Overnight to Mt Fitz Roy

The weather had started to change on the day we set out for the base of Fitz Roy. The wind was breezy and there were clouds coming and going, but we still had excellent views of the massive peak as we hiked towards it.

Looking up the valley north of El Chalten

Pretty (and prickly) fields of flowers on the way to Fitz Roy

The true size of Fitz Roy, like Cerro Torre, seems harder and harder to judge as you draw closer to it. It is 3,400m and towers over the rest of the range.

The weather was starting to change

By the time we reached Camp Poincenot and set up our tent the clouds had entirely covered the peak. We decided not to hike up to Laguna de los Tres just yet, in the hopes that it would clear later in the evening, or the next morning.

Unfortunately the weather continued to worsen overnight, the wind roaring through the trees. The campsite was very sheltered but hard gusts of wind would occasionally blast the tent, covering everything in a thick layer of dust. Ben did get up at 5am to see if there was a good sunrise, but most of the light was diffused by the clouds.

The soft light of dawn

By 7am it had started to rain, so we quickly packed up, had breakfast and headed back to town for a warm shower and a room inside! It was our first real experience of the famous Patagonian wind and we were glad that it was only a short trek back to town.

The next few days the weather continued stormy so we cleaned all our trekking gear, and started really thinking about returning home – only one week left! We were lucky to have some good company - Kim and Susan from the Whalesound trip were in town at the same hostel – so we managed to keep ourselves busy.