Hiking Guide: Laguna de los Tres, El Chaltén

Our Patagonia plans took a bit of a turn when we realised we couldn’t just rock up to the bus station at this time of year, and book a bus to Bariloche – the most popular next stop for backpackers like ourselves. One of the two bus companies that drive this route had ceased operations for the season that day – which just left one bus per day, and a town full of travellers who probably had the same idea as us in staying in El Chalten for the week of beautiful weather, and trying to leave when the weather was forecasted to turn.

The next bus available was the Saturday – 4 days after we had planned to leave.

Flying also wasn’t an option – after a hour hour bus back to El Calafate, the closest airport, you were looking upwards of AUD$600 to get anywhere but there.

We didn’t book the Saturday bus, instead focusing on that days adventure – an overnight hike to the iconic Fitz Roy.

We set off early afternoon to hike to the Poincenot campground, which is 8km in, and just 4km from the top. The first part of the hike hike was relatively easy, and we stopped off at Laguna Capri for lunch next to the lake.

The downside to this hike was the number of people. Even for what is considered shoulder season (mid-April), the trails were pretty busy. I’d hate to think what it would be like in peak season. Given it is a world-famous hike, it’s not a surprise it’s so popular!

Camping overnight was a popular option – I’d guess there were around 40 tents pitched at Poincenot campground (there was also the option of camping at Rio Blanco or Laguna Capri). Despite the number of people with the same idea as us, there were still quite a few empty spots to choose from when we arrived just before sunset. After pitching our tent and playing a few games of frisbee, we poured a drink and watched the sunset from our campsite over the mountains.

I did not have a great sleep that night – my mind must have been excited for our sunrise hike because at 2:45 I was wide awake and ready to go – just about 4 hours too early. I managed to get back to sleep about an hour before my alarm went off, so it was enough to keep me energised for the morning trek up the mountain.

It was not an easy journey – for that last part alone, I can see why All Trails have this hike listed as Hard. It took us just over an hour to get up to the top, and it was very steep the whole way.

There were plenty of other campers who were making the hike up as well – some even well earlier than us, with their little headlamp glows at the top visible to us hundreds of metres below.

The red was just creeping into the sky when we reached the top, so we walked a little further to find a spot away from the small crowd that had gathered, and set up our cameras and our coffee station.

The sunrise did not disappoint – the skies went from a bold red to bright orange to pastel pink, and the sun hit the mountain peaks making them radiate. We sat there bundled up, hot coffees in hand, taking it all in.

The show lasted more than an hour, and by the time the sun had fully risen and we had cooked up our ham and cheese toasties, we went to go explore down at the lake. We wandered around to the left side of the lake, and discovered an equally stunning cobalt blue lake hiding away between the mountains. We may have been able to see this more clearly if we had hiked up during daylight hours, but if we hadn’t of gone exploring, we may have completely missed it!

The hike down back to camp was hard and slow, given the steepness. We finally made it back down late morning, and by then my tiredness from my bad sleep had caught up with me, so I had a powernap before we headed off on our way.

On the way back, one of the people Tim had stopped to chat to asked us if we had seen the waterfall yet. Not even knowing about a waterfall, we diverted off our path and followed him to a magnificent waterfall that hadn’t been on our radar at all. There weren’t many people there, just a few photographers. After looking at more recent comments on All Trails after the hike, a few people had mentioned this “secret waterfall”. Note – you can actually find this on the All Trails map if you look close enough, just off the track opposite Laguna Capri. Zoom in to see the location “Casada Escondida”.

We followed a different path the final stretch back, past the Mirador Fitz Roy lookout, which wasn’t as busy but also the trails were a lot narrower so it did make passing people more difficult. It was worth it to see a variety in scenery, and didn’t add too much longer to the hike.

We finished the hike at 4pm, which seeing as we didn’t leave our campsite until 12:30pm and stopped for lunch and lots of photos, didn’t take long at all. It gave us plenty of time to return my sleeping bag, check in to our new hostel (as our last one was booked out), and enjoy a delicious meal out to celebrate yet another successful and beautiful hike.

LAGUNA DE LOS TRES FAST FACTS:

Time it was meant to take: 8-10 hours

Time it actually took us (inc. breaks): 8.5 hours (split over two days, including the secret waterfall)

Distance: 24km

Top tips for the Laguna de los Tres Hike:

• If you can, break it up to two days and overnight at Poincenot campground. This way you will get to watch the sunrise up at the lookout, and take your time to enjoy the scenery along the way.

• If you do camp, make sure you bring your headlamp for the morning’s sunrise hike!

• Also if you need to hire gear for the night, try get in as soon as the store opens as they can run out. There are a few different rental shops in town, so allow time to go to multiple if you need to. They are all within a 10 min walk of each other.

• There are a few rivers and streams you can top up your water at, so leave the extra bottle and enjoy the crisp fresh water!

• Stop for a picnic lunch at Laguna Capri.

• If you are doing it as a day hike, I would leave as soon as the sun has risen or even just before – it is a long day.

• Be prepared for the busy trails, get your smile and your "Hola!" on 😊