Hiking in Patagonia – The Easy Way Out
After a busy year of work I had the chance to take the whole month of November off of work to go wherever I pleased. The two places on the top of my travel list were Patagonia and Siberia. Given that it was winter in Siberia and summer in Patagonia I did the sane thing and began planning a hiking-centric trip to Patagonia. I even managed to get a friend to come along. However, I was faced with two issues. I didn’t have a lot of time or resources to plan the trip and my friend and I had different levels of hiking skills. So we took the easy way out and decided to join a hiking tour.
We picked a tour that spent considerable time in the two places I wanted to see most, Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile and Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina. This tour also included a few days in Los Glaciares National Park, which I had never heard of, but ended up loving.
Overall, my experience was positive. The most difficult thing I found was hiking with a group of people whose fitness level was varied. The tour recommended an “elevated level of fitness”, and everyone on the tour was reasonably fit, but the group ranged from a guy who cross country skied across glaciers to a few people who were older and shorter legged. That’s the thing about tour groups; you’re stuck with a random group of people you’ve never met. So there will be people you click with, and people who drive you nuts. In the end, I did less hiking than I would have if I had designed the trip myself, but I got to go places I would never have gone on my own, and I didn’t have to worry about logistics.
Though I didn’t have to worry about the logistics of this trip beyond getting to and from Buenos Aires, I did work out some plans for a future trip to Torres Del Paine which I will share. Taking a bus to the park from Buenos Aires (Argentina) or Santiago (Chile) is generally not recommended. The distances may not seem great, but it is a very, very long ride. On my tour we flew into El Calafate, Argentina and took a bus to Puerto Natales in Chile. The bus ride was very nice and not super long, though I can’t remember which bus company we took. When I go back, I think I will fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas, Chile. Flights to both cities are frequent and not insanely expensive. From Punta Arenas you can take a bus to Puerto Natales, and arrange a shuttle bus to the park. Puerto Natales is the gateway city to the park, and you can rent or buy gear there at not unreasonable prices. From here you can take an all day bus ride to Ushuaia (Tierra Del Fuego). There are also cruises, but they are pricey.
Los Glaciares National Park
The base town of Los Glaciares is El Chalten. It is a small resort town with many hotels, restaurants, and outfitters. Most hikes in the park begin just outside of town, no vehicle is needed.
We arrived later in the day to the park, and spent our first afternoon hiking to Cascada Del Salto (waterfall). It was quite nice, fairly easy, and gave me a chance to get to know my new tour mates.
On day two we hiked to one of the jewels of the park, the Laguna De Los Tres trail to a spectacular view of Cerro Fitzroy. This hike was a bit more taxing, as there was significant elevation gain to view point, but we all made it. We lucked out with sunny weather and had a relaxing lunch (ham and cheese sandwiches) near the frozen lake before heading back down. This hike can be combined with others to make an overnight hike.
Our third day in the park was a free day with optional activities. I chose an all day glacier walk and ice climbing expedition at nearby Viedma Glacier and could not have made a better choice. I had never ice climbed before, and must admit it wasn’t at the top of my to-do list, but it was so much fun. We lucked out with a small group of only six people, so we each got a lot of climbs in on three different set ups. After lunch (ham and cheese sandwiches of course) we went for a short trek over the glacier, and at a particularly scenic spot were treated to Baileys with glacial ice.
The main activity of our final day in our park was a guided tour of the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is particularly impressive as it is one of the few glaciers in the world that is not receding. We took a boat ride to one face of the glacier, then were bussed to the other face to view the glacier from a series of walkways. It was beautiful, though after a while I was a bit glaciered out.
Torres Del Paine
**Note: there was a fire in Torres Del Paine in December 2011 (after I was in the park) and I’m not sure on the condition of the trails.
Torres Del Paine is one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Patagonia. It is home to the infamous “W” and full circuit hikes. Alas, it was not my fate to do the full hikes on this trip, but we did a few arms of the W as day hikes based out of camp sites. I intend to come back and do the full circuit, hopefully next year. Logistically, you can hike the trails staying in campgrounds or refugios, some of which have dorm beds. The campgrounds we stayed in had cafeterias, though I don’t imagine that’s true of all of them.
We started off our first day with a short hike to Salto (waterfall) Grande and a boat ride across Lago Pehoe to our campground at Mountain Lodge Paine Grande. We quickly changed into our hiking boots and headed off on our first hike to, surprise surprise, another glacier. This time Grey Glacier. The hike was moderate and the glacier was very nice. We arrived back our camp to find our tents had been magically set up for us and dinner was ready at the cafeteria. A good first day and I woke up in the middle of the night to some of the most amazing stars I have ever seen in my life.
Day two began out of the same campground and the visual theme switched from glaciers to mountains. We hiked through the beautiful French Valley to a viewpoint of stunning Paine Grande. The hike was moderate and consistently beautiful. We ate lunch (ham and cheese sandwiches of course) within view of the mountain and hiked back down to Lago Pehoe.
We took a boat ride back across Lago Pehoe and were shuttled to campground number two. This one was a private campground reserved just for our group with a pisco sour reception in a geodesic dome and private chefs. And of course with tents set up for us before we arrived.
We saved the best for last in Torres Del Paine, as day three took us to a look out to THE Torres Del Paine, granite spires surrounded by glaciers. This was also the most difficult hike of the trip, which honestly isn’t overly difficult as a day hike. There is moderate elevation gain at the beginning of the trail; it levels off for a while; then there is a steep ascent over boulders to the viewpoint. We arrived at the Torres to find it with clouds at the very top of the spires. As the weather in Patagonia is fickle at best, we decided to eat our sandwiches (salami and avocado!) and hoped the skies would clear. Alas, it was not to be, the clouds never cleared, but it was still gorgeous. We hiked back down the mountain to our shuttle bus and left the park for Puerto Natales.
Tierra Del Fuego (Ushuaia)
Our final destination of the trip was the Southernmost City of the World, Ushuaia, which is on the island of Tierra Del Fuego. To get there, we overnighted in Punta Arenas (with a side trip to a Magellanic Penguin Colony) and took a day long, cross border bus ride. I believe this bus only runs a couple of days a week. We arrived in Ushuaia late, but just in time for supper. Here we came across another group who was doing the same tour we did, but it was their last night in town. It was nice to meet another group of people, and I will spare you the pictures of the night out at the Irish pub, as I don’t even remember the arm wrestling, but I have photos of it on my camera.
The only planned activity for us in Tierra Del Fuego was a morning boat ride along the Beagle Channel. It was a pleasant ride where we got to get close to islands of sea lions, terns, and nesting cormorants and we got a complimentary shot of coffee liquor. We had the rest of the day free to explore the city of Ushuaia. Tourism is prevalent is Ushuaia, as it is the gateway to Tierra Del Fuego National Park and is also the base point of Antarctic cruises, but it shipping is also a major industry. The seafood there is amazing, crab restaurants are abound. Night two took us back to the Irish pub and again the photos are terrible, but I remember taking them all.
Our last day in Tierra Del Fuego was a free day, so the majority of our group joined a canoe and hiking excursion. The canoeing turned out to be rafting down a calm river to the ocean, but most of the people in my boat were hung over so it was for the best (even though I made us crash into a rock and we kept getting beached). They gave us wine at lunch, so luckily the hiking was pretty easy. We had an animated guide and I got to eat a “Pan del Indio”, which is a weird orange globule that grows on trees and tastes like nothing, absolutely nothing (I still get weird cravings for it). Night three took us to the Irish pub for the last time, and again the photos are unreasonable and I will not share them.
The next morning was a fairly early (and painful for some) flight back to Buenos Aires, where I parted with my new friends.
Attempted Skyline Trail Hike – Jasper
The Low Down
The Skyline Trail is a 45km hike in Jasper National Park along the Maligne Range. Much of the trail is above the tree line, the views are spectacular!
This hike is a shuttle, there is a tour company (Maligne Lake Shuttle) which will take you from one end to the other, but you should pre-arrange this. You can start at either end.
It is a very busy trail, reservations are recommended. As it is fairly cheap, $10 a night, people tend not to officially cancel.
There are many campgrounds along the trail, so you can customize how many days you want to take to hike it. Most take two or three nights.
The Experience
I hiked the trail in late August/early September with my dad (Craig) and friend Jen. My dad and I have done a few overnight hikes, but Jen is a n00b, in decent shape.
We decided to start from the south trailhead, as there is less overall elevation gain.
We packed cold weather gear (long underwear, warm jacket) as it can snow any time of year on the trail and bear spray and bear bangers as it is grizzly country (you can rent bear spray in town if you don’t have any).
Day 1 – Fresh Feet!
We caught the shuttle early in the morning at the north trailhead to the south trailhead, leaving our car there with the idea that it would be there when we were finished. There were 13 people total on the shuttle that morning, at various levels of fitness. The ride to the south trailhead was pleasant, despite the shuttle driver repeatedly telling us, “it is cold and snowy up there, maybe you don’t want to do this?” We thought she was overreacting (foreshadowing…) It was snowing lightly at the south trailhead, but we, along with most of the rest of the group, opted to continue.
The first 7km (S trailhead to Little Shovel) was fairly easy hiking, getting steeper in the last few kilometres with some switchbacks. This part of the trail is below the tree line, so the scenery is less spectacular. When we stopped for lunch at Little Shovel campground, we met a group who was quitting the hike because it was too cold at night. We opted to continue.
The next 5km (Little Shovel to Snow Bowl) were amazing. At this point the snow had stopped falling, leaving a light dusting on the ground, the clouds were breaking up, and the sun was shining. This part of the trail is a beautiful alpine meadow complete with mountain streams, marmots, and wild flowers, with little elevation change. Words cannot describe how beautiful, and photos are only a dim recreation. We were supposed to camp at Snow Bowl, but we were so inspired and the weather was so great we decided to hike on to Curator Campground (7km more).
The beauty and splendor and easy hiking continued until we hit Big Shovel Pass. At this point the hiking was more difficult and snowier, though no less beautiful. To get to Curator campground you have to hike down switchbacks, off the main trail, back into the tree line. On a 19km day, this was a bit hard on the old ankles.
Curator Campground is quite nice (reportedly much nicer than Snow Bowl); we arrived to find small snow drifts on most of the camp sites. There is one toilet (a high chair with no walls), poles and cables to store your food to keep it away from bears, three picnic tables, and eight designated campsites. We chose two sites near a small stream at the end of the campsite. There are also some cabins and a horse corral below the campsite, but I don’t think they take walk ons (there was no one there when we were).
Day 2 – Defeat
Our plan for day 2 was to hike from Curator campground to Tekarra. We woke up to ~1cm of snow on our tents, which made it hard to get motivated to crawl out of our sleeping bags, and got us off to a late start. The 3km hike to THE NOTCH was quite steep, and quite snowy. We heard stories of people having to be lead out of here in mid-July, as there was a heavy snowfall and the trail was lost. I can believe it, even with a light snow the trail could be hard to find, and often was through boulders or on a fairly steep ledge.
We arrived at THE NOTCH behind a fit European guy and an American couple. At this point the weather had turned on us; it was quite windy with blowing snow and poor visibility. We watched the fit European scale a large snow patch with little difficulty. We then stopped for a snack, and watched the American couple attempt the same. They had made it almost to the top, when the man slid down the snow bank and into some jagged rocks. We heard him yell he was okay. Then we watched the woman do the same. She was okay too, just a bit bruised. They decided to turn back at this point and so did we. Well, we decided to scale a scree slope that we thought might be an alternate trail, then turned back, disappointed, though our moods were brightened by a herd of Bighorn Sheep.
We set up camp again at Curator, and devised a plan for getting back to our vehicle that didn’t involve THE NOTCH. There are two ways off the trail at that point that don’t involve turning back along the same trail: through Watchtower campground, that will take you to the Maligne Lake Road (this is the road the trailheads are on); or down the Wabasso Lake Trail, which takes you to the Icefields Parkway (which is on the other side of the Maligne Range).
Day 3 – Retreat
After waking up to 1” of snow on our tents, we were reassured that retreat was our best option (along with the American couple and the one person that had started the hike the day before.) We decided to take the Wabasso Lake Trail out, as the Watchtower option would have meant going back uphill. By the time we ate breakfast and packed up the tents, there was at least 2” of snow on the picnic tables. My dad made a lovely snowman as the rest of us hid under a tree to get out of the wet snow.
The Wabasso Lake Trail is ~15km, with 900m loss of elevation (fairly steep in places.) As it is below the tree line, the views are fairly unimpressive. Horses are allowed on this trail, so it is fairly wide and well marked, but filthy. The only place we had trouble finding the trail was where it crosses the river. Basically you just cross where you can, and follow the river down until you find markings on the other side.
We arrived at the Wabasso Lake trailhead in early afternoon, with the problem of having our vehicle at a different trailhead, on a different road. There was cell phone service here, so we called the local cab company for a quote ($80!), and decided to hitchhike. We sent out blondest member (Jen), who found a ride to town pretty quickly, and came back to pick up the rest of the group.
We drowned our sorrows with beer and hot tub, and resolved to try again in better weather.
Stray Observations
Bearanoia level – Moderate. Tis grizzly country, but we saw no signs of bear, and the campsites are set up well with a separate cooking area.
Handy topo maps are available at local bookstores. There are larger ones with all of the hikes in the area, which have good detail, or smaller ones with each hike that have great detail.
Tent poles are probably the second worst thing you could forget to bring on an overnight hike 
Kwasitchewan Falls 2010-08
The basics
The Kwasitchewan Falls Trail is a 22km hike with campsites for overnighting near Thompson, Manitoba, Canada.
The highlight of this hike is Kwasitchewan Falls, which happen to be Manitoba highest falls.
The hike is a lollipop around a peninsula, which also gives you the option of canoeing or kayaking.
Government issued details here.
The Experience
My travel buddies, XE and Otis (dog), and I decided to hike this trail overnight, as a “something to do on the weekend” hike, rather than, a “let’s see Manitoba’s highest falls, I bet they are spectacular” hike. XE and Otis had never attempted an overnight hike, but I have done a few.
We arrived at the trailhead around noon, finding a few Americans who were going in a ways on a day hike. Otherwise we found the trail mostly deserted (excepting wasps, mosquitoes, and signs of bear) despite the fact that it was a pleasant summer weekend.
Trail conditions varied. Most of the trail was lightly forested with gentle elevation changes. Occasionally the trail was rocky and involved scrambling over rocks. One section of the lollipop had a lot of deadfall (dead trees fallen across the trail, which always begs the question… over, under, or around?) The trail was marked with orange flagging tape, and was fairly well trodden (though kilometre markers would have been nice). Drinking water was fairly easy to find, I used a water purifying pump.
We went around the lollipop clockwise, which meant the campsites were a little more than half way. The falls were a little ways past the campsites. There were approximately four campsites with fire pits. The government web site advises camping in designated camp sites, but does not clearly mark which camp sites are designated. We arrived around 5:30pm, held out for the third obvious camp site, and were rewarded with benches and a small table made out of driftwood and rock slabs.
We arrived at Kwasitchewan Falls early on the morning of the second day. They are fairly impressive, but there was no clear view of the falls from the trail. I would suggest if your goal is to get the most spectacular picture of the falls you could possibly get, canoeing (portaging across to Phillips Lake and camping on the island) would be your best bet.
All in all we completed the hike in just over 24 hours. I think it is a nice first overnight hike.
Stray Observations:
Bearanoia level: High – be sure to hang your food in trees at night, preferably using an airtight bag to seal in food odors. I found the tree branches inhospitable to food bags, this was my best attempt.
I thought I heard a bear in our campsite at night, but my imagination tends to get the best of me.
Mosquito annoyance level: Extreme!!! (normal for Manitoba)
One section of the trail intersected a “cut line”, a straight line cut through the woods, used by mining exploration companies for orientation. It was flagged similarly to the main trail and was a bit disorienting.
Tetra packs of wine are (in my opinion) the smartest bet for booze on overnight hiking trips. They generally come in 500mL or 1L packs, the packaging is light, and folds down when empty.
