Day 2: At Glacier & Laguna Piedras Blancas
Los Glaciares National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, "Glaciers National Park") is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of 7,269.27 km2, making it the second largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it houses a representative sample of the Magellanic Subpolar Forest and western Patagonian Steppe biodiversity in good state of conservation. In 1980 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The park's name refers to the giant ice cap in the Andes range that feeds 47 large glaciers, of which 13 flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. The ice cap is the largest outside of Antarctica and Greenland. In other parts of the world, glaciers start at a height of at least 2,500 m above mean sea level, but due to the size of the ice cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500 m, sliding down to 200 m Los Glaciares borders Torres del Paine National Park to the south in Chilean territory.
The northern half consists of part of Viedma Lake, the Viedma Glacier and a few minor glaciers, and a number of mountains very popular among fans of climbing and trekking, including Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
(Wikipedia)
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In total, we spent 7 days hiking in the area of Mt. Fitz Roy, Cerro Terro and further to the south around Paso del Viento pass. It's truly a majestic place that may unfortunately get a bit crowded in peak season with avid day trippers - luckily, one can still easily manage to escape the crowds pursuing multi-day hikes and camping in the wild (as we did).
Our itinerary was as follows: El Chaltén -> Campamento Poincenot -> Glacier Piedras Blancas & Eléctrico valley -> Laguna de los Tres, Mt. Fitz Roy, and Laguna Torre -> Cerro Torre & back to El Chaltén -> Laguna Toro -> Paso del Viento -> El Chaltén via Loma del Pliegue Tumbado.
During the second (cloudy and rainy) day, we did a circular hike from the Campamento Poincenot campsite to Glacier and Laguna Piedras Blancas and Eléctrico valley.
Day 2: At Glacier & Laguna Piedras Blancas
Los Glaciares National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, "Glaciers National Park") is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of 7,269.27 km2, making it the second largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it houses a representative sample of the Magellanic Subpolar Forest and western Patagonian Steppe biodiversity in good state of conservation. In 1980 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The park's name refers to the giant ice cap in the Andes range that feeds 47 large glaciers, of which 13 flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. The ice cap is the largest outside of Antarctica and Greenland. In other parts of the world, glaciers start at a height of at least 2,500 m above mean sea level, but due to the size of the ice cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500 m, sliding down to 200 m Los Glaciares borders Torres del Paine National Park to the south in Chilean territory.
The northern half consists of part of Viedma Lake, the Viedma Glacier and a few minor glaciers, and a number of mountains very popular among fans of climbing and trekking, including Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
(Wikipedia)
-----
In total, we spent 7 days hiking in the area of Mt. Fitz Roy, Cerro Terro and further to the south around Paso del Viento pass. It's truly a majestic place that may unfortunately get a bit crowded in peak season with avid day trippers - luckily, one can still easily manage to escape the crowds pursuing multi-day hikes and camping in the wild (as we did).
Our itinerary was as follows: El Chaltén -> Campamento Poincenot -> Glacier Piedras Blancas & Eléctrico valley -> Laguna de los Tres, Mt. Fitz Roy, and Laguna Torre -> Cerro Torre & back to El Chaltén -> Laguna Toro -> Paso del Viento -> El Chaltén via Loma del Pliegue Tumbado.
During the second (cloudy and rainy) day, we did a circular hike from the Campamento Poincenot campsite to Glacier and Laguna Piedras Blancas and Eléctrico valley.