TWO DAYS HIKING ADVENTURE IN PATAGONIA NATIONAL PARK

If you want to live a real experience  in Patagonia National Park from Chile Chico. Patagonia Huts offers a two-day hiking adventures in the wilder side of the park.

You will learn about the natural and cultural history of the area, actively enjoying the main sights, whatever your physical condition.

Trekkers can find solitude, all the challenging off-trail travel they can handle, plus wildlife, forest, mountains, and glacial lakes galore…In the park’s northern area, is the starting point for a challenging, unmarked, several-day loop across rivers (running fast and cold with glacial melt in spring), grasslands, bogs, and glacial passes that eventually travels through Valle Hermoso.

Backpacker Magazine.

 

GENERAL CARRERA – BUENOS AIRES LAKE

We start the trip at the top of Cerro Las Banderas in Chile Chico. The great staircase that many believe is a piece of the Chinese Wall lost in Patagonia.
From this viewpoint it is possible to interpret the natural and cultural history of this  territory: The formation of the lake, the landscape and stories of the particular border between Chile and Argentina in this spot.

CAVE PAINTINGS AND MOON VALLEY

We continue to the first entrance of the Park:  The Moon Valley Trail or “Circuito Cueva de las Manos –Valle Lunar”.  This is a hill  with a wide view of landscapes totally different from the frequent Patagonian ones.
We ascend a path that is physically demanding, but that everyone can do, to appreciate very special rock formations, older than the Andes mountain range, and very…very special cave paintings!

JEINIMENI LAKE – RALEIGH CAMP – LA GLORIA PASS

We continue driving besides the Jeinimeni River, the border between Chile and Argentina. Appreciating the transition from the steppe to the patagonian forest, stopping at a viewpoint to appreciate numerous birds in a protected wetland, in our way to the second entrance to the Patagonia National Park – Jeinimeni Lake.

Reaching the entrance, we walk through the Patagonian forests, surrounding the emerald-colored lake of glacial origin, whose drainage gives rise to the river of the same name. During the afternoon we arrive to Raleigh Camp where we eat and sleep in tents. The most active can tour the nearby lagoons and rivers and even fish for trout on the spot.

The next morning we ascend to the Valle Hermoso viewpoint, at Paso La Gloria. Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and recognized views of the Park.

This is the furthest point of our journey. Beginning our return until arriving at Campamento Ñandú in Chile Chico during the afternoon.

Patagonia Is a landscape that leaves me raw and exposed, where emotions well up inside me, stirring my spirit’s internal lust for adventure. I was honored to join Patagonia Huts for an epic excursion – If your looking for an adventure that will warm your heart, challenging your body & bring your internal compass back to the right course – look no further!

James Q. Martin