laguna de los tres

We attempted this hike on a day that was very rainy and windy, but the only day that fit into the schedule since I was with a group from my university. The hike was beautiful, with a rainbow on the way up and a huge variety of landscapes throughout the walk. Forests, marshy bits, and some great views, though it was foggy. However, when we got about 8km in to the hike, guides at the second campsite (poincenot?) advised that we not try to do the final climb in the bad weather so we were not able to reach laguna de los tres. However, the next morning a small group did wake up early and skip our next activity to go all the way and said it was amazing (and snowing!). There is also a little trail along the way that can take you to a viewing point for a glacier. Overall a fun hike, not too challenging (though I've heard the last climb is what makes it hard). The perfect way to finish it up was with some brownies and hot chocolate at the artisanal chocolatería in El Chalten. Enjoy!

So you have seen the most famous and beautiful places on the planet? We thought we had until we hiked to Laguna de los Tres. Trust us - this is the big one! Nowhere else comes near!OK - it's a big hike. You can either walk out and back from El Chalten or you can include it in a hike from El Pilar (North of El Chalten and approximately a $20 taxi ride from El Chalten) to El Chalten. The main issue is the up and down diversion to the Laguna from Camp Poincenot. The diversion is a rough zig-zag path up and down involving a climb and descent of about 900 meters. This is not trivial! You ideally need to be reasonably fit but even if you're not, it is still do-able if you take your time! We are just short of 70 and fit and completed the El Pilar - Laguna de los Tres - El Chalten hike in 6 hours. The overall distance is less than 20 k but remember - this is rough terrain and there is a substantial climb up to the Laguna.The scenery is to to die for! This high lagoon with the attendant glacier is only capped by walking another few hundred meters to the cliff overlooking Laguna Sucia! Sucia also has a glacier coming from the towering Mount FitzRoy but is a few hundred meters lower! Words like magnificent, stunning, amazing are all understatements here!Warning: these high lagoons are exposed to big winds and mercurial weather conditions. We had a wind of about 75 K/hr at the high level - so bring layers of clothing to accommodate the changing conditions. However, we are emphatic here - this is one of the best hikes on the planet and well worth the physical effort! At any age - build magical memories!

The trail to get there is very beautiful and the Laguna de los tres with the Fitz Roy in the back is just breathtaking, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to! Don't give up because of how steep the trail gets at the end, it's worth it!

The infamous Los Tres hike is known to be one of the highlights to any visit to Chalten. It is also famous for being extraordinarily demanding and difficult. The truth? It is probably THE highlight of any visit to el Chalten (at least it was ours) and it is quite difficult. The only hike which is probably comparable to that in terms of views and beauty of the final spot is the Laguna Torre hike, which is considerably easier.So who is Laguna de los Tres trek for? While the hike was a bit difficult for us we saw people of all ages doing this (at various paces of course). Old people, morbidly obese people, people with a little limp, literally everyone. Some complained, some looked determined like men on a mission. Most completed the hike and got to this incredible laguna.Is it worth it? Hell, yeah. The view from the top is to die for. You will be literally sitting at the foot of the fitz roy, with the most remarkable blue lagoon in front of you. Take a few steps to the left and another beautiful lagoon reveals itself. Seriously, if you are in the area and you are physically fit, do this.How to do Laguna de los tres hike? There are two possible ways to do this hike - the first, starting from the town, going all the way up, and returning on the same route that took you there. It’s a 10.8km walk in both ways. The problem is that not only the final part (which I’ll get to in a second) is super demanding, the first part is also quite steep. The best way to complete the Fitz Roy hike is actually to start at El Pilar hosteria. El Pilar is about 17km from el chalten and can be reachable with a short taxi or shuttle ride. Currently the cost of a shuttle is about 100 $AR and there are two options to take it: at 7:45am or 9:00am. The shuttle circulates around town before it makes the 45 minutes trip to El Pilar on a gravel road.Once at El Pilar you have 8.8km of pretty much straightforward walk in the woods until you get to Rio Blanco, the starting point of the toughest part of the trip, the actual climb to the Lagoon. Once you climb up and climb down again, you finish the trip in the opposite way, doing the 10.8km descending trail to Chalten.How difficult is the actual climb to the lagoon? It’s kinda tough. Officially, it’s a 2km walk, in which you climb a steep 470 meters hill or mountain or whatever you call this nightmarish hour. The terrain is largely exposed so if it’s a sunny day (and it better be, otherwise the views will be only half as good) it will be extremely hot. My recommendation is to try and start this hike as early as possible, which means 7:45am if you take the first ride to El Pilar. If you walk at a regular to fast pace you can count on about 2 hours until you get to Rio Blanco, and another hour for making the trip up. Once up there, stay for a couple of hours, give some rest to your aching knees and feet, and head back. The trip back is officially 4 hours, but it actually takes much less, all of it being in decent. You can count on 2.5-3 hours until you are back in town.As the trip up is quite demanding you might be able to leave your backpack in the camp area below the mountain. If you do find someone to safeguard your stuff, the trip will sure be a lot easier, but don’t forget to take quite a lot of water with you.

I saw various timings for this trek so I thought that I would let you know how long it took me. The 10k trek took me 4 hours from the start at the end of Av San Martin, The return journey was just under 3 hours. I am a lot older than many of those trekking but this not a trek exclusively for the young there were plenty of retirees happily walking the trail. The first couple of km are a bit of a climb but after that the trail is fairly flat for the next 6k. I arrived at Poincenot camp in 2 hr 25 min. The last 2 km are up hill and the last 1 k very strenuous but not insurmountable even if the wind blows and when you get to the top the views are stunning so persevere. Of the walks that I did in El Chalten this is the best,.

The last point to view the Fitzroy. We took the trail from Hosteria El Pilar and walked to Chalten. The walk from El Pilar to Poincenot is easy, mostly flat. The last 2 km after the campsite to the laugna on the other hand are hard work - the trail is well marked but tricky thanks to loose rocks and if you're unlucky with the weather it can be quite treacherous - esp. coming down - thanks to the rocks, rain and wind. In short, keep walking sticks! Having said that, the climb is well worth it! Once we got up we were a bit flummoxed as it just seems to keep going without much of a view - and then suddenly you see the water - one word: AMAZING! Take a break, have some lunch and enjoy the view of the water changing colours with the light - then take a short walk on the path that runs along the left bank of the laguna to Laguna Suice. Its like Christmas and getting another unexpected present! What a trip - I will certainly go back!

This Laguna is located on the last part of the trial to Fitz Roy. The last moments of the hike are very intense as you go really up and it gets tiresome. However, once you reach the end is totally worth it

Hard trekking but its really awesome. You can keep your staff in El Chalten and you go just with your small backpack to hike, without heavy things(like the tent or your hiking backpack)

I hope you get a clear day like I did. This hike is a tough one no doubt about it, but it was really a personal experience. First 5 km to lake capri are all uphill - not steep but a relentless uphill. Then down hill a bit and from there all flat until ... THE CLIMB. Be prepared, the last 90 min of the hike up to the laguna de los tres will WHOOP you. It is STEEP. Take baby steps, stop as often as you need, and be patient and understanding with yourself and others. The laguna is quite the reward. It took me 5 hours to get there, an hour to stay and rest and take it in, and 2.5 hours on the return, since all downhill. 11am - 7:30 pm was total time for me. Don't need a car, can walk from anywhere in town. Port-a-potties along the way.

What happened to me here was quite special but that aside it I think it's a magical place and should be visited by most. We arrived to El Chalten and decided to rent a tent so we didn't have to walk back as it was already 2/3 PM. We rented a tent, 2 backpacks, a stove and 2 sleeping bags somewhere in El Chalten. I don't remember the place but it's a small town so you should find it easily. It was super cheap and the guy who run the place was super friendly and gave us amazing advice. We wanted to get to the Laguna de Los Tres on the same day so we had a long hike ahead. We hiked with our backpacks and got to start the Laguna de los Tres hike around 7 pm, it was an amazing day with no wind. There was still light so we just went for it. The hike is not easy as it's rocky and steep so you'll find yourself in a "climbing" position at times, but nothing a fit person can't do. I did it with a heavy backpack and survived. There is TONS of warning boards explaining that the hike is dangerous and has loose rocks, I saw someone commenting that this wasn't explained but sorry, it is. If you are afraid of heights do it but do not look back because you will be scared.When we got to the top I was very very tired and we couldn't see the Laguna, the path is not well marked on the top top, so my boyfriend told me to stand still until he checked the place out. He came back with a happy birthday face I'll never forget. I got there and I couldn't believe my eyes. The turquoise lake on the middle of the rocks is just so beautiful you want to cry.I didn't have time to even take a picture, that a strong wind started to blow. When I say strong I am not joking. It was strong and freezing, I suddenly couldn't move my hands because of the cold and one second ago it was sunny. I started to be scared. We were not going to be able to go down with that wind, it would be very dangerous. So we made a quick decision to pitch the tent there. We started making the tent and it started to snow. We got in the tent and tried to turn on the stove but the wind was too strong which made it impossible. So we just ate some snacks and went to sleep. It was summer so we hoped that when we woke up (very early, like 5 am when the sun came out) we would be able to go down as it was snowing really hard. We woke up and what the day before was a snowless place was suddenly covered by a good 30 cm of snow and the lake was kind of frozen. So completely different landscape than the day before. We got down carefully, trying not to slip with the snow, luckily everything went on fine. My conclusion is do it, it is something you will never forget but beware of the weather, and be prepared remember this place is not touristy or packaged or nothing of the sort - it's the wild and you are on your own which makes it even more amazing.

Laguna De Los Tres is a must if you are staying in El Chalten. We departed at 8 a.m. from our hotel with a transfer to El Pilar. This is much better option than to hike from El Chalten and back, ´cause you don´t go the same way, but you just follow one route. It´s more interesting, more relaxing and you´ll have one beautiful mirador over Piedras Blancas Glacier that you won´t see on the way from El Chalten. It´s a whole day hike. It could be quite tough in a part where you climb up, especially when it´s windy. But the view on Laguna de Los Tres is definitely worth it. And all the way you´ll just see stunningly beautiful nature. I also recommend hike poles, it´s really helpful and more clothes options, ´cause the weather is changing a lot troughout a day in this area. Also start the trek as early as you can because usually not always but often Fitz Roy view can be clear in the morning and then the clouds come in the afternoon. And the trek way gets more and more crowded during the day. When you don´t stay in El Chalten the best way for any real hiker and camper is to hike with all your stuff to one of the camping site down the Fitz Roy oversleep and climb up as soon as you can. I think when you have a good weather, it must be very beautiful.

They say this... Then you'll see people going...and you'll say it's just snow and it's not THAT windy...don't do it. You'll almost kill yourself climbing to the top and all that to see nothing below like me. Go on a beautiful day.

Make the effort! We did this with Walk Patagonia super guide- Pablo. He was fabulous! You could do this without a guide but I learned so much of the flora and history and geological background of el Chalten and Argentina that it was worth it not to mention his encouragement and knowing the perfect stops for a break. All the good walks are long and my feet hurt for a few days (typically only hike 3+ miles) after and we only did this one walk but so glad we did. Seeing the change in bushes as we hiked up was interesting. Pablo was wonderful with my son too - skipped rocks at the Laguna and talked Xbox games as boredom kicked in. Love fitzroy!

You have to be a bit lucky with the weather and as it's been said on most other reviews, the last hour, from Poincenot to the viewpoint is very hard. But if you stick to it and can cope with the strong wind, once at the top you will not regret it. Start early and make a great day out of it, you should be back to El Chalten within 8 hours. This may be the nicest trek I have ever done, there's a beautiful picture opportunity at every corner. We started at Hosteria El Pilar, along the Rio Blanco them came down through Laguna Capri. This way you get to see different routes with different views of the mountains. Can't recommend this enough!

Los Glaciares National Park is located in the Southwest of Santa Cruz Province in the Argentine part of Patagonia. So many glaciers covering roughly half of the World Heritage property.It is just wonderful a must visit place... best way to visit full Patagonia is cruising and land both are needed. Stunning views and amazing hike...