Argentina and Chile. Peaks, Fjords, and Glaciers of the Southern Andes
Seeing fjords and other glacial landscapes of southern Chile and Argentina has always been a dream. Late in 2020, a friend and I began planning a five-week automobile tour of South America with a February 2023 departure. We arranged expenses so that my companion would pay for hotels, and I would cover the car rental. After arriving in Buenos Aires, we exchanged U.S. dollars for Argentinian pesos. At the time, Argentina was experiencing significant inflation which resulted in two exchange rates, an official (government) rate, and a much more favorable “unofficial” rate offered by private currency exchange offices. We elected to exchange our money at one of the unofficial exchange offices that was located a few blocks from our hotel. On our third day in Buenos Aires, we took a cab to the rental car office in one of the city’s suburbs. After presenting my credit card to the rental agent, I was informed that we had been quoted the cash price (in Argentine pesos) and that the credit card price would be twice as much because the agency was required to use the government rate for payments in U.S. dollars. After exploring options, we learned that wire transfers could be made at the more favorable rate, so I contacted my wife about wiring $2,000. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Western Union office without a way to carry hundreds of 1,000-peso banknotes that the teller handed me in piles of a hundred. The teller didn’t have a bag, so we crammed stacks of bills into the front and rear pockets of our pants. With bulging pockets, we walked seven blocks from Western Union to the car rental office.
The next morning, we departed Buenos Aires in our rented Nissan Versa sedan. It took three full days to reach Tierra del Fuego (southernmost province in Argentina) and two more to reach Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Dubbed “Crown Jewel of Patagonia,” Torres del Paine is in a transition region between Patagonian steppe grasses and Magellanic subpolar forest. Protecting an area of 1,814 km2, the park borders Bernardo O'Higgins National Park to the west and Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park to the north. We stayed at Hosteria Pehoe, a hotel located on a small island within glacially carved Lake Pehoe. From an upstairs dining room, we could see the stunning panorama of jagged glacial peaks rising above a green glacial lake.
The next day we drove to a trailhead to begin a nine-kilometer hike to Mirador (viewpoint) Las Torres. With a vertical gain of 900 meters, the hike was challenging. The trail took us through the narrow Valle Ascencio and a forested area before emerging on a rocky moraine. Several times I thought I could see the trail’s end, only to round a corner and find trail ahead and above. The final ascent involved long switchbacks over a boulder field. Sore and exhausted, I considered turning back as thirty-something hikers passed me. When I finally arrived at the mirador, the view was spectacular. Reflecting in a beautiful tarn lake were the park’s three signature peaks: Torres de’Agostini (2,500m), Torres Central (2,460m), and Torres Monzino (2,260m).
After a night’s rest we continued driving north to the town of El Chaltén, adjacent to Rio (river) de las Vueltas. With restaurants, hotels, and outfitter shops, El Chaltén (population 250) operates as a gateway to the 7,269 km2 Los Glaciares National Park. The next morning, we walked from our hotel to a trailhead that would take us to miradors that offering views of several peaks including Mt. Fitz Roy which straddles the border between Chile and Argentina. The mountain is named for Robert FitzRoy who served as Captain of the British ship HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin’s voyage (1826-1830) around the southern tip of South America. Mt. Fitz Roy’s other name is Cerro Chaltén, meaning “smoking mountain,” because clouds often obscure the peak. After an hour’s walk, we arrived at a viewpoint where we could see Mts. Saint Exupéry (2,258m), Poincenot (3,002m), Fitz Roy (3,375m), and Mermoz (2,732m). The line of granite peaks was the inspiration for the logo used on Patagonia brand clothing.
The next day we traveled west along the edge of Lake Argentino to the remote Perito Moreno Glacier. Named after Explorer Francisco Moreno, the glacier is fed by the 16,480 km2 Andes Ice Field, the third largest concentration of ice in the world after Greenland and Antarctica. Pushed by the weight of ice above, the glacier travels 30 kilometers from the icefield to its terminus in Lake Argentino. There was no parking available near the glacier, so we parallel parked along the access road and followed the main path that connects several glacier viewpoints. The glacier’s terminus is a five-kilometer-wide wall that reaches 74 meters above the lake. We watched and listened as large chunks broke off and fell into the water below, forming small icebergs. Returning to our rental car, we found the driver’s side mirror disconnected from the door and hanging by a wire. Aggravated, we cut the wire and stored the mirror in the car’s trunk before departing northward on Highway 40, bound for the ferry terminal at Chile Chico.
The ferry at Chile Chico carries cars and passengers northward across Lake General Carrara (aka Lake Buenos Aires) to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez. Shared by Chile and Argentina, the 1,850 km2 lake is of glacial origin and drains to the Pacific Ocean through the Baker River. There was only one ferry departure time that worked in our schedule and the line of cars waiting to drive onto the ferry appeared long, so we prepared for “Plan B” that called for at least two additional hours of driving around the lake on gravel roads. By some measure of luck there was room for our car. Arriving at Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez, we drove to the town of Chaiten and checked in at our Airbnb. With a few hours left in the day we drove north to Chaiten Volcano. Pushing upward to an altitude of 1,122 meters, Chaiten’s rhyolitic lava dome formed in 7400 BC and experienced its most recent eruption in 2008. The volcano is located close to the Pacific coast and along a subduction zone where the Nazca Plate pushes under the larger South American Plate. Our hike to the top of the three-kilometer-wide caldera took an hour. Returning to the town of Chaiten, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant recommended by our Airbnb’s proprietor.
