Between two Countries: Chaltèn to Villa O'Higgins

Fidgit in Chalten. Notice the other tourists

Chaltèn is a small, overrun-with-tourists town, though when you realize the town is nestled at the base of Cerro Torres, which is home to Mount Fitz Roy, it makes more sense why so many people visit. Fitz Roy is a world-famous climbing and mountaineering icon, with athletes and adventurers from across the globe visiting the area each year. I overheard one guy in town say, (with an American accent, mind you) “Chaltèn is the Chamonix of South America.” I’m not sure exactly what he meant, though it did make him sound like he’d been to at least two places other than his local crag. Maybe I’m wary of the tourism down here because I’ve seen what it does to areas of the U.S., maybe my dry sense of humor is coming out again, either way that is a direct quote.

Everyone was again very kind and helpful, but we were ready to move on quickly and didn’t waste any time in getting our town chores done, including getting cash(!) and stuffing our faces. There is a delicious gelato shop with a brewery across the street in Chaltèn, and I recommend everyone visit both, yum!

Fitz Roy spires in the morning

We spent one night tenting in the backyard of a friend of a friend, then walked up the street and back into Los Glaciares National Park the next afternoon- it is a very long national park, covering a large amount of the southern icefield in Argentina. Around Chaltèn, it is also a busy park, so we passed many day-hikers, then when they thinned there were tons of people with giant packs trudging along the trail. Seeing these large groups of people on trail, I was reminded of seeing freshman at my university, because they similarly wander around in a big clump looking lost. I was also distracted by more beautiful scenery as we got up close to the Fitz Roy spires and camped at the head of the cirque they’re along. With the sun setting behind the spires and a guitar being strummed across the campsite, I made some dinner then drifted off to sleep.

Love it! The turnstile in the middle of nowhere!

We woke up the next morning before most of the other hikers and proceeded, paralleling the mountain range all day. We were on-trail until the edge of the park, then back on a dusty road until we walked to the southern edge of Lago del Desierto. The road ended at the southern point of the lake and we hopped back on trail to continue towards our goal: the Argentine border station at the northern end of the lake. Most people who cross the Argentine/Chilean border here take the ferry across the lake, so it was interesting to see the Argentine border guards’ reactions when we told them we had walked. Though not completely uncommon, choosing to walk when you could get a ride is still unusual.

There is camping allowed right next to the guard station, which is awesome - we just set up our tent and made dinner with their horses wandering around us. Though we had only seen a few people walking that day, there were multiple other tents next to the guard station. Some had bikes next to them and others seemed to have been brought by those who came across on the ferry. We walked the next morning on a well-worn path to Chile and followed the road that began down to the Chilean border guard office next to Lago O’Higgins. The border guards on the Chilean side, from what I’ve noticed, are friendly but much more business oriented.

After stopping into their guard station, we wandered down to the small dock to wait for the 3 pm boat across the lake. We had looked into walking around the Lago O’Higgins, but if you Google it, you’ll get an idea of why we chose not to. It’s giant and has at least two glaciers flowing into it.

Crossing Lago O'Higgins

We hopped on the boat, paid the captain, and made it across in about three hours, passing time by watching the waves and talking to a couple other travelers - one Chilean, one Israeli, a couple German cyclists, and a couple wild land firemen from California. We had some good conversations, but were ready to disembark as the boat docked. There is a shuttle that takes people into Villa O’Higgins from the dock, though we (and a few others) decided to road walked the quick 8km into town. And what a town it was.