In addition to being the youngest town in Patagonia, El Chaltén is a place of dreams and cultural diversity. A lot of foreigners visit because of its natural conditions ideal for lovers of outdoor life and especially trekking.
Called by its followers like “national capital of the trekking”, by the different trails that are born of its own streets can be made different ascents to the imposing hills that surround it, like the Fitz Roy, the Poincenot or the so particular Cerro Tower.
El Chalten is one of the favorite excursions during the stay El Calafate. For its history and its natural beauty, the Lake of the Desert deserves to sail and to know itself.
Getting to Lago del Desierto is a fascinating adventure, not only because of its history and nature, but also because of how comfortable it is to navigate in it and the varied possibilities of trekking in its surroundings.
From El Chaltén we take the road that borders the Rio de las Vueltas and we begin to wind up this beautiful course of water, whose hue passes through the celestial and green until it becomes transparent as we approach the mouth of the lake.
The story goes that in 1965, during a routine reconnaissance, a group of Argentine gendarmes finds a settlement of Chilean police officers a few kilometers from the lake. In that episode an armed confrontation takes place that detonates the frontier conflict, originated a century before, by this sector of the mountain range.
In the middle of the negotiations between both countries, Argentina decided as a geopolitical strategy to create the town of El Chaltén in 1985 in the valley demarcated by the confluence of Ríos de las Vueltas and Fitz Roy, 37 kilometers from the Lake of the Desert.
In the middle of the negotiations between both countries, Argentina decided as a geopolitical strategy to create the town of El Chaltén in 1985 in the valley demarcated by the confluence of Ríos de las Vueltas and Fitz Roy, 37 kilometers from the Lake of the Desert.
It was only in 1994 that an international court ruled in favor of Argentina and granted it full sovereignty in this whole area which had begun to receive new inhabitants, mostly European immigrants fascinated by the mountains and the magic of the famous Fitz Roy hill.
Upon arriving at the lake, a sign marks the presence of the Huemul Glacier, which is reached after a trek of no more than an hour and allows a truly beautiful path to live where, in addition to the glacier, it is possible to walk through a totally natural forest.
But we left it for the end of the tour. In a matter of minutes we would be part of the group that, embarked on the catamaran, would prepare to arrive at the National Gendarmerie detachment called “Lago del Desierto”, which is located just at the end of the lake.
So we left the pier and began to know the different shores that the lake has, where, as the captain told us, excellent brown and rainbow trout are caught, weighing more than 4 kilograms.
After 45 minutes, we arrived to the detachment and there, after greeting those who perform their usual functions, we made a brief trek to the top of a small hill that let us contemplate the beauty of the lake and the silhouette of this wonderful granite stone mole Which is the Fitz Roy.
The return allowed us to enjoy the navigation of the lake again and this time we chose to trek to the Huemul glacier.
The trail, which is perfectly signposted, is steep at first but not difficult. On the contrary, it requires a constant walk that slowly deposits us on the top of a small mountain from where you can appreciate the magnificent glacier.
The Huemul has at its base an emerald lagoon that enhances its beauty, and allows to approach almost to its eternal ice. We must do it with care, trying not to disturb the environment and not to hurt ourselves until we take the famous photo.
Returning from the lake of the Desert, it is a must before arriving to El Chaltén to stop at the famous Chorrillo jump.
Here, nature was in charge of perfectly sculpting a small waterfall or cataract that draws attention to anyone present.
The river is enclosed and a slope causes its waters to fall into the void (hence the name “jump”) and crash into a large pool of fresh and limpid water forming a small lagoon of green waters, where You can see some rainbow trout eating insects.
A perfect postcard before returning to El Chaltén, as if to end this picturesque excursion.
