Bushwalk Australia

Not quite a "bush" walk, but earlier this year we returned to Patagonia to venture up onto the southern Patagonian ice cap. The ice cap is the third largest continental ice cap after Antarctica and Greenland and is relatively accessible. We did the ice cap loop in autumn so there wasn't so much snow left on the ice making things more difficult in some places.

Day one is a pleasant, relatively flat walk out to near the end of Glacier Marconi. Day 2 is the most physically demanding day, although not necessarily the hardest depending on the weather. The ascent onto the ice cap is about 1000 up including some rock scrambling up the rocks that are now exposed in what used to be an ice ascent.


The first night on the ice cap we camped on a rock outcrop near the base of Cerro Gorra Blanca


Day two up on the ice cap was a late start walking after the guide sewed the guy line attachments back onto the tent after the wind had torn them off overnight. It was a perfect blue sky day walking along in snow shoes.


With more snow, we would probably have camped out on the ice cap, but instead we camped on the ice in the Circo de los Altares and had another perfect blue sky morning.


Next day the ice cap got a bit trickier to navigate without the snow, so it was back to crampons.


Instead of the short exit via Paso Viento, we chose to continue around to paso Huemul and were rewarded with 20 to 30 Condors roosting in the cliffs below us and a nice view over the front of Glacier Viedma.

WOW that landscape.... I just want to drop everything and move somewhere with real mountains... Thanks so much for the pics they brightened my morning.


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Thanks for the write-up, deadwood. Great pictures too. Patagonia is definitely on my bucket-list. What a breathtaking place...

Thanks for posting Deadwood. Great shots and yes a fabulous part of the world. I spent some time a few years ago walking out near Fitzroy and Cerro Torre and also have very fond memories of the local bakery in El Chalten.

Thanks for those pics Deadwood...amazing! I visited El Chalten two years ago and also did Fitzroy and Cerro Torre, it's easy to fall in love with the beauty of the area. I dream of going back to do the southern Patagonian ice cap hike.

@snowzone that bakery is possibly responsible for my addiction to enpanadas

Cool photos, I'd love to go there some day. How is walking in Argentina/Chile ? Is it only multiday walks with plenty of gravel roads ? Do you have daywalks ? Are there any hiking books written in English for the region ?

There have been lots of good day walk opportunities where we've been Hallu. We still haven't been north of Coyhaique on the Chilean side, but Ushaia, Torres del Paine, el Chalten, Villa O'Higgins, Bariloche and many places in between all have day walking options on mostly well marked trails. The walking is particularly good because of the low altitude mountains and glaciers meaning your not having to deal with altitude issues and we've found Chile and Argentina easy to get around on good buses as long as your not on too tight a schedule. The only hiking book I've looked at is the lonely planet trekking in Patagonia book.