El Chalten – great little town for the budget traveler inside Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. Home to the Cerro Fitz Roy and located within the pristine patagonian wilderness of Argentina. You can do multi-day trekking here or you can take day hikes, leaving your heavy pack behind.  Our favorite day hike was the sendero Fitz Roy.

Daylight lasts for a long time during the patagonian summer so we were able to start this hike at close to noon. After our leisurely morning, we donned our day packs (carrying only a bit of water as you can fill up from any stream!) and hit the trail. Starting from town, we did the whole hike in around 7 hours returning to our campground in town just as the sun was starting to set. The trail is incredibly well marked. The toughest parts of the hike are the initial ascent from town and then the final ascent to the laguna. The rest of the time its pretty flat. The scenery is stunning as it winds through forest, meadows and rivers and it offers several sneak peaks at Cerro Fitz Roy along the way. When we finally reached the laguna at the base of Cerro Fitz Roy, panting from the very difficult final incline, we were blown away by the beautiful turquoise color of the water. Fitz Roy looms behind the lake. A beautiful behemoth, it appears to have been punched up out of the ground suddenly, giving it a unique look from any of the other mountains we have seen. Such a great day in Patagonia, only made better by eating an Asado around the campfire that night!