Cerro Torre Hike | El Chalten, Argentina

The hike

First, an apology. Unfortunately I left my camera battery in the charger in our room back in El Chalten, together with our second camera, so no photos unfortunately 🙁

1. From the centre of El Chalten, walk directly west for 5 minutes until you reach a steep earthern wall. There should be a few paths to choose from to get to the top. At the top you should find a sign marking the start of the hike to Lago Torre.

2. For about an hour the path will gradually rise, with the occasional steep section. Caution is required as the path veers towards some steep cliffs in sections.

3. After 1.5-2 hours you should arrive at a great lookout with a fantastic view up the river valley towards Lago Torre, Cerro Torre and Cerro Solo.

4. From this point the hike is fairly flat in most places, running parallel to the Rio (river) Fitz Roy with its many rapids, and intermittently passing through groves of fagus trees.

5. After a total of 3 hours walking you should arrive at Camp de Agostini. Toilets are located here, however I can honestly say that they were the most disgusting drop-toilets I have ever seen or smelt…and coming from Australia that is saying something!!

6. From Camp de Agostini it is only a 10 minute scramble up a rocky path to the edge of Lago Torre. Very pretty location with a glaciar located on the far side of the lake. Depending on the time of year there may be significant sections of ice, or icebergs floating in the lake. Perfect place to have lunch and start the walk back, finishing with a hot shower in El Chalten!

Final thoughts?

This walk took us around 6.5 hours in total, including morning tea at the first lookout and lunch at Lago Torre. You can probably add another 30 minutes or more if you’re a keen photographer, or if you just aren’t as fit as you used to be! For the most part this walk was fairly easy and a welcome relief if you happened to walk to Laguna de los Tres the previous day!

Reward-to-effort ratio = 7/10
Snake count = 0
Leech count = 0