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Mount Huemul circumnavigation trek in Patagonia
offered by supplier M09950 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 13
day(s)
Group Size: 1
- 8
people
Destination(s):
Argentina
Specialty Categories:
Hiking & Trekking
Season: October - March
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 2942 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 3890 US Dollar (USD)
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This exclusive trek lets you experience some of the less traveled trails in the Fitz Roy area. Off the conventional trekking circuit, but nevertheless engaging and beautiful, the scenery on this two-part trek is unforgettable.
The first part of this trek is a circumnavigation of Mt. Huemul, an impressive mountain that rests on the edge of the Patagonia Icefield. Our trek takes us to Laguna Toro, a beautiful glacier lake, with a very rustic hut that belongs to an institution that studies the Patagonian Icefield. From there we’ll ascend the moraines, and then cross the Tunel River via a Tyrolean crossing. We’ll hike up to Paso del Viento, then down to our second camp, on the very edge of the icefield. The vista from the pass is impressive: The vastness of this icefield (also called the third pole), is evident when we look west, toward the Mariano Moreno range and the ice plateaus that extend for dozens of miles to the north.
Our third and fourth days see us traversing back east around Mt. Huemul, following some trails that provide us with incredible views of the fractured surface of the Viedma Glacier. This glacier ends in a calving in the Viedma Lake (which dumps its mass of ice directly into the lake’s waters). On our fifth day we will return to El Chalten via Tunel valley. A rest day in Chalten (hiking optional) will be followed by the second leg of our trek: a hike from El Chalten to the Estancia La Maipu, on the shores of the lake Buenos Aires.
This three-day trek will take through varied terrain, and there will be plenty of opportunities to see guanacos, condors and an area rich in marine fossils. Our final two nights will be spent resting and enjoying the hospitality of the gauchos at Estancia La Maipu. Here you can experience the ruggedness of the everyday life of these people. This is a working estancia where we can see first-hand a classic sheep ranch in Patagonia. Our last day will be a ground transfer to El Calafate to catch our flight to Buenos Aires.
Your Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires. Hotel night in Buenos Aires' Palermo neighborhood, one of the most traditional spots in the city.
Day 2: Flight to El Calafate (4 hours), meet with our guide and transfer to El Chalten, the portal to the Fitz Roy area.
(D)
Day 3: Trekking to Toro Lagoon, a beautiful hike that takes us trough the Tunel Valley, and over the Pliegue Tumbado, a small ridge that overlooks the Fitz Roy and the Cerro Torre masssifs.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 4: Our second day on the trail has many highlights: a Tyrolean crossing of the Tunel River, followed by a climb to Paso del Viento, the gateway to the Patagonia Icefield. From the pass, we will descend onto the edge of the icefield and hike for an hour to the Viedma hut, a very small shelter maintained by the National Institute of the Patagonian Continental Ice.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 5: Day-hike to Viedma Glacier and the Patagonia Icefield. From our camp we'll hike 4-5 hours (roundtrip), to get into this incredible landscape. We'll return to our camp next to the ihcp shelter.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 6: Hike to Huemul Pass, with incredible views of the icefield and the Viedma Glacier, which calves its icebergs into the frigid waters of Viedma Lake. It is common in this part of the trek to see condors.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 7: Trekk to Bahia Tunel, crossing some steppe landscape, and bus transfer to El Chalten, where we'll spend the night in a comfortable lodge
(B), (L), (D)
Day 8: Rest day or day-hikes, depending on your preference. If you join us for a hike, we'll be heading to either Fitz Roy or Cerro Torre's base camps, where we can enjoy excellent views of the mountains. We'll return to our lodge for a second night in El Chalten.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 9: A short 20 minute bus transfer will leave us in the Estancia La Margarita, where our second part of the trek begins. We'll hike up a pass and down to the Portones Valley, where we'll set camp. With clear skies this hike has excellent views of the El Chalten area.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 10: This day we'll be hiking over two passes, and two different valleys. Cerro Sombrero, an interesting rock formation will serve as a backdrop for this interesting hike, where it's common to see condors and guanacos, and where it's also common to find marine fossils. We'll set camp in a beautiful forest.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 11: Our shortest day (3 hour hike), takes us to the Estancia La Maipu, a traditional estancia that still continues raising sheep. We'll be staying in the esatncia and meeting the local gauchos.
(B),(L), (D)
Day 12: This rest day will provide excellent opportunities to experience first hand what it means to live in Patagonia. The gauchos and the estancieros are very amicable, and we'll enjoy and share a typical asado, or bbq, made with the finest lamb. The estancia also has a small museum that treasures mementos from a century ago, when the first settlers arrived to these latitudes.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 13: On our last day we'll take a bus to El Calafate International Airport to flight out to Buenos Aires.
(B)
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Also see tour packages in:
South America
Argentina
Outdoor: Land Rambler
Hiking & Trekking
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