29th October: Laguna de los Tres (lookout over Cerro Fitz Roy)

The plan for the day was to walk to the lookout called "Laguna de los Tres", which offers a great view over mount Fitz Roy and other peaks, including that named after Saint-Exupéry. In order to avoid having to walk back and forth from El Chalten (and thus to diversify the itinerary), we decided to take the bus to the top of the park, walk to the lookout, and walk back to El Chalten.

The bus picked us up at 8 am, giving us time to enjoy an energy-filled breakfast at the B&B. 45 minutes later, we hopped off the bus and started walking towards the entrance of the park. Despite the bus driver's explanations and the map provided by the park rangers the evening before, we got a bit confused but were thankfully rescued by groups walking on the trail a few metres below us. One of the guides kindly explained us that we could not get lost as long as we kept Fitz Roy to our right. This was simple enough and after 15 minutes of walking quickly, getting ahead of groups, we reached the entrance of the national park and from then on, the imprecision of the map did not matter much as the trail was well-maintaind and sign-posted (note: one would not question John's orientation skills, the map was not clear).

We walked through the forest for about 30 minutes before arriving at the lookout over the Glacier Piedras Blancas, where we paused for some pictures.

Glacier Piedras Blancas with Fitz Roy to the left

Another 30 minutes later we reached the camping site Poincenot, where we had a snack break (ou pause casse-croute), before heading up to Laguna de los Tres.

Close to Campamento Poincenot

A sign-post at the beginning of the trail warned us that this was a serious enterprise, and that the trek should not be undertaken unless you were an experienced hiker, equipped with walking boots, and that one should be mindful in case of rain or snow. The park ranger had also advised us against walking up to the lookout in case of strong winds, as there was a risk that we could fall down the path. All of this made the walk up sound very dramatic, but we were lucky with the weather, the sun was shining, and the wind was gentle.

View of the steep slope

John climbing up

Last hill, almost there

We met quite a few people going up very slowly and suffering on the steep slope. An hour later, we enjoyed the spectacular sight of the peak of Fitz Roy (and others, such as Saint-Exupéry) in perfect blue sky.

View over (frozen) laguna de los tres, Fitz Roy and other peaks

Cerro Saint Exupéry

Fitz Roy

Last picture before heading down

The wind started gusting more ferociously at the end of our sandwich break and it was time to find shelter down in the valley. We headed down the same path; the way down was quicker, but also trickier than the way up due in particular to loose stones. Back at Camping Poincenot we headed back towards El Chalten. The first valley we crossed gave us the opportunity to enjoy more views of Fitz Roy (now at our back) and of the traditional Patagonian landscape (rugged steppe). It was a lovely and fairly flat walk with pretty wood bridges to help us cross springs and ponds.

Landscape on the way back to El Chalten

A condor flying over us

We then arrived at Lago Capri, where we enjoyed our last sight of Fitz Roy.

Lago Capri (with Fitz Roy in the background)

Alcapa belonging to a nearby encampment

We then resumed our walk to El Chalten, and after about 20 minutes in the woods we started walking alongside the mountain, overlooking the beautiful valley below.

View over the valley

About 1 hour later, the first houses of El Chalten were visible and we reached an artesanal brewery, not far from our hostel, about 20 minutes later. The fresh blonde beer was a well-deserved reward.

In the evening, we had dinner in a charming wooden restaurant, where they served a traditional lamb and lentille stew that took John's fancy, while I savoured grilled pork with a dark beer sauce and delicious minced pumpkin.