Patagonia: Fitz Roy and the Torres

After a couple of days in Puerto Natales, we travelled overland from Chile across the border to the Argentinian region of Patagonia.

Blessed with yet more phenomenal weather provided the opportunity for an overnighter, an incredible sunrise on the iconic Fitz Roy range and clear vistas of Cerro Torre and Torre Egger.

A quick education on Argentinian economics

A quick history on the Argentinian economy is required here. While we already knew that Patagonia would be expensive, the Argentinian side of Patagonia was even more so. Exacerbated by political instability, a debt crisis and poor economic management, Argentina has seen an extended period of hyper inflation exceeding 100%, and up to 200% in recent years.

What used to be a cheap country to travel through, has in recent years become relatively unsustainable to travel in at length. the price differences between when Laura was in Argentina in 2019 and 2025 were huge; Laura was shocked. For comparison, prices were, all things being equal, more expensive than New Zealand (not sure if that’s a bad reflection on NZ or Argentina).

Spare a thought for the Argentinian citizens who have to weather this economic turmoil. While admittedly we were travelling during the shoulder season in the region, we saw many shops bordered up due to the erosion of spending in Argentina. Interestingly, most shops and restaurants do not display stickers prices, but rather digitally only so that the prices could be updated throughout the day to keep up with inflation. We also simply could not get cash out, none of the banks carried any cash reserves and there were queues daily.

Nevertheless, Patagonia was a region we wanted to explore and didn't want to miss. Especially the iconic Fitzroy range and Torres. So we managed to get by by stocking up on food in Chile before crossing the border and being frugal where we could. In hindsight, we actually managed to do Patagonia very "cheaply".

An alternative travel approach

After a quick layover in El Calafate, we pushed onwards to the small village of El Chaltén.

We took inspiration from our German friends Isabel and Alisa and tried our hand at hitchhiking the 220km from El Calafate to El Chaltén. Equipped with a Spanish vocabulary of 4 words across a remote stretch of Patagonia, we pressed on with the idea bolstered by our "she'll be right" Kiwi attitude and blind confidence.

After about an hour of waiting and plenty of smiles and waves, we eventually hitched a ride with an Argentinian truck driver heading east. With Laura in the passenger seat and me perched on his bed along with our bags we were on the road. Conversation was nil due to the language barrier, but we were entertained enough by his bare-footed and Gaucho-wearing appearance and his multitasking ability to smoke, text and drive simultaneously.

The ride only lasted to the next major intersection, then we were on the side of the road again. Just us and the Guanacos. Reality setting in. We waited for quite some time, with not much traffic coming by. After another almost-hour wait, we eventually hitched a ride from a young Israeli couple. An hour of learning about the Israeli culture, mandatory military service and a performance of Hebrew pop culture, we were again back on the side of the road. Bugger.

After waiting for more than an hour, Laura managed to convince a local bus operator to take us the rest of the way to El Chaltén. Heads down, we reluctantly (but really, very gladly) hopped aboard. Naturally, Isabel and Alisa hitched a ride with ease all the way from El Calafate to El Chaltén from an Australian who saw Laura and I, apparently thought we "looked friendly" and therefore picked them up. Easy for some!

El Chaltén - the epicentre of alpinism

El Chaltén is a charming little town nestled right under the towering Fitz Roy range. As you approach El Chaltén, from over 100km away, all you can see is the towering icon of Fitz Roy. El Chaltén is synonymous with exploration, mountaineering and alpinism, being the epicentre of world-firsts and iconic first ascents:

• Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia founder) took the third ascent of the iconic Fitz Roy summit in 1968 with his Fun Hogs climbing mates including Doug Thompkins (founder of The North Face and Patagonian conservationist) and thereafter named his company after the iconic peak, taking the Patagonia logo itself from the Fitzroy range's formidable outline.
• More recently, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell were the first to complete the full iconic Fitz Roy Traverse in one push, completing the route in 4 days.
• For those who have seen The Alpinist on Netflix, the incredible granite spire of Torre Egger, caked in a mushroom of rime ice, was the iconic peak that alluded Marc-André Leclrec, before he eventually returned and summited prior to his death.

If you can't tell, I’m a bit obsessed and have read many biographies and accounts of these expeditions. I was quite excited about getting to El Chaltén and being immersed by the scale and magnitude of these iconic peaks for myself.

Despite the average forecast, on day one, I went for a day walk with Isabel and Alisa up to the Loma Del Pliegue Tumbado lookout (23km and 1,300m) while Laura rested her knee. Expectedly, the views were nil. However, we got a nice view back towards Laguna Viedma and an appetite for what was to come, with the next few days' forecast looking good.

Fitz Roy overnighter

On Thursday we set out from El Chaltén for an overnighter in the national park, hoping to get up close to Cerro Torre and Torre Egger and then get across the park to see sunrise at Fitz Roy. An ambitious plan given the unpredictable and generally abhorrent weather in Patagonia.

A gentle cruise up the hill out of town and we were very soon in the presence of the dramatic snow-capped granite spires of Cerro Torre and Torre Egger. A stunning day with barely a cloud in the sky, we continued up to Lugana Torre. The dramatic aesthetic of the towers was incredible to admire up close.

We continued in t-shirts through the afternoon away from Laguna Torre towards Fitz Roy enjoying a calm cloudless afternoon with no wind (again, very unusual for the region).

We took camp at the Fitz Roy view point just past Laguna Madre. With our tents nestled in the undergrowth, foreshadowed by the towering Fitz Roy range we cooked dinner out in the afternoon glow and watched the sun set across the range, crossing our fingers for a clear sunrise.

Enjoying a sleep in (by sunrise standards) of 8am, we rolled out of our tents to the most incredible cloudless morning. Unique to the Patagonia region, as we experienced at Torre Del Paine, the sunrises in the region provide a magnificent orange glow, briefly illuminating the granite towers, superimposing the tower's brilliance on the surrounding landscape. Not a single cloud in the sky - we could not believe our luck.

We enjoyed a slow morning cooking breakfast and packing down camp before heading back down the hill to town. Satisfied and amazed.

Adiós Patagonia

After an incredible 10-days in the region on both the Chilean and Argentinian sides, it was time to say adiós to the spectacular landscapes of Patagonia and begin our journey north. Patagonia was one of our key destinations in planning our South American leg and it exceeded all expectations - we couldn't be more grateful.

Highlights of Patagonia:

• Friendly and hospitable locals who are always willing to help and share in the enjoyment of their beautiful region.
• Lovely well-natured street dogs.
• A simply stunning spectrum of landscapes and vistas from vast desert lands, glaciers, towers and snow-capped peaks exaggerated by the beautiful autumnal colours.
• Wild horses in the Patagonian countryside.
• How remote, untouched and preserved the area still felt and the appreciation of the locals and authorities to invest in keeping it that way.

Up next; we head north from the fjords, glaciers and peaks of Patagonia to the vast, bare and dry desert-lands of the Atacama desert in northern Chile before crossing the border overland into Bolivia.