Los Glaciares National Park is famous for incredible glaciers near El Calafate and trails to iconic Mount Fitz Roy from El Chalten. We visited both while in Argentine southern Patagonia.
Best Thing I Ate This Week
Cordero Patagonico at La Tablita
In the Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, cordero (lamb) is the most typical food served, similar to southern Chile. While driving through southern Patagonia, it is common to see the animals grazing on the expansive hills.
One of the most popular ways to prepare the meat is over open flames (asado) and many restaurants around El Calafate display this process through large glass windows.
At La Tablita, they specialize in this cooking method in a more upscale setting. The asado is displayed in the main dining room, and, as the night goes on, the chefs remove the lambs once they are fully consumed.
The cordero patagonico (for 1 person) was served on a cast iron plate that continued to cook the meat throughout the meal. It was a generous portion perfect for sharing and gave a great sampling of delicious different cuts of lamb.
An Interesting Fact I Learned
Glaciers are made up of snow compressed over 100s of years
The Glaciarium Museo del Hielo is an informative museum outside the center of El Calafate. It was a great place to learn more about glaciers prior to our visit to Glaicar Perito Moreno in Glaciares National Park. There are region specific facts, such as the southern Patagonia ice field being the largest outside of Antarctica and Greenland, as well as general facts, such as all glaciers are clear but blue shades are observed because they absorb the other longer light waves and scatter the blue waves based on their depth.
One of the most interesting facts was about the process for how glaciers are created. They grow based on snow fall that constantly accumulates and continues to press down on the layers hundreds of feet below. Eventually, the snow becomes ever more compact, to the point that it solidifies to dense ice over many centuries. This means glaciers are continually moving and eventually a natural process called calving occurs when water streams within the body of the glacier cause chunks to break off and fall. The major issue today is that there is not enough snowfall to replenish the increase in calving, which is why almost all glaciers are shrinking in size around the world.
My Travel Tip of the Week
Plan a flexible schedule to maximize outdoor trips
El Chalten is known as the capital of trekking in Argentina. It contains Mount Fitz Roy, a peak that is so iconic that the U.S. clothing company, Patagonia, depicts it in their logo. The most famous hike from the town is Laguna de Los Tres, a nearly 15 mile there and back trail that ends with a viewpoint of this peak and others above a beautiful lake.
In order to maximize our ability to do this famous hike and many other great ones in the area, we decided to spend the weekend in El Chalten rather than do a day trip from El Calafate. However, as the weekend approached, the forecast called for rain all day the entire time except for 1 day of partially cloudy skies.
The initial rainy days came true, and the iconic peaks over El Chalten were not even visible due to the rain clouds. We had back-up hikes to make the most of these conditions, but we became increasingly worried we would not be able to see the peaks when doing the Laguna de Los Tres hike.
Luck was in our favor because the morning of our hike started out with primarily clear skies but Mount Fitz Roy was obstructed by clouds during the first half of the trek. We reached the Laguna de Los Tres viewpoint and as we chatted with other hikers, the remaining clouds disappeared offering perfect views.
My Additional Anecdote This Week
If you rush in Patagonia you will waste your time
I saw this quote on a sign and conceptually thought it made sense. After spending four weekends hiking in southern Patagonia, I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.
During our hikes in the national parks, we frequently started early and ended late. Our approach was to take in the views whenever we were impressed and talk to fellow hikers whenever good conversation came up. We always packed food, water, and additional clothing so that we could have flexibility to stay at memorable viewpoints or extend the day if the weather wasn’t cooperating.
The southern Patagonia national parks we visited of Tierra del Fuego, Torres del Paine, and Los Glaciares were truly incredible. We covered many miles in these parks and were passed by many more hikers during our time on the trails. Rather than remembering how many hours it took to finish the hikes, what I will never forget are the experiences I had on the treks that were made possible by going at a leisurely pace.