Laguna de Los Tres

Lagoon de los Tres, Santa Cruz, Argentina

See our full list of Where to Go in 2015. A full day hike from El Chalten and back will lead you to one of the most beautiful vistas in Los Glaciares National Park - Laguna de Los Tres in front of Mount Fitz Roy. This is a pleasant hike through valleys but there is a steep climb up the end that you must be prepared for! It is a 400 m climb up switchbacks but the view is worth it. Pack a lunch so that you can sit and eat by the lake and enjoy your hiking accomplishments! More Information: http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/group-adventure-patagonia/

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Eat Lunch With the Best Views of Fitz Roy

See our full list of Where to Go in 2015. A full day hike from El Chalten and back will lead you to one of the most beautiful vistas in Los Glaciares National Park - Laguna de Los Tres in front of Mount Fitz Roy. This is a pleasant hike through valleys but there is a steep climb up the end that you must be prepared for! It is a 400 m climb up switchbacks but the view is worth it. Pack a lunch so that you can sit and eat by the lake and enjoy your hiking accomplishments! More Information: http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/group-adventure-patagonia/

Trekking up to Laguna De Los Tres

On our third day of our Patagonia trek, a late spring snowstorm had blanketed the valley. We did not have high hopes for seeing Fitz Roy from the Laguna but thought, “well, we’re here, might as well go up and see what we could see. Once above treeline, the panorama of the valley below as vast and gorgeous.

heading up to laguna de los tres

the snowstorm that had descended on us on our third day was thickening, and the wind was picking up, making thing treacherous on the icy path ... but we were close to the laguna. My trekking partner was not feeling enthusiastic about taking ‘one more turn, just around the corner’ but I chose to keep going just to see if it was indeed just around the corner. She took this photo of me as I headed up and I joked that this would’ve been the photo that’s she’d have to send to my mom if I wound up losing my footing and falling into a ravine.

The reward at the top of the mountain

The day started early, cold, grey and gloomy, with wind gusts and spitting sideways rain, but with a promise of better things to come in the form of a beautiful rainbow over the tiny village of El Chaltén inside the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares in the Patagonia region of Argentina. We found the trail head for the famous Laguna de Los Tres hike, and after miles of meandering through prehistoric Patagonian beech forests along the Río Blanco, we passed the beautiful cool blue Piedras Blancas glacier, then trekked through open fields with pouring rainwater soaking us and accumulating on the trails. We crossed over the pristine icy cold river on a simple log footbridge, the rain stopped, and the clouds moved away. With a final exhausting push straight up a rocky mountainside, we were rewarded with a stunning view of the bluest blue glacial lake, fed by glaciers and backed by three snow covered mountains, including the imposing peaks of Mount FitzRoy. With the weather forgotten as the sun shone, we took in the incredible views in all directions. As we worked our way back down the mountain, we stopped for lunch in a sheltered mountain meadow with a view of the peaks and the river valley far below, and found tiny fuzzy baby birds being ushered around the grasses and ponds by their protective mother.

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