How often do you go off-trail with your hikes?
We found a reasonably dry day while staying in Ushuaia to check out the resident glacier: Martial Glacier. While we could have hiked directly from town, we didn’t see the need to add the extra miles, especially since they were all uphill. Instead, we took the relatively cheap taxi to the official trailhead.
What national park left you somewhat underwhelmed?
After incredible places like Torres Del Paine and Fitz Roy, we were excited to see what the Tierra Del Fuego National Park had to offer. After all, this is Patagonia!
But when we arrived, it just wasn’t as blow-your-socks-off beautiful as the rest. This park is more about the location than what it contains.
What is the farthest you’ve ever been from home?
Ushuaia is a cute little town on the very southern tip of Argentina. It is the southernmost city in the world, and because of this, it has been dubbed “El Fin del Mundo” – “The End of the World.”
What is the most difficult hike you’ve ever done?
We thought we had seen our biggest hike when we scaled the ridge to the Torres Del Paine lookout. However, we had our work cut our for us at Fitz Roy!
How do you prepare for a major hike?
We entered a hiker’s paradise when we reached El Chalten. Trails abound – right from the edge of town! The town is right on the brink of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and the best part: there’s no admission fee here!
We were excited to explore, and we knew we had lots of options. However, we were really there for the prime jewel: Fitz Roy. Knowing this would be a major undertaking, we elected a much gentler hike for our first day – something with which to warm up our legs for what was to come.
What kind of activities do you love to do in cute little mountain towns? Hiking? Skiing? Staying in with a good book?
We came to El Chalten for the hiking. After several days down in El Calafate, we were ready to explore the other end of the beautiful Los Glaciares National Park.
What cute little towns have you found in your journeys?
Puerto Natales is a backpacker’s town and the gateway to the famed Torres Del Paine National Park. Instead of forking over a fortune to stay in the park, we opted to stay in this cute coastal town about an hour and a half away.
What traditional foods have you fallen in love with during your travels?
Throughout our travels in Patagonia, we came across many restaurants with this common sight: entire lamb carcasses splayed in triplicate over slow-burning coals. This is called cordero al palo, and it is a very specific type of barbecue favored in the southern regions of both Chile and Argentina.
What’s a place you were looking forward to for a long time before you finally visited?
The Torres Del Paine spires are arguably what originally drew us to the stunningly beautiful Patagonia region. When searching for pictures of this place, chances are one of the first images you’ll see is similar to the first one here: a turquoise blue pool in front of thick fingers jutting into the sky.
Continue reading “A Glimpse of the Mirador Torres Del Paine”
Are you a fair-weather hiker, or will you even go out in the rain?
For our second day in Torres Del Paine National Park, we were still breaking in our legs in preparation for the big hike we were there for. The rain only helped in our decision to do another warmup hike rather than tackle the park’s namesake trek.
