gapyearwithgrace.com

If Patagonia is on your bucket list, it’s for good reason. Patagonia is one of the most incredible places I have ever had the opportunity to visit.

How I ended up traveling to Patagonia

Going on the heels of covid lockdown, Patagonia was faraway land I had heard about through my father’s fly fishing stories and climbing magazines. As a long time rock climber, I was, like so many others, drawn to the beautiful peaks beckoning to be climbed.

My trip to Patagonia occurred as a result of the most wonderful chain of events. In the interest of brevity, I’ll summarize quickly. My friend that I met on safari in Tanzania called me in November 2020, still in the height of a global shutdown, to tell me she won (!!) a trip to Antarctica. I distinctly remember thinking how etherial that sounded as it was difficult to imagine at that time going anywhere outside of the office, the grocery store, and wilderness I am surrounded by, not to mention the bottom of the earth.

She wanted me to go with her. A longer story short and a cancelled trip later, I secured the blessing from my workplace for an extended vacation. While en route to the southern end of world, I thought I must see part of Patagonia: the incredible land of rock climbing, trail hiking, fly fishing, and more.

The week I was scheduled to depart for an almost one week stay in El Chaltén, Argentina and an almost two-week cruise to Antarctica, the Antarctica portion of the trip was cancelled. Covid.

For months I had been working to arrange for my absence at work. I had secured my time off and at that time it was quite needed. My reaction to the news was understated. There were already plans to leave town. I had arranged my trip to El Chaltén, secured a climbing guide, and had no intention of cancelling that part of the trip. I thought about the stories of cruise ships turning around, leaving passengers without ever having seen Antarctica. There were also those who contracted covid or were exposed to it and spent the trip isolated in their tiny room. No problem with a reschedule I thought. I can wait another year.

In the end, I show up in El Chaltén in the height of tourist season, with almost three weeks available and one week of plans. To say that the guide company, and my guide especially, helped me overcome my lack of accommodations and plans is a complete understatement as accommodations were basically nonexistent. Through a combination of much effort on the part of my guide, his wife, his colleagues, and his friends, as well as some luck, I was able to stay in El Chaltén for the entire trip. For this, I will forever be grateful.

I’m not sure I will ever have the words to adequately describe the physical place nor amazing the experiences I was so fortunate to have. To understand, you’ll have to go see for yourself.

While you’re there, I encourage you to try these unique experiences described below.

Getting to Patagonia (El Chaltén, Argentina)

One reason to love Patagonia so much is the commitment it takes to get there. From my home in the United States, it took almost two full days. Granted, while I have a several hour drive to the airport, it is still quite the journey regardless. The journey is part of what makes this location such a special place to visit.

To get there, I flew into Buenos Aires. The first trip, I had to transport from the international airport to the domestic airport by taxi, though oftentimes this isn’t necessary. I then flew to El Calafate on Aerolíneas Argentinas. I arrived in El Calafate in the evening so I decided to stay a night there. If you have time, you can take a day trip to see Perito Moreno glacier.

From El Calafate the next morning, I took a bus, which I reserved in advance, to El Chaltén. You can take a taxi as well, which I did the second time, but here is why I loved the bus. When I reserved my bus ticket, ultimately deciding to use Taqsa, I booked the front row seat of the top deck of a double decker. The views from that seat are second to none and were better than when I took a taxi.

Rock Climbing and Mountaineering

The rock climbing in Patagonia is world class. Climbers from all over the world travel to El Chaltén to climb the beautiful peaks. If you aren’t a rock climber but you want to try rock climbing, you have options. I would encourage you to check out the previously mentioned guide company I used for several adventures during both of my trips: Patagonia Ascent. When they aren’t guiding in the mountains, Patagonia Ascent offers guided services for climbing in town. The climbing in El Chaltén is easily accessible and it’s a great way to try rock climbing as you are also rewarded with some of the most spectacular views along the way.

If you have experience rock climbing and are looking for something more adventurous, reach out to them about their guided experiences. Beyond rope climbing or bouldering in and near town, you can choose from a long list of options such as Aguja Guillaumet, Aguja Poicenot, and even Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The three owners are all internationally certified guides and collectively have decades of experience climbing and guiding in Patagonia and other parts of the world.

Similarly, if you prefer mountaineering, Patagonia Ascent offers guided experiences. While I have never skied, this team also specializes in guiding backcountry skiing. You can enjoy that experience in and around the winter season. Each of these experiences (climbing, mountaineering, and skiing) are featured at the top of their website.

The Cerro Crestón Experience

The Cerro Crestón experience is more like a collection of experiences and you can customize what you would like to do and for how long. The Cerro Crestón experience with Patagonia Ascent can be customized as a day trip or a multi day trip. If you choose the multi day option, you get to stay in a remote, off the grid location in a luxury hut. This was one my favorite experiences. The company will transport you to a trailhead and you then make a short hike through the magical woods passing an impressive waterfall along the way.

Do you want the unique experience of trekking over a glacier? Or maybe you would prefer to hike and enjoy the view of it. You can choose either option with the Cerro Crestón experience.

When you arrive to the accommodations, you will find there are actually three huts: the dining hut, the bath facilities, and a sleeping hut. It’s impressive that this site was almost entirely developed by individuals hauling the materials by hand. There was the occasional donkey or two that helped with hauling the wood stove, for example. However, most everything else, including all of the beautiful wooden flooring was carried by the company’s owners and others.

The food provided was delicious and the accommodations very comfortable. While I was there intending to summit Cerro Crestón, others were there to hike and/or experience the glacier. It is such an amazing way to experience the vast remoteness of Patagonia without committing to some of the more intense experiences Patagonia is known for.

Horseback Riding

Another not to miss experience is horseback riding. The company I chose for this experience was Estancia Bonanza. Similar to Patagonia Ascent, this company offers many experiences and they are relatively customizable. Estancia Bonanza offers beautiful accommodations, delicious food in their restaurant, horseback riding, mountain biking, and a vía ferrata.

You can book the horseback riding experience by walking to their office in town or online. I walked to their office in town and found that the next evening they had available a horseback riding plus dinner experience which sounded lovely so I booked right away. While there were a few couples, I wasn’t the only solo traveler so I was able to enjoy dinner with new friends. If you are traveling solo, do still consider this experience.

In fact, the experience was so enjoyable that I returned for a daytime ride plus lunch experience with my friend who visited for part of the trip. After enjoying views of the dramatic and contrasting landscape we enjoyed a rich five course meal.

Conclusion

There are so many reasons to visit Patagonia and so many things to do once you are there. These are just three of what I would consider to be your more unique options. While in and around El Chaltén, you can hike, camp, kayak, mountaineer, rock climb, paraglide, ice climb, glacier trek, or simply admire the surroundings before then trying the delicious restaurants and ice cream at the Heladería Domo Blanco.

Also, if you use guide companies when you travel, you understand how the level service provided can really make or break your experience. I like to write about the guide companies I have been so pleased with as the companies and guides were instrumental in making the experience that much more impactful. The company I used for safari in Tanzania and my trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro as well as Patagonia Ascent in and around El Chaltén were both responsible were creating unforgettable experiences.

My trips to Patagonia were filled with such unique experiences, full of adventure and surrounded by a beautiful but intimidating and remote landscape. I will have to write about it over a series of posts. Patagonia was similar to my trip to Nepal in that I cannot seem to put to words just how, or how much, it impacted me. Patagonia has some unexplainable magic and I hope you have the chance to experience it for yourself.