Situated just over 20km south of Pucón is the Villarrica National Park and its most prominent feature, the three volcanos that cross the Andes. The main cone of the three is the smoking Volcán Villarrica with the others being Quetrupillán and Lanín behind it when looking from Pucón.

I’d originally planned to walk the Villarrica Traverse, a 6-day hike starting on one side of Volcán Villarrica and around the southern base of both Villarrica and Quetrupillán to a small town called Puesco on the other side of the National Park. But after waiting for days for the late autumn rain to clear for an extended time, I unhappily cancelled my plans. While I don’t mind walking in the rain for short periods, walking in the rain at a temperature of 2 degrees celsius is not something I really enjoy doing.

So, I decided to do the most popular and busiest attraction of the Parque Nacional, climbing to the crater of the 2,800m snowcapped top of Volcán Villarrica.

I was up at 5.30am for a 6.30am pick up. Breakfast was supplied by my hostel, who was also providing beer and a BBQ afterwards, all included in the price. We were taken to another hostel and provided with the gear for the climb. I opted for my own boots, but took everything else – including crampons and an ice ax. We were then driven along the pot holed dirt roads up the volcano to the ski resort at the base of the climb.

We unloaded form the bus and gathered for the talk. We’d be walking to the base of the snow cap and stopping, waiting for the guides to check the wind speed and determine if we could continue.

The climb would be in four parts, the last being the snow cap. We set off along the steep lower face of the volcano, the scree and dirt being soft and slightly difficult to climb. As we climbed, we split into groups, the younger group, the two larger American ladies, and me. There’s a reason I call myself the Lone Trail Wanderer, I like to walk alone in the serenity of nature and the quiet. The young group just yabbered away the entire climb and the less fit american girls quickly dropped back.

In the quiet, I climbed the steep trail, zig-zagging up the side of the mountain, and trying not to be blown over by the wind, which was gusting rather strongly, blowing dust and pebbles around me. Up ahead, I saw one of the young crowd stumble in the wind and nearly lose her footing. Looking back, the lake below could be seen, and the volcanoes to the south, while sitting below the sun, and while not making good photos, still looked amazing.

We continued walking and climbed along a gully of rocks out of the wind and took some respite before topping the ridge and heading towards the first stop, the top of a ski lift and a large wooden building, again out of the wind. We stopped for a rest and some photos before heading on. The next stop, an old burnt out ski lift building a little further up. Just before we left, the two larger girls finally arrived wondering why they had decided to climb the mountain – in words I won’t repeat here.

The next stage was easier and again I let myself drop back to walk in the quiet again, we walked behind a ridge for most of the way, so enjoyed the lack of wind ripping at us. We stopped at old burnt out brick lift house but didn’t go in.

The third leg became steeper again and the volcanic sands made each step harder. I again drifted back from the ongoing and incessant chatter from the other group. There was no sight of the american girls behind us and I would later discover they hadn’t gone past the second stop. We came to the base of the snow cap and were briefed on the next stage. On went the warmer clothes, the gaiters, and out came the crampons and ice axe. The guides then climbed the ice shelf to test the wind. 10 minutes later they returned to tell us that the wind was blowing 80km/hr and it wasn’t safe to continue further. Okay, no problems, they knew what they were doing, so all good. This led to half of the group arguing with the guides for the next half an hour, trying to persuade them to take them anyway. Eventually, the guides were persuaded, but I decided it more prudent to not go. The views were amazing though, although I discovered that the lens of my camera had failed. It had been giving me grief much of my trip. Time to buy a new one…

The four of us who hadn’t gone waited for 30 more minutes in the icy wind for them to return, but when they didn’t, we headed down. Down was very quick. Because of the volcanic sands, you could slide each step and when running you skidded down rather quickly. Back at the first chair lift building we collected the two American girls and continued down, arriving at the base soon after to wait for the other climbers. They arrived an hour later and we all were back in the bus and heading back to Pucón for beer and BBQ.

It was a shame we couldn’t get right to the top – even the four that tried didn’t make it because of the clouds rolling in quickly. But the weather rules supreme in Patagonia and you must bow to its might.

The Trail Wanderer

Across the border and about 8 hours by bus north of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is a small town called El Chalten. El Chalten is inside the north end of Parque Nacional los Glaciares and is the only way to walk around Mt Fitz Roy. If there was no Mt Fitz Roy, there’d be no El Chalten.

There’s also no actual hike called ‘The Triangle’, it’s purely name I gave it, because the 3-day hike is, well, a triangle. The walk itself isn’t especially difficult and most days are rather short. But, much like the Overland Track in Tasmania, it’s the side tracks that allow you to adjust its difficulty.

Day 1 – El Chalten to Campamento Poincenot

The wind was fairly brisk as I headed out of my hostel. And because the hostel doesn’t provide breakfast – a first for me so far this trip – I stopped at a nice little cafe/bakery down the road. Then, late in the morning, I set out towards the northern start point of the hike. You can start the triangle from both ends, but I chose the northern end because, well, I wanted to.

I found the entrance to the parque fairly easily and followed the trail up the hill beyond the sign. The trail heads up and around Cerro Rosado, a small rocky mound just over 800m above sea level – El Chalten is 400m. I soon come to a rocky outcrop with a good view back to town.

Further on, I came to a mirador looking north along Rio de Las Vueltas and the mountains beyond with their light topping of overnight snow.

The trail continued on slowly climbing towards the plateau. After a time I arrived at a sign announcing a fork in the trail. One way leads to Mirador Mt Fitz Roy while the other to Laguna Capri, then both meet again on the other side. I walked to the lookout but much of the mountains were covered in cloud.

It did looked like the sky was clearing so I went for a short walk to kill some time. After hearing a tapping sound I discovered a pair of black and red woodpeckers hammering away at some old trees. I stopped to watch for a bit and when I returned to the mirador the mountains were a little clearer, but not much. I headed on down the trail and found a spot out of the wind to have lunch. By the time I was ready to leave, only the main spire was covered in cloud.

Not far along the trail I found the fork back to Laguna Capri and went to check it out.

I then headed on towards the campsite, following Arroyo del Salto.

I crossed the plateau and rounded the base of the hill under the spires. Shortly after, I arrived at camp and set up my tent. Still early afternoon, I went to check out one of the two main side trails from camp, I took the easier one and headed off down Rio Blanco towards Laguna Piedras Blancas. After about 30 minutes I found an obvious trail that led me over huge boulders to the laguna.

On the way back it started getting icy even before the sun had gone down. This means cold overnight, but usually clear skies in the morning. During the night I popped out of the tent to see the vastness of the stars and to check out the peaks at night.

Day 2 – Campamento Poincenot to Campamento De Agostini

It was cold overnight, but especially the last couple of hours before dawn, with the sun rising at 8.30am. By then I’d slept about 10 hours anyway. There’s not much to do on a hike after dark and going to sleep by 10 is considered late. In the cold, I emerged from my tent to take early morning pictures of the mountains before heading back to the warmth of my sleeping bag to brew coffee.

After breakfast, I packed but left my tent up and with my day pack, headed up the other side track, to Laguna de los Tres, under the towers of Mt Fitz Roy. The climb started in the forest near the camp but after the ‘climbers only’ camp at Campamento Rio Blanco it turned rocky and stayed that way, climbing steeply for the rest of the half kilometre climb. About half way up, the trail started to turn to ice and I became more cautious with my steps, then three quarters of the way up, there was snow, but not huge amounts. I eventually arrived at the top and sat looking over the lake with the peaks towering over me. The lake is 1170m above sea level, while Mt Fitz Roy towers to 3405m.

After a while, I headed down and caught the view across the valley to Lago Viedma.

I stopped for lunch back at camp before packing up my tent. Thirty minutes later and I was following my steps across the plateau and taking the trail to the south. It was fairly flat and I walked past Lagunas Madre and Hija.

Then the trail dove into trees with the occasional grassy clearing. After 2 hours the trail headed steeply down into a valley to Rio Fitz Roy where I stopped for a break. Following the river, I came upon a fantastic view of Cordon Adela – The Adela mountain chain – in all it’s icy glory backing onto the South Patagonian Ice Field.

For the rest of the trail I walked steadily towards the cordon and finally arrived at Campamento de Agostini just short of Laguna Torre. The lake is fed by Glacier Grande that hangs from the bottom of the range. I pitched my tent and climbed up to look at the laguna, but with the sun hidden behind the mountains it was fairly dark.

Day 3 – Campamento De Agostini to El Chalten

Again it was icy in the last hours before dawn, so I brewed a coffee to keep warm. Then, I stood at a viewpoint waiting for the first rays of light to hit the Adela Cordon.

Once I’d seen it, I packed up and again left my tent. With my day pack I headed around the top of the laguna and climbed towards Mirador Maestri. On the way there were a couple of views of small waterfalls, but once I got to the mirador I was a little disappointed to find that it was just closer to the cordon than from the other side of the laguna. I did get better views of the laguna with light though.

I headed back to camp where I packed up my tent and headed out back along the trail. For the most part, following the rio, the trail was fairly flat. I passed the junction with the trail I’d come off yesterday and continued on flat beside the river. As I got closer to El Chalten, the trail began to climb a small set of hills to eventually arrive at a mirador looking back over the cordon. This was designed for day walkers to be able to see the mountains without doing the entire hike and is similar to the mirador near Laguna Capri. The trail headed over a couple of ridges before descending towards town.

Overall, the Mt Fitz Roy Triangle is an excellent short hike experience around some amazing mountains. It’s cheaper than Torres del Paine but still has plenty to see. There are slightly less day walkers, although that might be because it is the low season.

Next I’m heading back to Puerto Natales, where I board the Navimag ferry and cruise through the fjords heading my way up Patagonia to Puerto Montt.

The Lone Trail Wanderer