Immediately after our 2019 bike tour in Chile, Betsy, Gordon, Mary, and I did three days of trekking in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park and another two days of trekking plus a day of glacier viewing in Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park. Our trekking tour was arranged by Cascada Expediciones, who did an amazing job of orchestrating the many shuttles, rooms, and guides in two different countries.
Our main motivation for going to Argentina was to see and trek to the base of the two most iconic Patagonian peaks: Monte Fitz Roy (11,171 ft) and Cerro Torre (10,262 ft). Fitz Roy was first climbed by Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone of France in 1952. The first undisputed ascent of Cerro Torre was by the “Ragni di Lecco” climbers in 1974.
We had incredibly good weather for the trekking tour as well as the earlier biking tour. We never got wet while biking or trekking in Chile; the few times that it rained were overnight or during shuttles. In Argentina we had sprinkles one morning, but even then, the sun broke through from time to time to give us rainbows. We had occasional wind, but many days were calm. It seems that March is a good time to do these tours.
Here is the itinerary for our trekking tour.
Day 1 (Tuesday, March 12): We shuttle from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales where we have lunch and meet Roberto Carlos, who will be our personal guide in Chile. We then continue our shuttle to EcoCamp where we spend the first of four nights in Torres del Paine National Park. We sleep in a luxurious suite loft dome.
Day 2 (Wednesday, March 13): We shuttle to Lago Pehoé and take a boat across the lake to the Refugio Paine Grande. We then trek 12 miles out and back to Mirador Francés (the French lookout). We spend the night camping in tents next to the refugio.
Day 3 (Thursday, March 14): We trek 8 miles to Glaciar Grey, take a boat across Lago Grey, and shuttle back to EcoCamp. We again sleep in our suite loft dome.
Day 4 (Friday, March 15): We trek 13 miles out and back to the base of the famous three towers for which the park is named. We spend one last night at EcoCamp.
Day 5 (Saturday, March 16): We shuttle to Cerro Castillo at the border with Argentina and take a public bus to El Calafate in Argentina. We have lunch there and then take another public bus to El Chaltén where we spend the first of two nights at Hostería Senderos.
Day 6 (Sunday, March 17): We meet Marcelo, our guide for the day and shuttle to El Pilar. We then trek along the Río Blanco, up to the base of Monte Fitz Roy, and then back to El Chaltén for a total of 14 miles.
Day 7 (Monday, March 18): We meet our second guide for a day and trek 14 miles out and back to the base of Cerro Torre. We then catch the public bus back to El Calafate where we spend the first of two nights at Hostería Los Hielos.
Day 8 (Tuesday, March 19): We shuttle to and from Glaciar Perito Moreno where we hike a little and ride a boat on Lago Argentino to the face of the glacier.
Day 9 (Wednesday, March 20): We fly from El Calafate to the domestic airport in Buenos Aires, shuttle to the international airport, and catch our overnight flight back to the US.
Photos and commentary follow.
Day 1 (Tuesday, March 12): In the morning I go for a walk around Punta Arenas and see this nice monument commemorating the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s passage through his eponymous strait. It is 2019, so the monument is a bit premature 🙂 
We take a long shuttle from Punta Arenas to EcoCamp in Torres del Paine National Park. Near the end we see rheas, such as this one. 
We also see guanacos, which are the wild ancestors of the domesticated llamas. 
Later in our tour we see foxes, such as this one … 
and geese. These hungry chicks were watched over by their parents nearby. We could get close to most of the animals, since they seemed accustomed to being around people. 
We spend three nights at EcoCamp, which has three types of geodesic domes: standard domes for two, suite domes for four, and community domes as common areas. We sleep in a suite loft dome. Shown here is the Welcome Dome with two of the the famous Torres (or towers) in the background. EcoCamp is a special place in a stunning setting with helpful staff and outstanding food!
Day 2 (Wednesday, March 13): We begin the day with a boat ride across Lago Pehoé. The banding of the Cuernos (or horns) in the background is because light-colored granite intruded horizontally within the original, dark sedimentary rock. 
After we get off the boat at Refugio Paine Grande, we trek two of the five legs of the W trail to the French lookout (Mirador Francés). Along the way we cross some one-person suspension bridges. Here Mary starts across one in her colorful new Patagonian hat. When I miss a sign and join another trekker on such a bridge, we have some exciting oscillations! 
The out-and-back 12-mile trail to the lookout is harder than you might think because the trail is very irregular with a lot of rock scrambling. 
This is the view at the lookout. We see several avalanches come down while we are here! 
We spend the night in two tents next to Refugio Paine Grande. Betsy and I are happy campers, but Gordon and Mary are not so much. Mary says that the food service reminds her of Chadbourne Hall at UW-Madison 🙂
Day 3 (Thursday, March 14): We trek an easy 8 miles along a third leg of the W from Refugio Paine Grande to the end of Lago Grey below Glaciar Grey. Here Betsy and Mary head down to the lake. 
We then take a boat ride near the toe of the glacier to the other end of the lake to catch a shuttle back to EcoCamp. 
During our shuttle, the views of the Paine Massif are spectacular! Cerro Paine Grande (9,462 ft) is the high point on the left, while the Cuernos are right of center. Paine (PIE-nay) means “blue” in the local Indian language and is the color of the mountains from a distance. 
Here is another view across Lago Pehoé. On the island is Hosteria Pehoé, which is only connected to land by a footbridge.
Day 4 (Friday, March 15): We do a fourth leg of the W from EcoCamp to the base of the towers on our third and last day of trekking in Chile. Most of this 13-mile out-and-back trek is along a good trail above the Rio Ascensio. We start in the dark and have the trail to ourselves when the sun comes up. 
The last part of the approach is a steep climb up a terminal moraine that brings us to this great view of the three towers above a small lake. The south tower on the left is the highest (8,204 ft) and was the last to be climbed. A team of Italians made the first ascent in 1963. 
As we head back down the trail, it is full of climbing trekkers that remind us of ants! 
Betsy crosses the Rio Ascensio one last time to conclude our trekking in Chile.
Day 5 (Saturday, March 16): Our first day in Argentina involves one shuttle and two public bus rides starting at 6:30 am and ending at 8:30 pm. We go from EcoCamp to Cerro Castillo at the border, then to El Calafate, and finally to El Chaltén, where we spend two nights. While waiting in El Calafate, we walk along the shore of Lago Argentino where we see these black-necked swans.
Day 6 (Sunday, March 17): Today begins with a short shuttle from El Chaltén to El Pilar. This allows a 14-mile point-to-point trek from there to the base of Monte Fitz Roy and then back to El Chaltén. We finally get wet from light sprinkles off and on during the morning. However, occasionally the sun comes out and treats us to a rainbow, such as this one. 
Along the way we encounter countless numbers of caterpillars, such as this one, feeding on the leaves of beech trees. 
After a few miles of easy trekking through the beech trees along the Rio Blanco, we come to a steep climb of over 1,000 ft. Fortunately the trail is very good, as shown here where Betsy nears its top. Lago Viedma is the large lake near the right horizon. 
Mary and our guide Marcelo top the moraine and are treated to this awe-inspiring view of the Fitz Roy massif and Laguna de los Tres. Unfortunately, the tops of the two highest peaks are shrouded in clouds: Fitz Roy is to the right of center, and Aguja Poincenot is left of center. We eat lunch and wait hopefully for the clouds to clear, but that never happens 😦 We leave knowing that we will have a chance for a more distant view of Fitz Roy the next day if the clouds clear. 
While taking in the view, we spy four condors circling high overhead! I take this picture of two of them using a point-and-shoot Canon with a 6x optical zoom.
Day 7 (Monday, March 18): Today we do a mostly out-and-back 14-mile trek from El Chaltén to the base of Cerro Torre. This is a much easier trek than the one we did the day before, because there is only a little climbing over low moraines. At this mirador (or viewpoint) along the trail, we get an encouraging view of Cerro Torre. It is the leftmost and highest of the three rock towers on the right, and only its very top is in a cloud. 
Further along the trail, we come upon a group of three giant woodpeckers. This one comes close enough for me to get a good picture. 
As we top the last moraine, we get this nice view of the peaks and glaciers above Laguna Torre, though the top of Cerro Torre is still in a cloud. 
We eat lunch and return to the first mirador to take in the view one last time. Above the right ridge, the elusive Fitz Roy finally appears along with Poincenot to its immediate left! However, the top of Cerro Torre is still not visible. 
After we arrive back in El Chaltén, we pack up with a little sadness and board the bus to take us back to El Calafate for our last two nights in Argentina. As the bus leaves town, we look longingly out the window, and the top of Cerro Torre is now clearly in view on the left! Thus we succeed in seeing the tops of both iconic peaks!
Day 8 (Tuesday, March 19): The last adventure day of our trekking tour does not involve a trek 🙂 Instead we spend a few hours watching icebergs calve from Glaciar Perito Moreno into Lago Argentino. This view from a hike we take shows the massive size of the glacier. 
To get even closer, we take a boat ride along the face of the glacier where it towers overhead. Every so often there is a loud “crack” as a block of ice breaks off the glacier and falls into the lake. We see several blocks fall along this more active part of the glacier. Since most of our time is spent waiting, Mary says that watching glaciers calve icebergs will never become an Olympic event 🙂
Wayne Pfeiffer 