Equipment

I shot digital for this trip. Shooting digital for extended periods in the backcountry carries with it some new difficulties to be overcome, mainly the issues of power and storage. One must also consider the issues of robustness of equipment.

Camera Bodies

For this trip, I had 3 camera bodies. I took a Canon EOS 10D digital body, as well as, a Rebel 2K film body for backup. I also had a Canon Powershot A80 for a point and shoot. I never had to resort to my Rebel 2K, as the digital camera worked just fine. In fact, I never bothered to take the film body with me into the backcountry, and left it behind with my other stored baggage.

Lenses

I took with me:

• Canon 17-40mm/f4
• Canon 70-200mm/f4
• Canon 50mm/f1.8

This combination served me well. About 80% of my shots used the 17-40mm (equivalent 28-64mm), and the rest came through the 70-200, especially the penguin shots. I'm mainly a landscape photographer, and the focal range of the 17-40 fits my style of shooting very well. My only desire would be perhaps to get 4mm more on the wide end.

Storage

For film storage, I brought 2 1Gb cards for the 10D, and a 512Mb card for the A80. I also had about 20 rolls of various film for my Rebel 2K (Velvia and Provia, mostly). For more storage, I also had a Tripper portable hard drive (PHD), as well as, a home made battery pack for the drive. This combination worked out pretty well. I can get about 4 rolls worth of raw shots out a 1 Gb card, which is what I usually shoot per day for landscapes. If I shoot more, I can switch to the second card. Whenever I had a full card, I would transfer the images to the Tripper PHD. I carried the PHD in a padded case, and kept in deep in my pack. When doing the transfers, I was very careful to put the PHD on a level spot and let it work undisturbed during the transfer.

Power

I had two issues with regards to power that had to be addressed. First of all, I needed power for my cameras, and I needed power for the PHD. For my Canon 10D, I took the expedient solution of simply buying 4 extra BP-511 batteries, and charging them up before I left. I bought generic BP-511s from eBay, and they worked fine and were quite a bit cheaper than the Canon OEM batteries. My canon A80 takes AA batteries, and is quite efficient with power consumption. It takes 4 AAs, and I simply replaced them in-between trips.

The Tripper PHD required a bit more figuring. One of the reasons I chose it was the ease with which an external battery pack could be constructed from parts obtained from Radio Shack. The instructions for the battery pack were found on DPREVIEW.com, and worked fine. The battery pack uses 4 AA batteries, and provided more than enough power for my needs.

So, for my trips into Los Glaciares and Torres del Paine, I carried 2 BP-511 batteries (1 in the camera, and 1 backup), the Tripper PHD, the home-made battery pack, 8 AA batteries. For the AA batteries, I used rechargeable Ni-Mh)

Camera Bag, Tripod

I kept my 10D in a generic, Tamrac holster style bag with the 17-40mm attached. I kept the 70-200mm/f4 in an insulated water bottle jacket. The lens is similar in size and shape to a 1 quart nalgene water bottle, and fit perfectly. I added extra padding from the packing materials in came with, as well as, a plastic bag to keep it dry. I kept the A80 in a small REI padded case, that had various straps and attachments that allowed me to carry it on the shoulder straps or waist belt of my pack for quick access. The PHD, batteries, filters, etc... were kept in a padded cube.

The camera bag didn't work out as well as I had hoped as I suffered a cracked polarizer that was mounted on the 17-40mm. I was a bit more careful after that. Otherwise, the gear didn't suffer much.

I used my Gitzo 1228 Carbon Fibre tripod with a Bogen 3262QR ball head. I was tempted to bring my Arca Swiss, but I saved a pound of weight by taking the Bogen. I didn't have a heavy body plus lens combination, so the Bogen served just fine.

Filters

I took a polarizer, and Graduated Neutral Density Filters. The GNDs are a must.

Weight

My starting pack weight for each of the trips was easily 45 lbs. plus. Of that, 26 lbs. was camping gear, 12 lbs. was photographic equipment, and the rest was food and water. Clearly, weight was a major concern with me with regards to the photo equipment, which drove my decisions with regards to my storage solutions and lens choices.

Trekking Equipment

Given the variable weather conditions, I carried gear for 3 seasons plus. This means an extra layer or two, a warmer sleeping bag, and other accessories that I wouldn't normally carry for a summer backpacking trip. I am not entirely sold on the current wave of light weight backpacking, though I had followed many of the practices before it came in vogue. I have been replacing much of my gear with lighter weight alternatives, but my reasons for doing so is related to being able to carry more photographic equipment. So, my pack doesn't actually get any lighter.

If one does not wish to carry trekking equipment all the way down to Patagonia, much of what you need can be rented from various agencies in the gateway towns - tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, stoves, and whatnot are all available. The quality of the gear is fair, but if you want higher quality stuff, you're better off taking your own.

The other alternatives are staying in lodgings in the gateway cities and doing dayhikes, or in the case of Torres del Paine, making advanced reservations and utilizing the hut system. The hut system allows you to do the hiking without taking a stove, fuel, pots, food, tent, or sleeping pad. The huts can also rent out tents, pads, and sleeping bags if they're full. What's essential is that you make reservations far in advance as the huts fill quickly.

Trekking Supplies

It isn't difficult to supply yourself with basic consummables for your backcountry trips in the major towns. Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and El Calafate all have supermarkets of one form or another where one can find food appropriate for trekking. El Chalten has a much more limited selection, and is a bit pricier. The Abu Gosh Hipermercado in Punta Arenas is the closest you'll find to an American-style supermarket. It's as nice as any Safeway I've been to, and finding supplies would be easy there. Certain items, such as power bars, freeze dried foods, and American-style candy bars (e.g. Snickers) are much more difficult or impossible to find, so if you want them, you better bring them along. Other things, such as hot cocoa, muselix, mac and cheese, etc... are essentially the same. I found myself addicted to Zuko brand Jugo de Naranja (i.e. Tang) for breakfast on the trail.

Stove fuel was easy to find for Camping Gaz and White Gas stoves. White Gas, or Bencina Blanca, is easily found at hardware stores or trekking supply stores. The Camping Gaz type of fuel is widespread. The pierceable canisters are the most common, but I didn't have much trouble finding the other type. I only found a few places that carried the Primus-style fuel canisters. One can, of course, rent a stove at any of the gateway cities.

In Torres del Paine, several of the huts have an Almacen (camp store) where one can purchase food (e.g. pasta, cheese, tomato sauce), cigarettes, toiletries, sodas, beer, wine, candy, cookies, etc... The selection isn't much, but it's an option. Not every hut has a store. Some only have sodas, wine, and candy.

One may also purchase meals at the huts, even if you're camping. You should let them know you want to purchase a meal ahead of time. I did this a few times to save weight on food.

When to Go

Chile and Argentina are south of the equator, and therefore undergo Austral Summer. In other words, their winter is our summer, and vice versa. I went in January, which was mid-summer, and a very busy time. If I had to do it over, I would probably try a December, February, or March visit to try and thin out the crowds a bit. Expect long hours of daylight during the summer. Sunrise was at around 5:15 a.m., and sunset was around 9:30 p.m. in January.

How to Get There

Coming from the West Coast, your options will probably be either LanChile or American Airlines, which have codeshare agreements with each other. Your gateways will be either LAX or Miami, and expect a stop in Lima, Peru. About 6 months before my trip the cost of the flight was around $1100. Three months before, when I actually booked the ticket, I paid $1300, so the earlier you book the better. I have heard of a tip that one should book a round trip to Santiago, and then book internal flights separately to save a bit of money, but I never investigated that fully.

I chose Punta Arenas as my entry city to South America. It's fairly close to the gateway cities of El Calafate and Puerto Natales. Others I met on the plane had plans to hit Puerto Montt and take the ferry down through the Fjords to reach Puerto Natales. If I had more time, I think I would have done the same. I booked my flight on LanChile through their website. The trip was planned for January as Chile and Argentina experience Austral summer. January is the middle of summer down there, and consequently, the middle of their busy tourist season.

The flight was pretty good as things go. I found the legroom on the Airbus 340 to be rather cramped, but this was compensated by the individual LCD screens each seat had. There was a selection of 6 movies, games, and audio selections to chose from, as well as, a screen to show the progress of the trip. The food was o.k., and I was fed several times during the flight. The crew is bilingual. My flight originated in San Francisco, and had stops in LAX, Lima, and Santiago before finally arriving in Punta Arenas. All told, I spent about 24 hours traveling between home and Punta Arenas. If your destination is Chile, then you'll need to go through customs at the first airport you arrive at. In my case, that was Santiago. So, upon arrival I had to get off of the airplane, pay the $100US reciprocity fee, obtain my tourist card, collect my checked baggage and go through customs. This all went off with little difficulty. However, I was a bit at a loss as to where to check-in for my internal flight to Punta Arenas. Fortunately, I ran into another person from my flight who was in the same predicament, and we were able to find the proper check-in counter. Unfortunately, I was further delayed when they weighed my baggage. Apparently, there are strict weight restrictions on baggage for internal flights within Chile, and I was charged $4 per kilo for being over the limit. My baggage was 5 kilos over the limit, so I had to pay up $20US. Because of this delay, I barely made my flight. Bear in mind that there is also a limit on carry-on weight, though nobody hassled me about it. I did notice on the flight back that some of the gate crew were spot checking carry-ons that looked heavy. In my carry-on, I had my Canon 10D, Canon Rebel 2K, Film, Canon 17-40mm/f4, Canon 70-200mm/f4, Canon 50mm/f1.8, Tripper portable hard drive, batteries, filters, flash cards, books, magazines, and some toiletries. This weighed considerably more than the 5 kilos you're afforded for carry-on. I just acted like my backpack was light. My checked baggage was my Dana Designs Terraplane backpack, which carried all of my backpacking gear, plus my tripod and head. I also checked a small, stowable duffle bag that had backpacking food for my trips. I think it was the duffle that put me over the weight limit.

The flight to Punta Arenas stops in Puerto Montt, and takes about 5 hours. The Punta Arenas airport is fairly small, and has the basic airport services. My plan was to leave Punta Arenas directly and head for Puerto Natales. I had hoped to catch a bus, but was surprised to discover that none of the bus companies maintained a kiosk in the airport itself. I had not booked ahead, and would now have to try calling around for a bus. The only bus that comes out to the airport is Buses Fernandez, and I called them up from the airport. At this point, my very poor Spanish nearly completely failed me as no one at the bus company spoke any English. It took a bit, but I was finally able to make myself understood, and was informed that a bus would come by to get me. Of course, when the bus arrived it had no room for me, and the driver left. A number of other travelers were in the same predicament as myself, as we decided to share a taxi into Punta Arenas, and caught a bus from there.

Getting Around

Within Chile, there are a number of private bus companies that can get you where you need to go. They're cheap and efficient, and it's how I got around. I took Bus Sur and Bus Fernandez, and both were fine. Bookings can be made easily from your lodgings or the various tour companies in the various cities.

Alternatively, one could rent a car, but the rates I saw were as high as $100 a day, and the roads are mostly gravel, so make sure you have a full-sized spare.

As mentioned previously, there's a ferry run by Navimag that travels the fjords between Puerto Natales and Puerto Montt. It's a 3-night journey, and is very popular amongst backpackers.

There are small airports at Puerto Natales, El Calafate, and El Chalten. I know of a number of travelers who left from El Calafate to reach El Chalten on a plane, which does save you a few hours on a very bumpy road.

Language

Obviously, they speak Spanish in South America, though it's the latin american version, which is different than Spanish spoken elsewhere. Since my trip took me through mainly tourist areas, i did run into people who spoke English, but it's not widespread. Practically every other international traveler I ran into spoke some English.

So, how much Spanish do you need? Well, I took two years of high school Spanish a long time ago, but I had forgotten most of it. I brushed up with an 18-lesson Pimsleur spanish language course on tape, and with the Lonely Planet Latin American phrase book, I did fine. That's not to say I didn't have instances of confusion and miscommunication, but there were no major difficulties. I do have to admit to a bit of apprehension about travelling by myself in a country where I was poor with the language, but I grew fairly comfortable as time went by.

You need to be able to do the basic things, like find the bus station, get a ticket, find out when the bus leaves, order a meal in a restaurant, ask for the bill, get a place to stay, etc... A phrase book will help you with most of this. You should also be able to ask the time and count.

Where to Stay

This is basically a list of the places I stayed while in Chile and Argentina.

Hostels

HI Puerto Natales
This was the first place I stayed while in Chile. I picked it mostly because I was tired and didn't want to walk any further. I was actually headed towards Casa Cecilia, a highly recommended hostel, but after 32 hours of traveling (plane and bus), and I just didn't want to go any further. The hostel is located above the Path@Gone offices and near the Bus Fernandez offices. It's the official HI hostel in Puerto Natales, and was fine - clean, had a small kitchenette with dining area, and rooms that get plenty of light. Unfortunatley, this particular corner gets kinda busy, so you get plenty of noise as well. I was in a 6-bed room with only one other person. Breakfast is included free, but a South American breakfast is usually toast with jam or butter and Tea or Nescafe, so I didn't bother. The check-in person didn't speak any English, but I had sufficient Spanish to get a bed.

Hospedaje Nancy
I stayed here before and after my trip to Torres del Paine. This was a clean, nice place with good beds in rooms with high ceilings. I booked my buses from here, and they also book tours and rent camping equipment. You can also store baggage with them. The bathrooms were clean with good showers. The breakfast was good as well with orange juice in addition to the usual Nescafe, hot cocoa, and tea. The proprietors don't speak much English at all, but again, it doesn't take much to get a room.

I used their laundry service twice, with mixed results. The laundry itself was excellent - everything came back clean and folded. However, Nancy lost three pairs of my SmartWool trekking socks the second time I had laundry done. I'm certain I included them with the laundry as the stink from these socks was quite noticeable. However, she did not remember them as part of my laundry. I imagine they were lost with other laundry. They were good socks, and I was none too happy about it. It was a lesson learned - always check to see what you have in your laundry and write it down before handing it in.

Albergue and Hostal del Glaciar
This was the hostel I used in El Calafate - both before and after my trip to Los Glaciares. Unfortunately, I didn't bother making reservations, thinking I could just get something when I got there. Boy, was I wrong. El Calafate was full. I ended up getting a spot in their "Refugio" - basically a large, carpeted room above the little cafe. It looks like it'd hold about 20 people as you basically sleep on the floor. So, this is only an option if you have a sleeping bag, and preferably a sleeping pad. It wasn't a good experience. The cafe stays open very late, and the staff was playing music very loudly until well past mid-night. To make things worse, the music starts up again around 5 am. Get ear plugs. The only good part is that I paid $3.50US per night.

The bathrooms were basic dormitory style bathrooms with separate shower facilities for the men and women. There is a kitchen and nice common dining area, in addition to the cafe mentioned above.

The second time I stayed there, I had a reservation in hand, and as they were overbooked, they put me in one of their rooms in the Inn portion of the place. There were four beds in this room with its own in-suite bath. It was much nicer.

The staff speaks both Spanish and English, and can arrange tours and buses. They also store baggage. There's a free shuttle from the central bus station to the hostel.

I did wander by other places after contemplating a night on the floor of the Refugio, but every place was full. The Calafate Hostel looked very nice, and at 20 pesos a night would have been excellent, but everything was booked.

There are lots of lodgings in El Calafate - just make sure to book ahead!

Hotels

Hotel Cabo De Hornos
After hostels and camping, I wanted some place nice, so I picked a "luxury" hotel in Punta Arenas - the Cabo de Hornos. I really wouldn't call it a "luxury" hotel, as its getting a bit old. The lobby was fairly ordinary, and the rooms were basic. Why they put a water fountain in the bathroom, I'll never know...

I got the cheapest room they had at $99 a night including breakfast, which is probably more than I spent on all my other lodging combined.

If I had to do it over, I would book the Jose Nogueira instead. Housed as part of the Sara Braun museum, it has a lovely conservatory where they serve meals. There's also a pub downstairs.

Refugios

One option for trekkers in Torres del Paine is to utilize the hut system. The huts are run by a few vendors, Fantastico Sur and Andescape. There are a number of basic, park-run huts, as well. I didn't stay at any of them, but they looked pretty nice. They have bunk beds, hot showers, flush toilets, and meal service. Some of them have small stores where they sell snacks, wine, beer, sodas, and other camp supplies. Each hut also has a private campground, and campers can make use of the hut facilities. The huts are very popular, however, so book as early as possible.

I got dinner at the Los Cuernos hut one evening, and it was pretty good. We got a cup of soup to start, followed by a plate with some fish, a medium-sized boiled potato, and some vegetables. For dessert, we had a sort of berry mousse. They served wine with the meal. Unfortunately, while the quality was fine, the quantity was insufficient for hungry hikers. I tried to fill up on bread, but I still could have eaten 2-3 platefuls.

There are no huts within Los Glaciares, but there is one private campground outside of the park boundaries at Piedras del Fraile. The campground has a nice grass lawn on which to pitch your tent, and is well protected from the wind by a small hill. There appear to be a number of small shacks to serve as accomodations, as well. The campground also features hot showers and meal services. Within the main building, you can get sodas, wine, beer, and some snacks. I got dinner there the one night I was in the campground, and it was pretty good. I got a huge platter of pasta, sauce and pork. It was good and filling.

Camping

Dusty and windy. The dust is a result of glacial silt from all of the rivers, and the wind can be very fierce at times. Almost all of the campgrounds, both in Los Glaciares and Torres del Paine, were well sited within forests that protected you from the wind. I saw many people with basic tents that did fine. People have erected wind breaks in a number of campgrounds. Even so, the wind is a factor, so make sure your orient your tent properly into the wind and stake it down. The only campground I found that wasn't well protected was Lago Pehoe.

I was camping during the middle of the tourist season, so the campgrounds got crowded at times. Bring ear plugs - both because of the roaring winds and your fellow campers. There aren't any large mammals to go after your food, but I did encounter mouse problems at Lago Pehoe. Hanging your food in a tree is usually sufficient - don't keep food or toiletries in your pack or tent unless you want a hole in the fabric.

The rangers say that the water sources in both parks are clean and potable, so you don't need to filter or treat your water. In general, I drank freely from the lakes and streams when the water was coming directly off of a glaciar, but in cases where the water was near a trail or camp, I went further afield to fill my water bottle. There's a lot of horses and campers with poor sanitation skills, so I wouldn't drink from any source too near the trails or campgrounds. I usually went upstream a ways to get my water. The only people I saw who treated or filtered their water were Americans and Brits - everybody else would just fill up directly. It's been a couple of weeks since my trip, so I've passed the incubation period for Giardiasis. If I come down with Ameobic Dysentary or Cholera, I'll be sure to update this report.

There's a mixture of public and private campgrounds in Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares. In Los Glaciares, all of the campgrounds within the park are free and only have squat toilets for facilities. There is a private campground and refugio at Piedras del Fraile that has hot showers, flush toilets (squat), and meal service. In Torres del Paine, the campgrounds that are near the refugios are private and require a fee. You do have access to the facilities in the huts. The government-run sites are free.

If you can, try to get a stay at either Camping Pehoe, a private campground, or Hosteria Pehoe, a hotel on a small island on Lago Pehoe. You get a classic view of the Cuernos from either location which is best shot at dawn. There's also a trail to a mirador above the campground.

Lodgings

• Albergue and Hostal Glaciar
• Hospedaje Nancy
• Hotel Cabo de Hornos
• Hostelling International Chile

Concessionaires

• Andescape
  One of the concessionaires in Torres del Paine that run the refugios at Lago Pehoe, lago Grey, Dickson, and Los Perros.
• Fantastico Sur
  Another concessionaire that runs refugio Torre, chileno, and Los Cuernos in Torres del Paine. They also run the Hosteria Las Torres.
• Path@Gone
  Path@Gone can make reservations for the Andescape refugios, as well as, buses, lodgings, and tours.

References

Books

• Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island, 6th Edition
  This was my main guidebook for Chile. This latest edition has good information on trekking in Torres del Paine. It has limited info on Argentina and Los Glaciares. The cover features a self-portrait by the late Galen Rowell.
• Chile & Argentina, 5th: The Bradt Trekking Guide
  Very good guide on trekking in the parks. It had the most up to date information.
• Lonely Planet Trekking in the Patagonian Andes, 3rd Edition
  Make sure you get the latest edition. The old edition was very out of date and inaccurate. This was the main book I used to plan my trekking routes. Very good.
• Lonely Planet Latin American Spanish Phrasebook, 4th Edition
  Excellent. I would have been lost without it. This phrasebook is specific to Latin America, and there are some important differences.
• Trekking in Chalten and Lago del Desierto by Miguel Alonso
  I saw this book when I was in El Calafate. It's a pretty good guide to hiking in Los Glaciares. It's in Spanish and English, and gives you charts of elevation gains and losses, natural history, and camping tips. It even comes with a CD and a map.

Maps

The available trekking maps aren't very good compared to what you may be used to in the U.S. or Europe. I discovered some inaccuracies, but the biggest problem is that the contour intervals are usually at 100 meters, which limits their utility. Each park issues a basic topo map on entry, but I wouldn't use them for anything serious.

The best map I saw for Torres del Paine was the 1:100,000 Torres del Paine Trekking Map by Juan Louis Mattassi A Producciones (JLM). This is the red map, number 13. This company produces a number of maps for the region.

The 1:80,000 Torres del Paine Trekking Map by Zagier and Urruty is apparently the "official" map, but I found it out of date - some of the newer refugios aren't listed.

For Los Glaciares, the 1:100,000 El Chalten Fitz Roy - Torre Trekking Map by Chalten Outdoor is pretty good. It's got gps coordinates listed, the trails, distances, elevations, and a satellite view. Zagier and Urruty also make a map, Patagonian South Icefield Trekking - Mountaineering, that is 1:50,000. It's got large print, gps coordinates, and a satellite view.

World's End is a tourist store with lots of stores in El Calafate, Puerto Natales, and Punta Arenas. You can order the Zagier and Urruty maps from them.

Tourist Sites

• Corporacion Nacional Forestal
  Chile's National Park System.
• El Chalten
  El Chalten city website.
• Punta Arenas
  Punta Arenas city website - in Spanish.
• Frommers
  Frommer Guidebooks website with an entry on Patagonia with good information.
• Chile Tourism
  Chile's national tourist site.
• South American Explorers
  South American Explorers is a non-profit organization. With clubhouses in Quito, Ecuador, and Lima and Cusco, Peru and U.S. headquarters in Ithaca, New York, the SAE collects and makes available to its members up-to-date, reliable information about Latin America.
• Comapa
  A tour company that runs the Isla Magdalena tours. They also book other tours.

Transportation

• Bus Sur
  I used these guys from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales and from Puerto Natales to El Calafate. The trips were as comfortable as long bus rides can be.
• Bus Fernandez
  I took these guys from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas. They will also pick people up from the airport in Punta Arenas, though you must arrange this ahead of time. However, I did run into a German couple at Punta Arenas, and Bus Fernandez screwed their reservations, and they missed their bus. They caught a later one, though.
• Buses Pacheco
• Lan Chile
  Chile's main airline.
• Navimag
  This is the company that runs the ferry between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales, as well as, some other routes.

Trip Reports

This is a list of trip reports that helped me in planning my trip. Also included are trip reports written by some who went near the same time that I did. The sites are chockful of good information and good photography.

• Michael Brochstein
  A short report with tips and photos from someone who actually got advice from me! Hopefully, I didn't steer him too wrong...
• Jody Salsig and Matthew Pritchard
  An excellent trip report from a couple who followed pretty much the same itinerary I did in November of 2003.
• Robert Marley
  A trip report on a group trip to Torres del Paine in December of 2000.
• Dan Masse
  A trip report by Dan Masse from a trip in January of 2001 with pictures.
• Radek Tezaur
  A trip report by Radek Tezaur with some very good photography from winter of 2001/2002.
• Maria Adelaide Silva
  A trip report by Maria Silva with a page of links and a page covering the history and geography of the area.
• Robert Marley
  A short trip report with excellent photographs.
• Jay Smith
  A trip report by Jay Smith from January 1997.

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