Argentina. El chaltén

If we have three days in El Chaltén, this circuit is the ideal grand finale to complement a visit, giving us a true sense of the region’s vast scale with unbeatable panoramic vantage points for photography. We will begin our hike at the entrance of town, right at the National Parks Administrative Headquarters. Just a few steps in, we will cross a picturesque log bridge over a crystal-clear stream that, after a gentle climb, will accompany us on our left. A little further ahead, we will be surprised by a curious boulder jutting out in defiance of gravity in perfect balance, before entering enchanting forests of lengas and ñires. Emerging from the woods, the landscape opens up onto a wide-open plain known as “Pampa de las Carretas,” greeting us with a sweeping, captivating view of the Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, and Cerro Huemul massifs. We will then dip back into the lush forest—an ideal haven for spotting diverse native birds—until reaching the treeline, where the terrain turns more arid and distinctly high-alpine. As we make our way toward the Pliegue Tumbado viewpoint, we will travel back in time: along this stretch, we can easily spot 100-million-year-old marine fossils of ammonites and belemnites. Upon reaching the viewpoint, a sublime panorama of nearly the entire area unfolds before us: the Fitz Roy River canyon, the Grande, Adela, and Torre glaciers, the towering Cerro Torre, the Madre and Hija lagoons, Mount Fitz Roy, and even distant Laguna Cóndor—embracing the Fitz Roy, Torre, and Huemul massifs in a single gaze. Should we choose to continue 45 minutes further to the ridge of Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, our view will reach the vastness of Lake Viedma alongside Paso del Viento, the mythical gateway to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.