Christmas in Patagonia
Patagonia. A worldwide recognised clothing brand and top result on google. But that’s not the Patagonia I want to talk about today.
The original Patagonia spans an area of more than 1 million km2 (almost twice the area of France) across southern Chile and Argentina and is a region of unimaginably diverse landscapes. In the Patagonian summer (~October to March), tourists flock to this magical land to take advantage of the hiking season. However, as you’ve just read, Patagonia is a vast area and offers a huge variety of activities throughout all seasons whether that be skiing in Bariloche, wildlife watching in Tierra del Fuego or starting an adventure to Antarctica.
View of ‘Los Cuernos’ in the Torres del Paine National Park
Back in 2018 I was living and working in Chile and visiting Patagonia was a non-negotiable for me. However, what I didn’t anticipate was what a maze it would be to organise. With so many potential experiences, logistical considerations and the weather to consider it took a lot of planning. After scrolling through blogs, gathering information from friends who had visited and searching google top to bottom, I was captivated by the Torres del Paine National Park and created my version of the W Trek. The W Trek is one of Patagonia’s most iconic multi-day hikes. It typically takes between 4 to 5 days to complete the 76 km trail, passing the most mesmerising scenery of awe-inspiring glaciers, deep blue lakes and densely vegetated forests. It’s worth noting that the W trek can also be extended and take you to even more remote, rarely visited places, referred to as the O trek which covers a route of 110 km.
Arriving in the Torres del Paine National Park ready for 4 days of hiking
I definitely did an unconventional route given my frantic planning and visiting during one of the busiest times of year, Christmas. My first stop was a hike around Lake Nordenskjold before camping alone on Christmas Eve at the foot of the famous Torres del Paine, a pretty unforgettable experience. It is not permitted to wild camp in the national park, so it's important to make reservations ahead of time in your desired campsites/refuges. I was up early on Christmas day to start the most famous part of the W trek, up to the base of three ginormous granite spires aka. Las Torres. As I reached the top of the trail, snowflakes started to fall which blurred my view of the towers somewhat but it didn’t matter as I was swept up in the magic of my first white Christmas in years!
After making the descent, I spent another night in the Torres campsite, eating my Christmas dinner, a delightful tupperware of cold pasta I had prepared at my hostel in Puerto Natales (the stopping point before entering the national park) and chatting with other visitors. The next day I took a bus and then a ferry across the beautiful Lake Pehoe where I treated myself to a bed in the local refuge there. I did 2 day hikes from the refuge. One to Mirador Frances. Words cannot even describe the views - snowcapped spires in the distance with hanging glaciers feeding intensely blue water into the lakes below.
On my final day, I got up at 5am, to hike as far as I could in the limited time I had left, and ended up covering a cool 35km. Thankfully I reached the viewpoint I was aiming for overlooking the Glacier Grey before I had to rush back to catch the only ferry of the day. This day was one of the most fulfilling hikes of my life. Walking in solitude across high hanging bridges, forests and alongside the vast and creaking Glacier Grey will stay with me for a very long time
During my two week trip in the magical lands of Patagonia, I also visited the cute town of El Chaltén, an essential stop for any keen hiker or climber. From here I did two day hikes - to the Laguna Torre and the Laguna de Los Tres. The Laguna de Los Tres hike ends with a great view, if you’re lucky, of the famous Mount Fitz Roy which is the inspiration behind the Patagonia logo and high on the list for any experienced mountaineer. These incredible hikes deserve their own space and time so watch out for more blogs about my time in Patagonia. Eventually, Fit4 aims to offer group trips to Patagonia but if you can’t wait until then we are more than happy to help organise a private trip for you.
Laguna de los Tres hike