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This morning we took the bus from El Calafate to El Chaltén. It was a nice modern, double-decker bus. We rode up top and looked out the big windows. I was quite impressed with the views we got looking across Lago Viedma. We could see the sharp peaks of the Andes all the way across the lake. Once the bus turned toward El Chaltén, we could see the pinnacle of Mount FitzRoy directly in front of us. FitzRoy is usually cloaked in clouds, it can be notoriously difficult to see. But we had astounding clear weather, the mountain was visible in all of its pointy majesty. The bus stopped at the ranger station, and all passengers were required to disembark and listen to a 20 minute talk (one room was for Spanish speakers, the other room was an English talk) about hiking from El Chaltén. We were given a trail map and brief description of the various trails. The bus then drove into town and dropped us off at the bus terminal. We dropped off our bags at Lo de Tomy, and headed out to try our first hike. It was 1 P.M. when we started. There are some nice viewpoints on the trail up to Camp Poincenot, and with weather exceptionally clear, we were eager to get up there and enjoy those views ourselves. The first kilometers of the trail are the toughest; from town the trail climbs steadily upward. At the 1 KM point there is a viewpoint that looks north toward the Cordon del Bosque mountains and the Rio de las Vueltas valley. At the 4 km point, we arrived at Mirador FitzRoy. It was a wonderous view. In bright clear afternoon light, we could see all of the looming mountain peak of FitzRoy and the surrounding peaks. We probably spent half an hour at this point, taking photos and enjoying the view. We talked to a party of New Englanders who arrived at the viewpoint at the same time. Of course they were all Patriots fans. Grrrrr. The rest of the trail beyond the Mirador is mostly flat. It is easy hiking, amongst low trees and patches of open area. We got a lot of views of FitzRoy going forward. I thought there was supposed to be a second Mirador before we reached Camp Poincenot, but we didn't see any marked stopping points. There were nice views along the way. After we reaced Poincenot, we turned around and returned to El Chaltén. It was a downhill walk all the way. We were back in town by 6 P.M. I hadn't planned on going so far in just a half day, but we ended up with about 18 km of hiking. The day was gorgeous and the views were tremendous, it really turned out to be nice. In town, we found a shuttle service that would take us up to Hostel El Pilar at 8:30 A.M. the next day for 100 pesos each. We planned to do the Lago de las Tres trail, up to the lake at the base of FitzRoy. The weather report warned of rain, but in Patagonia the weather changes every few hours so you can't make plans based upon weather forecasts. After dinner of fajitas, we returned to our room at De lo Tomy and unpacked - we would be here for the next five nights. It had been yet another great day. Panorama Photos
MapsThis map shows the route we took on our bus ride from El Calafate up to El Chaltén 
A map marking in red that shows the trail we hiked up and back in the afternoon 
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Click on any thumbnail to begin the slide show at that photograph FitzRoy Photos
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