Activity ---> Hiking in the mountains of Patagonia. Seriously? It seemed like a crazy thought back then since we were no expert hikers. Before this trip, we’ve gone to a handful of hiking day trips around San Francisco, but I don’t think any of those hikes could prepare us for this. The thought of trekking the mountains of Patagonia seemed a little intimidating, but we wanted give it a big TRY. After all, what is life without a little adventure, right?

After pages and pages of research, we finally decided to go to a small mountain village in the province of Santa Cruz called El Chaltén. This place, according to what we read, was famous for hiking numerous trails. It is known as Argentina’s trekking capital —a hiker’s paradise. That was all we knew and we decided to go for it.

El Chaltén is roughly 220 km north of El Calafate, which is where we had stayed the previous couple of nights to do our glacier hike and kayaking. To get to El Chalten, we rode a large, not so private shuttle, which we had booked in advance for a reasonable fee.

We took Ruta 40, which is by the way the only highway one could take to get to the village. The scenery was beautiful in the beginning, watching the sunrise over the horizon, against the beautiful blue waters of Lago Argentino. Then it became boring when the rocky cliffs and sandy dessert took over, but the occasional sightings of guanacos had our eyes glued to the windows and made us all so excited. A guanaco is a camelid native to South America. They are a cross between a camel and a llama, standing tall and proud with their long slender legs.

It was a smooth ride, mostly we slept, other times we chatted with our shuttle companions, a mix of seasoned and amateur hikers eager to reach their destination.

Halfway through, we briefly stopped at Hotel La Leona, which really wasn’t a hotel but sort of a small inn. There was a café and a tiny gift shop inside and it was THE ONLY STOP you could make to grab a quick snack or make a trip to the baño (restroom). We stretched, sipped on hot chocolate and ate an empanada, grabbed a few souvenirs and then jumped right back in the shuttle. Along Ruta 40, there were no sightings of gasoline stations, only occasional farm huts and barns and that was about it. Before arriving to El Chaltén, our driver also made a quick stop at a viewpoint where we would get a glimpse, albeit foggy, as it to tease us, of the mighty Mount Fitz Roy—the most technically challenging mountains for mountaineers on Earth. What a sight!!!

After 4 long hours, we were greeted with a sign that read ‘El Chalten – Bienvenidos’. Looking out the window of the shuttle, what I read about this small village became apparent. It was tiny, comprised mostly of colorful small hotels , hostels, inns and beds for backpackers. There were also small restaurants and shops providing outdoor equipment and souvenirs. Internet connection and cellphone service is very very poor—I summarize it as close to useless. It was almost always windy and there's lots of friendly dogs roaming freely. This village was built to cater to the rising needs of trekkers that come to explore the Capital Nacional del Trekking of Argentina.

We were dropped off at our hotel called Hotel Poincenot. It was located in the town’s main street, very close to restaurants and shops. It was also just a few meters aways from the main trekking circuits. The lobby had high ceilings and a cabin-like feel and the rooms were simple, yet very clean. They also had a small tv/game room and next to it was a very cozy lounge area where you can relax while enjoying wonderful views of the unique Patagonian landscape just right outside its enormous windows. We loved our entire stay here and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Stay posted for our next story about our first day of trekking in Patagonia!