Backpacking in Patagonia

In December 2018, we went on a spectacular 2-week backpacking trip to Patagonia – one of the world’s premier trekking destinations, where the peaks of southern Chile and Argentina offer dramatic glacier-strewn vistas, notorious raging winds, and a welcome summer respite during the dark winter months of the Northern Hemisphere.


1st Hike: 87-mile Torres del Paine Circuit Backpacking Trip

A world-famous Chilean trek with fantastic peak formations, massive glaciers, and flower-covered fields dipping into ocean-like lakes.  All viewed via a very accessible trail:  highly maintained, low-elevation, relatively flat, and extremely popular, with flush toilets and hot showers, requiring advanced reservations.

Hiking out on the last day, we also got our first real glimpse of the beast known as the "Patagonian Wind": see Michael’s creative parody song ‘Patagonia’, in both Russian and English, inspired by this windy day.

2nd Hike: 5-Day Guided Ice Hike and Gorra Blanca Summit near Fitz Roy, with “Mountaineering Patagonia”

Fantastic trip near the famous Fitz Roy area outside El Chalten in Argentina: trekking up a stunning valley towards Lago Electrico and onto Marconi Glacier, with fantastic views of Fitz Roy, Patagonian Ice Field, and surrounding peaks. And in the middle of the trip, summiting 9,500ft Mt. Gorra Blanca.

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Extra photos from our first Torres del Paine Trek:

The “las Torres” – the iconic granite towers for which the park is named

The spectacularly-colored black-tipped "los Cuernos", or "the Horns"

Wild llama-like "guanacos" roam across South America

Right after trekking over the John Gardner Pass through a cold drizzly rain, we were greeted by an incredible rainbow stretching out over the massive Grey Glacier – quite an amazing reward!

And a few photos with us in it: