Hiking in Patagonia

[Red & Lady Mink]

Fitz Roy is good for 2-3 days
Torres del Paine: 7+ days
Ushuaia: 4+ days? (dont know the area very well)
Bariloche: 7+ days

You can plan & hike without guide in all areas.

Jez please tell me more about Bariloche? any extended hiking routes/circuits and any recommendations for must do in seeing the area?

Red

 

[Red & Lady Mink]

Jez, i just looked at your trekbariloche website....excellent job!

Red

 

[vanessa]

Slightly ot but... Red, you were on the AT this year? Did you finish?

We were out there in 2009, but I injured myself.

Yeah, as Red said (back to Patagonia), I dont think you need a guide if you know your gear and your own limitations. I haven't done anything you needed special equipment for (like ice axes or what not). I would love to learn how to use ice axe/crampons to hike Volcan Lanin.

Ushuaia's hiking is beautiful by the way. Saw my first fox down there, and he was following us which was cool (as interested in us as we were in him).

Jez, how to you like living in Bariloche? We are considering moving to Patagonia because we are sick of the city (not BsAs persay, but city life in general). I want to live in Alumine, which is 100 km north of Junin de los Andes (very into fly-fishing too and I love the rivers up there) but perhaps it is too small for someone coming from cities (Los Angeles before BsAs).

Somehow the park in Palermo doesnt compare to real trails and real mountains.

 

[Red & Lady Mink]

Yes i did finish it, May 1st - Oct 8 this year then i moved down here with my wife. Sorry to hear that you were injured, how far did you make it? I went thru some knee tendentious for about the first 500 miles...limping until the flat mid-atlantic area.

as for the park in palermo, yeah i walk my dogs in it everyday and listen to music to try and take me back to the mountains....it works kind of until the guy yelling..HELADO!! goes by...hahaha!

what hikes did you do in Ushuala? I dont know if I can make it there but still interested!

Red

 

[vanessa]

Red, I made it not that far (to Hot Springs) before I tore my groin ligament (not fun). I never got to the flat parts. My boyfriend made it thru mid-VA before leaving because of the heat and bugs. I still want to do a thru-hike but we are waiting because our dogs are getting advanced in age (12+).


We just did some day hikes in Ushuaia. They have a shuttle to the national park and (it was about 4 yrs ago so I dont completely remember the times) they drop off in the morning and pick up around 4 or 5 pm or so.

Red you fly fish? (Noticed the hiking/fishing in Torre del Paines area).

 

[Red & Lady Mink]

yes I do, not very good at it, new to the sport but I have the basic skills, cool story I stopped at NOC (natahala outdoor center in NC) on my thru hike and took a zero day, got a guided half day fly fishing instruction/trip. Caught my first fish after trying for two years!!! Caught 4 that day but had somewhere around "30 hits"...was the best zero day!

I plan on carrying my gear on the trip thru Torres del Paine and I am hoping for awesome fishing when I am there. I am looking for a good place to go and I think my wife wants to get into it as well around here in BA province. I have read about some fishing on the river but mainly catfish, nothing really for fly fishing that I have found. You know a lot about fly fishing? I love it, despite my limited experiences!

sorry to hear the groin tear...ouch is probably an understatement...i can understand the heat, i trudged thru VA in June this year and it was scorching hot and humid dont know how I made it thru to be honest pulling 20 miles a day. I really wanted to take my dogs with me but its a whole new world having a dog with you as I am sure you realized.

 

[vanessa]

Red, I remember NOC well. I knew they sold flies there but we just took a near0 there instead of a 0 day. Thats pretty sweet to catch your first fish on a fly on the AT. Nice memories.

We took fly rods when we thru-hiked the JMT (John Muir Trail) and it was so easy the fishing at some points because they just wasnt anyone fishing back there unless they hiked in 10 miles over a pass.

Yeah we go fly fishing for about a month a year in Patagonia. We just rent a car and go with an atlas and a tent and our dogs. We stay in a mix of cabins and tent. We didnt go last year because of the AT but went 2 weeks in March to make up for it.

It is the start of the season now and we are heading down for 6 weeks this time; I cant imagine a better X-mas or NYE then waking up next to a river, fishing, and then hanging out by the fire roasting asado. I haven't fished in Chile much but am very familiar with Argentine rivers (especially in Neuquen and Chubut provinces). I can give you some advice if you have questions.

 

[Hache]

Bariloche, the gateway to Patagonia, has great hiking trail for all abilities, there are also refuges so you don't have to carry a tent. Have a look at the my site: Trek Bariloche it details the most popular trails for the independent trekker.

If you have any questions contact me via PM on this site, or the contact page of the above site.

Laguna Toncek, by Refugio Frey:

Refugio Jakob:

Refugio Laguna Negra:

Paso de las Nubes trail:

Those are great locations, jez, and great website, too!

ntrombles, you should check Chubut's Parque Nacional Los Alerces as well.

 

[soulskier]

Here are 5 day hikes around Bariloche

http://livinginpatagonia.com/?p=3686

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Bariloche is to crowded for me.
I suggest you start from San Martín de los Andes. You take a bus until the entrance of the National Park at Lolog lake. There begins a single track that takes you into the mountains for 3 days. You must to ask for permission to the guardaparque. If you don´t arrive at the other side he is going to go for you by horse.

The first day is hard, up and down the mountains. At sunset you arrive to the other side of Lolog lake. Just before arriving you have to cross a river, ask the guardaparque where should you cross it. It is wide and might be dangerous only if you are stupid. Don´t camp close to the river, this is where Pumas hunt at night. You can see many prints during the morning.
You will find a small house, don´t use it. To camp close to the lake is better.

The second day is mild. You arrive to another shelter. Don´t use it, there are mice at shelters.
The river you have to cross just after the second shelter is dangerous, so you have to cross is during morning. It is like a Y. Avoid crossing close to the place where the two streams becomes one. This waters are tricky, so be very careful. I fall there.
The 3er day is hard, half day up until you reach the escorial and the vulcan. Then the sight is great. After that is easy. You can camp at Laguna Verde. 1000 mts from there you can buy food.

You are going to cross just a few people, probably guides. They will be nasty because they want this place just for them.

Then you will be at Currue grande and Currue Chico lakes, it is not crowded at all because the road is very bad.
If you walk 15 kilometers to Chile, you will find Lahuen Co Hot spring waters. You will love them. They were biulding an hotel there, but you should talk with the guardaparques because the whole place is full of natural springs, but some of them are simply too hot.

They have a camping close to las termas, probably closed.

5 kilometers to Chile, there starts another single track called "Viejo aguila´s". You are going to cross through the cold jungle to La Union, the point where Huechulafquen and Paymun Lake united. It takes 1 day. There is also a detour that goes around Paymu lake, I don´t know if this is open.

Once you are on the other side, take a bus to Junin de los Andes ASAP, the campings there sucks. It´s full of people who just drink cheap wine, plays the guitar the whole night and sleep the whole day.

You can chose to do not cross the Union and to go back to Junin following the Huechulafquen Lake, this is the best option.

The water at Huechulafquen east coast is not drinkable. There are water nails that will pass you intestinal parasites.

Once in Junin you have 2 options. You can go to Tromen Lake, there is no bus and there are 60 kilometers of sandy route. At tromen you can hike the Lanin Vulcan until the 1st shelter without proper climbing gear.
The other option is to take a bus to San Martin de los Andes. (Don´t spend the night in Junin, it is too expensive).

Once in San Martin de los Andes, you take a colectivo to the other side of the lake. Once you arrive there, there is a camping which is tricky because it is going to be raining. You should not wait until it stops because this is the wettest place in the country. So just walk to the termas, I can´t remember the name, you just walk to the next guardaparques. It´s like 15 kilometers by the road. Then you cross a river and you have a free camping. The places around are full of wild mint for your tea.

Then you have a 2 hours path that takes you to a hot water stream that is a cascade that falls downs the mountain in a place like a V. There are many pools where you can enjoy the hot water. The higher you go the hotter the water is. This is a great place to rest a couple of days.

I wrote a article about this about 12 years ago, I should track it...
I was doing this "tour" every 3 or 4 years for the last 17.
Regards