Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Looking to go to Patagonia

Maybe not directly related to the Sierras, but I figured where else do such great people share invaluable information other than right here on WPSM. Ive tried researching this a bit, but all the tours to Patagonia, Fitz Roy, Torres del Paine, etc. seem to be really pricey as they are mostly US based. Does anyone have any local outfitters I can contact directly? Im a very practical traveler, dont need fancy hotels and I would frankly like to live as closely as the locals do. Im even happy to carry my own bag. Any first hand experiences doing Patagonia would also be appreciated. thanks

Hey there,

Patagonia is awesome. A bit touristy and crowded in places, but there is a reason it is crowded.

When are you planning to go and how much time do you have? Are you going to the southern region or the lake district? We were there in Jan 2008 - did the southern area in Chile and Argentina. We split the trip in half: half doing it ourselves and half with a guide. We camped in tents for 9 days, and in Chalten stayed in cheap motels. We used a guide in Chile for the TDP trip doing some private trips off the beaten path and then in the more popular area (I could email you the guide we used, she was fantastic).

Some advice. In Fitz Roy/Chalten, you don't need a guide at all if you're comfortable hiking on your own and can carry your stuff. There are plenty of places to stay in the area either camping (a bit crowded) or in motels (ranging from hostels, inexpensive to expensive). This is a must see area. Be prepared for LONG bus rides...

In Chile, the Torres del Paine Trek can also be done by yourself with a little homework and map study. You can either rent a car or take one of the busses or arrange for private transport. If you want some solitude, get a guide to take you to some secluded areas where there will be nobody else - quite a treat in the region.

We did some planning with Chile Nativo for the TDP area. But, even better, check www.visitchile.com (and ask for Maggie, who helped us put together another more recent trip, that we did ourselves).

here is a link to some of my pics I took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14885228@N03/sets/72157607680105648/detail/

While not directly answering your query on local guide arrangement, I could not help pass on this article on Patagonia travel by a photo.net user here (http://photo.net/travel/southamerica/patagonia/) - albeit more from a photographer's perspective.

Joyjeet, thanks for the link. Definitely good stuff to keep in mind.
RAC, Very helpful link and fantastic pics. Ive been in the planning stages of Patagonia for 2 yrs. I cant seem to come up with an agenda. Im thinking 2 weeks total from LA. Supposedly, the next 1-2 months are supposed to be the slow season which might be prime travel for me. Do you happen to remember your itinerary? where did you fly in to? I would love to get some first hand experiences and such to make planning a bit easier. I plan on picking up the Lonely Planet, but any other info would be appreciated.

Actually, yes I recall what we did:

We flew into Buenos Aires, then connected on an internal flight to Calafate. Next day we went ice climbing and trekking on the Perito Merino glacier - another must see/do.

Then, we took a bus ride (ugh)to El Chalten. If you can rent a car do it since the bus ride was long and didn't allow to stop and take pics, stretching the legs, etc..

In Chalten, we stayed 4 nights in inexpensive motels. We had 3.5 days hiking around Fitz Roy area - all of this you can do by yourself, no guide needed. We hiked until dark eqach day which was fantastic. The wind here was also fantastic (90-100mph), the strongest winds I've ever experienced, stronger than those I felt on Mt Washington.

We then took another bus to Calafate, then to Cerro Castillo to cross the border into Chile, then on to Torres del Paine. We spent a week here trekking all day, good long days about 8-10hrs each day. Here we camped the whole time and did the "W" trek plus a few other offshoots and a couple of private trails.

We then took a bus to Punta Arenas via Puerto Natales and from Punta Arenas, flew to Santiago then to NYC from there.

RAC, you are my new best friend!! Thanks for your help

I used http://www.southernexplorations.com/ for a trip on the Inca Trail in Peru. They have hiking trips to the Patagonia Area. See http://www.southernexplorations.com/patagonia-travel/patagonia-tours-index.htm.
The company is reliable and you get what you pay for. I am looking to do the 11 day circuit hike in the not too distant future.

Funny, I just opened up this blog about Patagonia and the winds and I'm on page 80 of "The boys of Everest" while they were in Chile and the the first sentence of the page reads "the wind continued to frustrate their attempts to climb higher on the tower",


OK back to your regularly scheduled trip...mark

Yea, the winds there, particularly in Chalten, were fierce! The roads are all dirt there also, so you need to protect your glasses and camera well!

what time of year were you guys there? Im thinking April 1-17 looks to be on the downside of the season. Do you all think this is too late for a good trip?

We were there early to mid Jan. The time your thinking is probably not too late, though may run the risk a bit more volatile weather.

RAC, sent you a PM, let me know if you get it, would love to pick your brain a bit more..thanks!

Funny, too. Had this one on reserve at the library for a while, along with "Die Trying" (thumbs down), and have just stated reading it too.

Never been to Patagonia. Hope to get there before I die...

I was planning on going, so I started to talk to people. The general response was, "get ready to spend 2/3 of your trip in the tent in the rain". I'd still like to go sometime. Just can't resist the climbing there, but I'd like to take a few other trips first.
Please let us know what you end up doing and include a bunch of pictures.