Fitz Roy Wild Trails Trek
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Fitz Roy Wild Trails is a very popular program for those active passengers who enjoy intense trek, but are not interested in climbing or risky activities and do not need technical skills.
This trek visits the northern area of Los Glaciares Nacional Park, visiting Fitz Roy massif, Cerro Torre group and surrounding area. Includes a spectacular walk to the summit of Pliegue Tumbado, possibly one of the best viewpoints in the area. During this program, we utilize our Full camps to lodge inside the National Park. You will walk an average of 6 to 7 hs a day, at a moderate pace with all the necessary stops. No pass over 1500 meters above sea level in this program. |
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Day 1 El Calafate airport – El Calafate
We welcome you at El Calafate airport and transfer to town to check in at your accommodation. You get the rest of the day to enjoy the town and later you have your welcome dinner. Lodging: Lodge Provided meals: Dinner Day 2 El Calafate – El Chaltén After breakfast we take our bus for the 220 km drive to El Chaltén, a small and picturesque village at the foot of Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre massif. We make a stop half way to enjoy local pastries and hot coffee. Once in Chaltén, we have the afternoon at leisure to explore the village.Lodging in a Hostel room with shared bathroom. Lodging: Lodge Provided meals: Breakfast Day 3 Electric Valley and Pollone River We star our trek with a long day walk. We drive North for 18 km on the gravel route which goes up the valley of River de las Vueltas until we get to Rio Electrico. Our goal today is to visit the Río Eléctrico valley up to the Pollone river, to get unusual and spectacular views of Fitz Roy massif north faces. This valley is also the access to the Patagonian Ice field. The walk takes us through an ancient southern beech forest and then across moraines, with some up and downs but little gain of altitude. After lunch we retrace our steps back to head trail. We then take the trail that leads up the River Blanco valley and to Fitz Roy basecamp. We will walk today between 9 and 10 hs. Lodging: Full Camp Provided meals: Breakfast, Box Lunch, Dinner Day 4 Laguna de los Tres After breakfast, we hike along Fitz Roy trail up to Rio Blanco, climber’s basecamp to the east side of the mountain. From here a steep 1 h trail leads us to one of the most spectaculars viewpoints of the National Park: Laguna de los Tres, with its zephyr blue colour, lays at the foot of the massif, offering full close up views of Fitz Roy massif spires and glaciers. Each wall rises something from 600 to 1500 mts above the surrounding glaciers. Fitz Roy, with its 3405 mts above sea level, is considered the “King of Patagonia” and also considered one of the three most beautiful mountains on Earth (together with Alpamayo in Perú and K2 in the Karakoram). We hike back to our camp in the late afternoon. Lodging: Full Camp Provided meals: Breakfast, Box Lunch Day 5 Cerro Torre – El Chalten Today we walk south along Lagoons Madre and Hija Valley and down to Fitz Roy river valley, where we meet Cerro Torre trail. The trail runs along beech forest, bogs and shrubland and leads to Laguna Torre, enclosed by moraines and with Glacier Grande calving in its west side. It is usual to see icebergs pushed by the wind in the coast of the lagoon. The thin and elegant 3128 mts of Cerro Torre group and the Adela range in the background complete this spectacular view. In the afternoon we hike back to El Chalten along Cerro Torre trail. Lodging: Lodge Provided meals: Breakfast, Box Lunch Day 6 El Chalten – Loma del Pliegue Tumbado This mountain, 1500 mts tall, is located immediately south of Cerro Torre valley and offers some of the best views over the different group of mountains, glaciers and lakes that features the area. From the summit, you can get spectacular views of Fitz Roy, Torre and the spectacular glacier valley in between both. Also you get unusual sights of Paso del Viento and some of the mountains that stick out from the Patagonian Icefield. The lower part of the mountain is covered by shrubland and forest. The access to the summit is a long but gentle climb in scree. In the afternoon we return to El Chalten and we then drive back to El Calafate. Lodging: Lodge Provided meals: Breakfast, Box Lunch Day 7 El Calafate – Perito Moreno Glacier We dedicate this day to one of the World’s Natural Wonder: the Moreno glacier. This ice field- type glacier flows down from the Patagonian Icefield, a big sheet of ice that with its 22.000 square kilometers is the third largest glacier area in the world, after Antarctica (14 M sq km) and Greenland (1 M sq km). Because unusual favorable local conditions, this glacier is the only one in the world that shows a closure and rupture process. The road leads to the very front of the glacier, which will be only meters away from your eyes. The roar of the chunks of ice falling inside the glacier or from the glacier into the lake, the frequent collapse of the front seracs into the turquoise water, makes out of this day a very special and unique experience. Lodging: Lodge Provided meals: Breakfast Day 8 El Calafate - El Calafate airport After breakfast we transfer to El Calafate airport where our services ends. Lodging: None Provided meals: Breakfast |
2017-2018 Price per person: US$1670 in hostel room, US$1845 in double room, US$2200 in single room. High season supplement of US$77 per person for tours between Nov. 16-Jan. 31 Dates: 2017-2018 - 11-18 Nov., 23-30 Dec., 6-13 Jan. , 17-24 Feb. minimum of 3 people needed to operate. Included Services:
Bilingual Spanish-English guides during all the program’s activities. Mountain Guides during the trekking activities. Transfer El Calafate Airport – El Chalten –El Calafate – El Calafate Airport. Perito Moreno Glacier Excursion including Navigation. 11 breakfasts, 7 lunch boxes and 7 dinners In El Calafate we lodge using hostel rooms, between double and quadruple base, sharing the room with same sex passengers, all of them belonging to our groups.
At El Chalten we use similar hostels but with shared bathrooms. When camping we sleep in double base big tents. When camping there aren’t showers. We warm and use the lagoon and river water to clean ourselves. We use a bathroom tent. Full Camp is a camp previously mounted with wide igloo type tents we use in double or single base. Inside it each passenger has high mountain sleeping bags, individual sheets and insulated mattresses. The Full Camp comes with dining room tents, table, benches and complete kitchen with a cook in charge. We provide the Cartage Service carrying the passengers' personal luggage and sleeping bags. The passengers carry a daily light pack (raincoat, box lunch, water, sunglasses, camera). We carry 15 kg of luggage for each passenger, in the same way as the equipment is transported.
To get the most out of this tour you should be in good physical condition.
We have classified this trek as intense. Previous technical skills on trekking are not necessary, because this program is not technically difficult. We trek approximately six to nine hours on same days, at gentle pace, with intermediate stops. The treks involve several ascents and descents (some long and steep). Previous experience of walking and camping in remote areas would be beneficial, because we use extensively camp sites. 
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