EL CHALTÉN , ARGENTINIAN PATAGONIA (FEB.2022): HIKE TO LAGUNA AZUL & LAGUNA DIABLO

El Chaltén is the National Capital of Trekking in Argentina. It was founded in the late 1970s/early 1980s as an outpost of Argentina to anticipate land claims of Chile for that area. It is still a small town that is best known for being the gateway to Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, two of the most rugged and impressive peaks in the Patagonian Andes, as well as the Viedma Glacier, the biggest one in Argentina. To get there you have to fly into El Calafate airport and travel by car/bus which takes about 3 1/2 hours. The strong emotions begin long before arriving, when in the distance you can see mountains and glaciers that make this corner of Patagonia unique! In 1877, Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno named mount Chaltén as mount Fitz Roy, in honour of Robert FitzRoy, captain during the Second voyage of HMS Beagle in the 1830s. El Chaltén is located in the Southern Andes (Santa Cruz province), within the Los Glaciares National Park, in a valley where the rivers De las Vueltas and Fitz Roy meet. Cerro Chaltén or Fitz Roy is the predominant figure of the landscape. Chaltén is a term of the Aonikenk language by which the ancient Tehuelches named this mountain they considered sacred. Its meaning is “Smoky Mountain”, because that is the impression it gives when the clouds are columned by the wind at its top. Today the sole reason for this town's existence is tourism. El Chaltén was founded on October 12, 1985, in territories that, until the end of the 20th century, were the subject of prolonged border conflicts between Argentina and Chile for the possession of Lago del Desierto and surrounding areas. In fact, these geopolitical reasons were the ones that motivated the settlement of the town by Argentina. The Santa Cruz provincial government initially built houses and that is how the story began. El Chaltén had just 41 stable inhabitants in the 1991 census, climbed to 371 a decade later and today there are almost 2000. In October 2014, El Chalten took second place in a ranking of "Best cities in the world to know" of the travel guide Lonely Planet publishing in 2015, being the first city of Argentina. During our four nights stay we stayed at Explora's Lodge which just opened its doors December 15th, 2021. the lodge is located 45 minutes away from the city of El Chalten (aprox 20 km) through a non paved road but with a scenery view that exceeded expectations! The Explora lodge in El Chaltén was built within the Los Huemules Conservation Reserve located amidst a private natural reserve, on the north bank of the Eléctrico River and surrounded by dense forests of lenga and ñirre trees. It is a pristine location and much less busy than the National Park in El Chalten. Our first day hiking was within the Huemules Reserve and it started from the lodge towards Laguna Azul & Laguna Diablo trail . Laguna Diablo trail borders with Diablo River where it ends at Laguna Diablo & Cagliero Glacier. We had lunch at Cagliero Post (refugio).The trail was 11.74 miles which took us 8 hours 45 minutes at an altitude of 2,033, ft and totally worth it!!!!