Lago Los Tres – Mount Fitzroy (Argentina)

Day 1

Woke up to glorious weather and couldn’t wait to set off. We packed up with our overnight gear and were off. We walked to the end of the town, found the start and proceeded to hike upwards towards the magnificent Mt Fitzroy. Views were exceptional, we stopped so often to take photos and couldn’t fail to take supurb photos, even with our old iphones.

Wow!
Once at the campground, which was 8km in, we unpacked and put our tent up, then packed lunch in the day bag and hiked towards the peak.

Wow too!

Steeper and steeper it got, 1.5km straight up, with loose rubble, extremely tough terrain which was very exposed (would not do this hike on a windy day).

At the top we were speechless and stood silently absorbing the epic views before us.

View from top of Lago Los Tres

We soon realised that down at the glacier lagoon, one person had jumped in.We had already wanted to swim and this confirmed that it was possible, so off we went.


Jon traversed across to a rock near the side of the lagoon and then bombed into the water, where Vanessa did go in but gracefully kept her hair dry. It was ridiculously cold (not Antarctica cold but around 3 degrees). Jon actually took a few strokes, where Vanessa got in and very rapidly out.

Taking the plunge

The sun shone, so getting out was quite pleasant and we warmed up quickly. We left our stuff to dry, whilst we hiked up to see the other lagoon, larger than the first one, just magical!


The hike back was just all down, so lots of concentration was needed to ensure no slipping was had. At the campground we cooked, chatted for a while, then hit the sack.

Day 2

Rain and wind was in abundance last night, so when there was a break early morning, Vanessa suggested that after eating breakfast, that we pack up the tent, so that it stayed dry. Jon thought this was a good idea and down came the tent. Once done, Jon wanted to go visit the nearby glacier, whereas Vanessa wasn’t too fussed. We parted ways. Jon went to the glacier and Vanessa hiked back to El Chalten as the heavens started to pour.

Vanessa headed off with a quick pace trying to get away from the rain and wind but it was useless the wind ploughed and the rain came down sideways. At one point crossing a small bridge, Vanessa contemplated on crawling across just so she wouldn’t get blown into the river. An hour in and just as the wind and rain had started, it stopped. Sun came out and layers came off. Vanessa took a diversion to Laguna Capri, the water was a crystal blue and green mixture and felt secluded from the hussle and bussle of the wind and rain so recently experienced.

Laguna Capri
Along further on the the track, Vanessa noticed some people looking up and taking photos, she soon realised that there was three Woodpeakers on the trees. Two male ones with a bright red head and one female with less colouring. Vanessa at this point wished she had a better camera and tried her very best to snap away with terrible shaded forest lighting.

Woodpecker
From that point onwards, it was all easy sailing downhill and back at ‘Casa cyclista’ for a well deserved shower.

Casa cyclista
After splitting up, Jon headed off to locate the path to Glacier Pied del Blanco, which was clearly marked on the map. Thirty minutes later, having retraced the same stretch of terrain 3 times with no sign of a path, and having spoken to several other fools daft enough to be walking in the foul weather, who also had no idea, he abandoned the idea and headed back in the same direction as Vanessa, taking the same detour via the beautiful Laguna Capri but without the woodpecker bonus. One consellation being the amazing rainbow over the cloud covered top of Mt Fitzroy, as the sun started to show.

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