Created: Diego De Angelis
Last update: 17 Sep 2018
Activity type: | Trekking |
Activity level: | Easy |
Availability: |
5 Mar 2019 - 14 Mar 2019 |
Duration: | 10 Day(s) / Tour with fixed start dates |
Price: | from $2975 / Negotiable |
A complete and fantastic itinerary that combines two of the most visited national parks in South America. We will access to most of the highlights including the Fitz Roy peak, Cerro Torre, Perito Moreno glacier and the classic views in Torres del Paine along the W circuit.
Technical Difficulty: LOW
Physical Demand: LOW TO INTERMEDIATE
Duration of the itinerary: 10 days
starting point: Punta Arenas
Return point: El Calafate
Number of clients per group: min 2
Argentina, Los Glaciares National Park, Santa Cruz Province, Lago Argentino Department
Punta Arenas - Puerto Natales
Our guide will meet you at the Punta Arenas airport. Transfer to Puerto Natales, a three- hour drive through the Patagonian pampa. Lodging in Puerto Natales at Natalino hotel or similar. Welcome dinner and meeting to discuss the trip program. (D)
Torres del Paine
Transfer by van to Torres del Paine National Park. This is a two hours journey crossing the pampa Patagonica. Arrival at Torres del Paine. We will begin trekking to the Ascencio Valley where from above you see the river (of the same name) running wildly past refugio Chileno. After a quick stop here, we will
continue through a forest of the native Lenga (Beech) trees until reaching the
glacial moraine. From here it’s a 1 hour trek to the top where the towers appear from nowhere! This trek is spectacular where you get to view the 3 pink granite towers with its glacial lake below that made the park famous. (7 hours round trip, 17 KM ). Lodging & dinner refugio Nash. (B/L/D)
French Valley
Transfer to Pudeto, cross Pehoe lake by catamaran. Trek to the French Valley.
This valley is the most beautiful in the park and one of the most unique in the
world. Its surrounded by hanging glaciers (where you can see & hear the ice
calving off at various intervals) and an amphitheater of granite walls and spires.
There are amazing views throughout this trek and the further you trek into
the valley the better they become! For this day we will have two hiking options as well: A consists in getting to further end of the trail, to the British Camp, this is all the way to the end of this natural congregation of mountains. If we reach this point, we will have completed 24km and 7-8 hours hiking. Plan B consists on reaching to the French Valley Main Lookout, from this point you can appreciate the whole natural amphitheater created by glaciers millions of years ago, it is absolutely breathtaking. Option B you will have hiked for 5-6 hours and completed 16km. The options will depend on fitness level, timing and weather conditions. On the return journey you will notice the extraordinary turquoise colour of Lake Pehoe. Cross Pehoe lake by Catamaran, lodging and dinner at Nash Serrano Lodge.
Grey glacier
We will travel by van through the national park, with a stop at the Salto Grande
waterfall. Cross Lake Pehoe by catamaran. Four hours hiking along enchanting
Lake Grey with magnificent views of Glacier Grey and floating icebergs. Visit to
the glacier lookout point and to the lakeshore for up close views of vibrant-blue
icebergs. Dinner at Grey Loge, night at Camping Grey. (B/L/D)
OPTIONAL PM - KAYAKING: (Not included in the price)
10 minutes walk to our Bigfoot basecamp, located on the northeast coast of Grey lake.
Here our guides introduce us to the equipment needed for the tour and we will have a safety briefing. After this we will carry the kayaks approximately 20 meters to the lake’s edge. We will be paddling around icebergs that are floating in the lake and afterwards we paddle towards the eastern side of the Grey Glacier to wonder at the spectacular scenery in this special place. If conditions permit, we can paddle closer to the glacier to get a really good view. After this, we will paddle back to the start point.
Grey Lake - Puerto Natales
OPTIONAL AM - ICE HIKING: (Not included in the price)
After breakfast the guides will have an introductory chat explaining the route, the time the tour will take and also test the equipment adjusting it correctly for each passenger. Then, we go in a zodiac boat for 15 minutes until we reach the west side of the Grey Glacier. On arrival, we will disembark on the island at the glacier (nunatak) and we will walk on it for about an hour until we reach the ice. Before walking onto the glacier, the guide will talk to us about the safety aspects, and they will explain the techniques of displacement in the ice and the correct use of the equipment. Once the safety briefing is complete we will begin our exploration of the Grey Glacier which will last approximately 3 hours. During this time we will be able to observe cracks, rivers, lagoons and tunnels with their different tones of blue. After 3 hours on the glacier, we return to the zodiac boat and ride back to the base camp.
After lunch we will navigate in the Grey III catamaran, 2 hours navigation in
this magic lake surrounded by ice bergs where the boat does a circuit right up
to the front of the glacier whilst you stand on deck sipping your pisco sour
served with glacial ice! Transfer from Grey lake to Puerto Natales. Dinner and
night at Natalino hotel or similar. (B/L/D)
Puerto Natales - El Calafate - Perito Moreno
Breakfast and transfer to Puerto Natales bus station. Regular bus to El Calatate. Welcome at El Calafate bus terminal, short transfer to hotel. (Estimated time: 1.30pm) Private tour to Perito Moreno glacier. Visit at the glacier walking through the footbridge having views from different points. (Estimated departure time: 3pm). Return to hotel. Free night. (B)
El Chalten
At 8am public bus from El Calafate to El Chalten leaving from El Calafate bus terminal. After the arrival, we leave with our ground transportation to the
starting point of the trek located 20 kms away from town to a natural reserve
called Los Huemules. Here we have multiple options to trek one of the wildest and natural places outside of the national park. (B/L/D)
Laguna Los Tres, Fitz Roy
After having breakfast at the dining room, we’ll leave in our private vehicle to Hosteria El Pilar located just a few kilometers away from the ECO camp. Once arrived, we start to walk on the trail to Poincenot camp thru a forest of “Lengas”, typical Patagonic tree, having the Blanco River on our right. During
our way we do different stops to learn about the typical fauna and flora of
our National Park. After an hour, we’ll stop at Piedras Blancas glacier viewpoint where we’ll have the opportunity to take pictures and notice the
trace left by this glacier during its setback along the last years.
Following our way to Poincenot camp we’ll have an excellent view of Fitz
Roy’s massif to get even closer after we cross the Blanco river’s bridge heading
the last part of this trail all the way up to De los Tres lake. At this point, we’ll
take some time to have our lunch, take pictures and have some rest at the lake
shore. After we recover from this last effort, we’ll begin our way down to
Poincenot camp where we’ll enjoy some snacks while we wait for the dinner.
During the night we’ll have dinner at our private dome including beverages
and dessert. (B/L/D)
Laguna Torre
We begin our day having a full breakfast at our private dome preparing for the second day of our itinerary. Once we’re ready, we got onto the trail towards the valley of Lake Mother and Daughter leaving the Fitz Roy massif behind us to our final destination the valley of Cerro Torre. During the trail we’ll have enough time to stop at the lakes to take some pictures of the area around and with some luck to a small colony of typical Patagonic gooses.
After this stop, we continue thru the trail towards Cerro Torre’s valley enjoying
the emblematic Patagonian forest of Lengas and Ñires till the final part of our
trek crossing an old moraine to face Lake Torre and Grande glacier. If the
weather looks good, we could continue to the Maestri viewpoint, from where the famous Italian climber Cesare Maestri outlined his strategy to conquer Cerro
Torre and having, at the same time, a closer view of Grande glacier.
Once we completed this traverse, we’ll return to town thru Cerro Torre
valley along the Fitz Roy river till the classic viewpoint and then reaching
a beautiful waterfall called Margarita closing our itinerary returning to
El Chalten. (B/L/D)
Created: Diego De Angelis
Last update: 17 Sep 2018
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