The VAT
– Patagonia Wild Trails
is the most popular program
for those active passengers
who enjoy intense trek, but
are not interesting in
climbing or risky activities
and do not need technical
skills.
We travel across the two
National Parks which are the
Patagonia jewels. In Torres
del Paine in Chile we trek
its famous W Circuit. In Los
Glaciares we trek the Fitz
Roy area near El Chalten,
and as an impressive plus,
we trek one day over the
Torre Glacier and visit the
Perito Moreno Glacier.
We use campsites to stay
inside the National Parks,
where we transport all the
necessary equipment and
personal passengers’
luggage.
You should be in good
physical condition to trek
seven daily hours on average
at gentle pace and enjoy
camps.
DAY
/ ITINERARY
01
El
Calafate
Airport
– El
Calafate
02
El
Calafate -
El Chalten
03
Piedra
del Fraile
04
Rio
Blanco, De
los Tres
Lagoon
05
Madre
e Hija
Lagoon,
Torre Mount
06
Glacier
Trek on the
Torre
Glacier
07
Pliegue
Tumbado,
Toro Lagoon
08
Paso
del Viento
09
Tunel
River, El
Chalten
10
El
Chalten –
El Calafate
11
El
Calafate –
Perito
Moreno
Glacier
12
El
Calafate –
Torres del
Paine
13
Las
Torres –Ascensio
River Valley
14
Las
Torres –
Los Cuernos
Refuge
15
Frances
Valley–Pehoe
Refuge
16
Grey
Glacier
Valley –
Pehoe Refuge
17
Pehoe
Lake
Navigation -
Salto Grande
- Camping
Pehoe
Day
1 El Calafate Airport – El Calafate
We receive you at El Calafate Airport, and
transfer to El Calafate town, where at 7 pm
the group will have a meeting at Hostel del
Glaciar Pionero salon. You will meet our
Guide, converse about the details of our
trip and enjoy our first dinner together. Lodge at Hostel Room with private
bathroom
Meals Included: dinner
Day
2 El Calafate - El Chalten
After breakfast we will transfer to El
Chalten, a little and colorful town next to
Mount Fitz Roy. We cross 190 km of gravel
road through the patagonia steppe and we
stop at La Leona, a picturesque inn to enjoy
his homemade cakes. From here, the views on
the Viedma Lake are superb. El Chalten is
located on the edge of Los Glaciares
National Park in the surroundings of the
Fitz Roy Mount. Lodge at Hostel Room with shared
bathroom
Meals Included: breakfast
Day
3 Piedra del Fraile
Today we start our trek in the Los Glaciares
National Park. A short transfer takes us to
the Rio Electrico, where we start our trek
through forest to Piedra del Fraile. Leaving
our packs here we continue trekking the Rio
Electrico Valley for 2 hours and then
ascending 1 hour to see the Fitz Roy Mount
(3441 metres/11.289 ft) north face and a
view of the impressive Marconi Glacier. From
there we return to Piedra del Fraile Full
Camp. Lodging in Full Camp at Piedra del
Fraile double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
4 Rio Blanco, De los Tres Lagoon
Today we follow the Rio Blanco valley to the
lake of Piedras Blancas where we have an
impressive view of the hanging Piedras
Blancas Glacier. In the afternoon, having
left our packs at camp, we ascend the
frontal moraine to De Los Tres Lagoon for a
stunning view of Fitz Roy Mount. Lodging in Full Camp at Capri Lagoon
double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
5 Madre e Hija Lagoon, Torre Mount
This morning we start trekking along the
shore of Laguna Madre and Lagoon Hija until
reach Bridwell base camp at Torre Mount area.
Torre Mount (3128 metres/10.262 ft) with its
needle shaped peak is a major challenge for
best climbers. We trek along the northern
side of Laguna Torre, feeded by the Fitzroy
river. From here we get astonishing views of
Torre Mount. Lodging in Full Camp at Bridwell
double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
6 Glacier Trek on the Torre Glacier
Today, weather permitting, we perform an
impressive, exceptional activity. You will
walk and climb on the legendary Torre Mount
Glacier, with its granite walls just behind
you. All necessary equipment (rope, harness,
crampons, ice-axe) and expert guidance are
provided. In order to access the glacier we
have to make a Tyrolean crossing of the
river. This is done by clipping a little
seat onto a fixed rope over the river and
pulling yourself, or being pulled, across. Lodging in Full Camp at Bridwell
double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
7 Pliegue Tumbado, Toro Lagoon
Today we cross the Fitz Roy river using once
again the Tyrolean traverse. We trek through
the forest, then we climb 700 meters (2300
ft) to the ridge which connects the summits
of the Pliegue Tumbado. The landscape of the
Fitzroy group and the Rio Tunel Valley is
breathtaking. Lodging in Full Camp at Laguna Toro
double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
8 Paso del Viento
Today we trek toward the Paso del Viento
(Pass of the Wind, 1550 meters/5085 ft) with
the fabulous Continental Ice Field view and
the Mariano Moreno ridge inside it. We
depart from the Toro Lagoon, and getting
views of the Tunel Glacier and the river
with the same name. It’s a demanding, but
hugely rewarding trekking day. We trek 6-7
hours approx until return to the forest
where we camp. Lodging in Full Camp at Laguna Toro
double base (rural area)
Meals Included: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner
Day
9 Tunel River, El Chalten
We return trekking down to El Chalten,
hiking on the Tunel River east shore. We
descend through forest, enjoying the
panorama. We arrive to El Chalten at
evening. Lodge at Hostel Room with shared
bathroom
Meals Included: breakfast and lunch box
Day
10 El Chalten – El Calafate
We stay freely this day at El Chalten,
resting and enjoying the small town, until
travel by bus from El Calafate around 5 pm.
It’s a 4 hour bus transfer and we arrive
to have our dinner and to lodge at our
hostel. Lodge at Hostel Room with private
bathroom
Meals Included: breakfast
Day
11 El Calafate – Perito Moreno
Glacier
After breakfast we depart by bus to the
Magallanes peninsula, where is located the
entrance of The Glaciers National Park. Its
centerpiece is the Perito Moreno Glacier,
which, because of unusually favorable local
conditions, is one of the world’s few
advancing glaciers. Huge icebergs from the
glacier wall collapse into the De los
Tempanos Channel. The roar of the gigantic
ice rocks falling and crashing into the
waters of the channel is a unique
experience.
Our bus will lead us just in front of the
Glacier, allowing us to walk the gangplanks
to view the Glacier from different
viewpoints.
Then we go down to the lakeside to board a
ship that carries us very near the Glacier
ice walls. We return to El Calafate using a
different route that we used to arrive. Lodge at Hostel Room with private
bathroom
Meals Included: breakfast
Day
12 El Calafate – Torres del Paine
We depart afternoon from El Calafate, until
reach with legendary 40 Route, where we turn
toward the south for 70 kilometers of rubble
way. About 3 hours later we arrive to the
border between Argentina and Chile (Cancha
Carrera- Cerro Castillo Pass). Before
complete the custom procedure, we continue
for 2 hours more driving on a well
maintained rubble way, now with the Torres
Massif in our landscape.
We stop a couple of times to take panoramic
pictures and to observe bunches of
“guanacos”. Finally we arrive to the
Torres del Paine National Park by Amarga
Lagoon. It’s a total of 6 hours transfer,
until our Full Camp at Camping Las Torres. Lodging in Full Camp at Camping Las
Torres double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Meals Included: dinner
Day
13 Torres –Ascensio River Valley
This day is dedicated to one of the most
classical and amazing treks of the Park: the
trail toward the Paine’s Towers. After
breakfast we cross a hanging bridge and
remount the Almirante Nieto Mount path,
going on the border of Ascencio River. After
one hour we go into the valley, until arrive
to Chileno Refuge.
The trail slopes down into an impressive
forest where you get unforgettable
landscapes. We reach Las Torres Base Camp
where the mountaineers wait, sometimes for
months, the appropriate weather conditions
to climb the Torres Viewpoint, an amazing
natural amphitheater at the bottom of the
vertical granite towers that reach 2800
meters height. We return by the same way.
It’s a total 7-hour trek. Lodging in Full Camp at Camping Las
Torres double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
14 Las Torres –Los Cuernos Refuge
Today we start the two days Nordenskjold
crossing, that lead us to the Full Camp at
Refugio Pehoe, with one night spent at Los
Cuernos Refuge.
Before breakfast we prepare our backpack
with only the needed for the next two days
traverse: some clothes, the box lunch and
the camera. We pack the rest of the luggage
that will be transfer by our bus to the
Refugio Pehoe Full Camp, where we’ll find
it again.
We walk by the Nordenskjold lake north
shore. Three hours later we will be arriving
to Los Cuernos Refuge. Lodging in a Full Camp at Los
Cuernos Refuge (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
15 Valle Frances –Pehoe Refuge
We start our trek early in the morning,
arriving two hours later at the start of the
Frances Valley. It’s a beautiful valley
descending from the massif to the
Nordenskjold Lake, outflanked by the
imposing Paine Grande Mount, (3050 meters
height) on the west side. We remount the
valley until the upper viewpoints,
surrounded by the most impressive peaks of
the massif: Cuernos, Espada, Mascara, Hoja,
Aleta de Tiburon, Catedral, and Paine
Grande. The forest and the suspended
Glaciers producing continuous ice and snow
fallings give a spectacular frame to this
walk.
We return descending the valley until reach
the Skottberg Lake, and arriving at our Full
Camp at Refugio Pehoe at the end of the day,
where our luggage will be waiting for us. We
trek 9 hours this demanding day. Lodging in Full Camp at Refugio
Pehoe double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
16 Grey Glacier Valley – Pehoe
Refuge
Another unforgettable day dedicated to the
Grey Glacier, impressive Glacier 300 square
kilometers of surface (115 square miles), 25
kilometers long (16 miles). It overflows
from the Continental Ice Field falling into
Grey Lake. The Glacier produce enormous
amount of blue icebergs that sail over the
lake pushed by the wind toward the south,
given the characteristic feature to this
lake.
The trail leads us to a wonderful viewpoint
where we can appreciate the whole lake, the
glacier and the mountains that emerge from
the west of the Ice Field.
Two more hours walking and we arrive to
another viewpoint just in front of the
Glacier.
All the trek is develop between Andean bush
and lengas forest, at the shadow of the ice
blocks that drape the Paine Grande Mount. We
walk this day about 8 hours with ups and
downs. This day is exigent as the last one. Lodging in Full Camp at Refugio
Pehoe double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
17 Pehoe Lake Navigation - Salto
Grande - Camping Pehoe
We have breakfast later than usual to
recover from the last two-day efforts. In
the afternoon, with our luggage packed, we
cross Pehoe Lake on a catamaran towards
Pudeto, where we continue by land
transportation to our Full Camp located at
Camping Pehoe.
After lunch at Campsite we visit Salto
Grande and walk a 45 minutes trails to get
the Nordenskjold Lake beaches, where we have
a wonderful view of the entire path we have
walked the days before. Lodging in Full Camp at Camping
Pehoe double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
18 Grey Lake - Camping Pehoe
We use this day to visit the west side of
the Park. We pass an easy trail by the Grey
Lake south shore, plenty of icebergs, and
ascending to the Ferrier viewpoint with wide
landscapes over the entire Park. Lodging in Full Camp at Camping
Pehoe double base (area with sanitarium
services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and
dinner.
Day
19 Torres del Paine – Puerto
Natales - El Calafate
In the morning we start our land transfer
from Torres del Paine to Puerto Natales,
where we visit and enjoy the city.
Then we continue being transfered by regular
bus crossing the border to reenter
Argentina. Our guide will say us goodbye
when we board the Bus at Puerto Natales. We
arrive to El Calafate at the end of this day
where another person will be waiting for us
and transfer us to the Hostel. Lodge at Hostel Room with private
bathroom
Meals Included: breakfast
Day
20 El Calafate - El Calafate Airport
After breakfast we transfer to El Calafate
Airport where we end our services.
Meals Included: breakfast
Bilingual Spanish-English guides during all
the program’s activities.
Mountain Guides during the trekking
activities.
Perito Moreno Glacier Excursion including
Navigation.
Transfer El Calafate Airport – El Chalten
– Puerto Natales– Torres del Paine –
Puerto Natales - El Calafate – El Calafate
Airport.
19 breakfasts, 14 lunch boxes and 14
dinners, as detailed in the chart below.
The VAT – Patagonia
Wild Trails is offered in the
following chart accommodation scheme
DAYS
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Hostel Room with private bathroom
Hostel Room with
shared bathroom
Full Camp
In towns we lodge using
hostel rooms, between double and quadruple
base, sharing the room with same sex
passengers, all of them belonging to our
groups.
At El Chalten we use similar hostels but
with shared bathrooms.
When camping we sleep in double base big
tents.
In the Chalten area, when camping there
aren’t showers. We warm and use the lagoon
and river water to clean ourselves. We use a
bathroom tent.
In Torres del Paine camps there are public
bathrooms with warm water showers.
Full Camp is a camp previously mounted with
wide igloo type tents we use in double or
single base. Inside it each passenger has
high mountain sleeping bags, individual
sheets and insulating mattresses. The Full
Camp counts with dining room tents, table,
benches and complete kitchen with a cook in
charge.
Cartage Service.
Carrying equipment and luggage.
We provide the Cartage Service carrying the
passengers personal luggage and sleeping
bags, with the exception of the trek before
and after Los Cuernos refuge, were each
passenger will carry their own sleeping bag,
or decide to rent one at the refuge.
The passengers carry a daily light pack
(raincoat, box lunch, water, sunglasses,
camera). We carry 15 kg of luggage for each
passenger, in the same way as the equipment
is transported.
Meals
Meals included in the program are detailed
in the following chart.
DAYS
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Breakfast
Lunch Box
Dinner
Is this tour for me?
To get the most out of this tour you should
be in good physical condition.
We have classified this trek as intense.
Previous technical skills on trekking are
not necessary, because this program is not
technically difficult. We trek approximately
six to nine hours on same days, at gentle
pace, with intermediate stops. The treks
involve several ascents and descents (some
long and steep). Previous experience of
walking and camping in remote areas would be
beneficial, because we use extensively camp
sites.
Altitude
We do not go above 1500 meters/4920 ft. In
fact it’s one of the strong points of this
trip, you can trek wonderful mountains
trails without have to reach high altitude.
Nevertheless, the strong winds which
periodically affect Patagonia during the
summer months can make walking much more
strenuous.
More Explanations
Camino Abierto retains the right to change
the itinerary or to suspend some of the
activities when some climatic cause or other
cause of any other nature justifies it in
favor of the security of each member of the
group.
Meeting Point
The Meeting Point for the Group on Day 1 is
at 7 pm at the Hostal del Lago Libertador,
Del Libertador 587, El Calafate. This
Meeting Point can be modified and will be
confirmed when confirming the booking for
the passenger.
Services
Not Included
Entrance ticket to Los Glaciares National
Park
Entrance ticket to Torres del Paine National
Park
Medical and Life Insurance
Tips
Air flight tickets and Airport fees and
taxes
Services not detailed in the program
