Since the very beginning of our #VanLife, a 2.5+ year journey through the Americas, we had this one big dream:
PATAGONIA.
And with it to see the amazing "Southern Patagonian Ice Field".
The Patagonian Ice Cap is the world's 3rd largest mass of ice after Antarctica and Greenland. Today, it is split into the Northern and Southern Ice Fields.
We were still in the fantastic Huaraz in Peru when a Hungarian couple told us about this one trek in Patagonia, which is still a bit under the radar of mass-tourism (which it kinda is, kinda not) and absolutely stunning and amazing. Trekking along the ice field and getting the most epic views. Back then, in Huaraz, we had all the mountains we could ask for directly under our noses and didn't really want to think about later. "Enjoy the moment", right?
So we put the trek on our exponentially growing must-see list and forgot about it.
Until now 😉
Arriving in El Chaltén the "Huemul Trek" was one of the first things we checked out. The equipment, we had. The time, we had. But the weather (4 consecutive days), we had NOT. There was WIND everywhere. And clouds. Rain. Snow. More wind. And more wind. THE "Patagonian Wind"! There weren't just 4 days in a row to go for. Not even 3 or 2.
So we did almost all the other hikes in the area which were closer to "home" (home is where our Mitsubishi Montero "Morrie" is parked). And as we did those we quickly realized: "Mhmh, by now we know the area pretty well. There is no real need to go into the "Laguna Toro Valley", which we had seen from many viewpoints already, and climb the "Paso Viento" (as if there wasn´t already enough wind ;)
So we skipped those weather-complicated days and just hiked the trek clock-wise, instead of the "normal" direction which everyone uses. Two big advantages: We were almost to ourselves as no one uses this direction and you only see others for a couple of seconds while passing. And, we could also concentrate our time on the best parts of the trek:
The Viedma Glacier with its icebergs floating right in front of your tent. We stayed two nights at this amazing spot (while all the others just did one). We should have stayed a whole week though. Or even a month ;)
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field. We climbed the "Paso Huemul" from the "wrong" direction but still, (surprise surprise), got the same incredible views of the ice masses. Only we had way more time to spend at the pass than others, who already had 6 hours hiking in their legs and just wanted to finish the day.
I must say, WOW, WOW, WOW. There are just no words to describe this moment. When you open your eyes and they tear up it´s a pretty good sign in which emotional moment you find yourself in. You try to soak in every last detail. Out it into your mind and heart to keep it there forever.
Try it!
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STOPmore pics of this beautiful trip can be found at
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