A monument of ice and a trekking paradise

Just beyond Torres del Paine, Argentina beckons. Northward, the road leads to El Calafate and the colossal Perito Moreno Glacier.

by Akis Temperidis
Photography: A.T., Voula Netou

 A 50-kilometer river of white and blue ice, inching forward at two meters a day, this beast refuses to surrender to climate change. Unlike its shrinking cousins, Perito Moreno endures — a defiant ice leviathan.

Every few years, the glacier forms a natural dam, trapping water until it bursts in a thunderous collapse. Cameras poised, tourists pray for that money shot of ice crashing into Lago Argentino. But even without the drama, icebergs calve unpredictably, drifting like ancient ghosts. Perito Moreno is just one thread in a 350-kilometer tapestry of glaciers, the third-largest fresh water reservoir on Earth after Antarctica and Greenland.

The Trekking Capital of the World

A sign at the entrance to El Chaltén reads “Capital Nacional del Trekking.” This Argentinian Arachova owes its existence to Mount Fitz Roy, a jagged god of the Andes. Coming from Perito Moreno, you veer west at Lago Viedma, hugging the Ruta 40 for 90 kilometers until Río de las Vueltas Valley. El Chaltén appears — a hiker’s paradise, where trails are free, though the town is anything but cheap. Think €15 for a basic meal and €50-100 for a double room.

Back in the ’80s, this place was a ghost town. Just 40 gendarmes settled here in 1985 during a border dispute with Chile. By 2001, a thousand souls called it home. Then Lonely Planet crowned Fitz Roy in 2015, and El Chaltén exploded.

Three days, 50 kilometers of trails — to Laguna de los Tres, Laguna Cerro, and everywhere between. When we left, my soul felt both full and hollow. The Atlantic called, and so did Ruta 3, South America’s most soul-sucking highway. But even that had a surprise waiting…