land border of the trip into Chile. This is the base for the W-trek, but we are just here for some information about it for now, before heading further south to Punta Arenas.

The glacier in all of its glory

Trekking (or not) in El Chalten

El Chaltén is known as the capital of trekking in Argentina and rightfully so. There are snow capped mountains in all directions, crowned by imposing Mount Fitzroy, the namesake of the range. The northern section of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is within a stone's throw and there are several first class day hikes starting right in El Chaltén itself. Unfortunately though, Kev has injured his leg and has had to rest it most days. X-rays and advice from various people suggest that he's damaged the lining of his shin bone - it will heal but only with a lot of rest and NO long walks! So Kev's been relaxing at the hostel most days, keeping an eye on our petrol scented washing.

At the Chorillo Salta waterfall

On our second day here, we both did a short walk to the waterfall Chorillo Salto. The majority was next to the glacier fed river, which is fast flowing and a gorgeous grey-blue colour. When we arrived at the 20m falls there were a lot of other people there taking photos, but once we walked downstream for five minutes it was lovely and quiet, with a magnificent view in the late afternoon light down the valley across to the mountains.

Looking down the valley from the waterfall

The two most popular hikes here both go to lakes, crossing through spectacular scenery with trees in beautiful autumnal colours and views of the surrounding mountains. We met some great people in our hostel and they were kind enough to let me join them.

The first trek was mainly on the flat, proceeding past fields of silver birch trees and finally arriving at Laguna Torre, with lovely views of the peak Cerro Torre behind. The lake was a greyish colour rather than blue and extremely cold; there were icebergs floating in it! It was still enough to reflect three spire-like peaks behind, which we were lucky to see as they are often covered in cloud. A glacier flows into the lake and we sat listening to it making ominous creaking noises while eating lunch.

Cerro Torre overlooking its lake

The second trek, to Laguna de los Tres, was even better - one of the best day hikes I've done. The views ahead to Mount Fitzroy were breathtaking all the way, and got better and better as we went along. We crossed several crystal clear streams and rivers, most with signs saying you could drink from them. The walk is 11km one way, but the final 1km took us an hour as it was so steep. Towards the top, Fitzroy had disappeared behind the hill we were climbing, but as we arrived at the end of the trail it suddenly reappeared, looking even more stunning behind the dazzlingly turquoise Laguna de los Tres. After a lunch break and some scrambling we found a different and possibly even better view. We were the only people there, which made it all the more special.

At the start of the trek to Cerro Fitzroy

Today Kev braved a trip out and we took a minibus to Lago del Desierto, about 40km along a veeery bumpy gravel road. We then went for an hour' long boat trip on the lake, surrounded by thickly forested slopes. Although the weather was cold and rainy to start with, it cleared up and the gaps in the clouds revealed the slopes were capped with several glaciers. We could clearly see where they came down the mountain and turned into waterfalls flowing into the lake. Pretty cool!

Made it to the lake at Cerro Fitzroy!

While here we've also spent a lot of time trying to sort out the petrol disaster described in our previous post. On the plus side, three laundry visits, a lot of airing and some soaking in buckets of vinegar (I got odd looks in the supermarket!) have improved most of our clothes. On the down side, we're not sure that our rucksacks will be salvageable. We asked one laundry if they'd soak them overnight, which they had done once already, and got a very curt reply along the lines of 'you made my laundry smell for three days, go away!' It looks like we're going to have to buy new ones...

Drowning sorrows with new friends in the cervecería

El Chaltén is a good place to drown our sorrows though: it is the first place we've found that has its own microbrewery, or Cerveceria. It only has two beer options but we've still had a couple of good nights there and at the Vineria wine bar. We're here for another day and then heading to nearby El Calafate for more glacier action.