Lago del Desierto, Argentina/Candelario Mancilla, Chile

 After arriving in El Chaltén, I took myself on a 7 day backpacking trip during Christmas. I took a van to the south point of a beautiful lake (Lago del Desierto) and took a very relaxing 7 mi hike along the lake to the north point/Argentina border office. This is one of my favorite hikes of my entire life so far - the views of Cerro Fitz Roy, the blue lake, mystical forests, and giant mountains covered in glaciers were stunning. The north point of the lake has places to camp under some trees (downsides are a bunch of geese and wind) and gorgeous views of Cerro Fitz Roy at the end of the lake. I stamped my passport to exit Argentina and then continued on the next day to Chile. There is an un-patrolled 13 mi area between the two border offices, where you cross the border on your own in the forest. The Argentina side is a traditional trail, and you walk on a gravel road on the Chile side until you reach their border crossing office. I continued on another kilometer to the small village of Candelario Mancilla, which can only be reached by boat or foot. I camped for a night at a house overlooking the beautiful turquoise Lago O’Higgins and then picked up a “permit” from the Chilean border office the next morning to go deeper into the wilderness.

I hiked on a VERY remote trail (just me n the cows) to a viewpoint of El Chico Glacier. It was very beautiful and super Patagonia-esque, especially with the isolation, but was rough. My feet were never dry, the trail didn’t really exist in most places (due to lack of use) and when it did exist, I was just following cow footprints. The wind was brutal, my map/GPS was incorrect, and I did not have any way to contact anyone, should I have gotten injured/lost. While I’m used to being away from cell reception, it is rare that I am by myself on a trail so isolated that someone wouldn’t come across me in a few days. I did in fact get lost and had to bushwhack down 2000 ft and wander around using the incorrect GPS until I found the trail. Due to the map being incorrect in this section, I got lost in the same place on the way back and had to scale back up the side of the face of the cliff, while wading in thorny bushes up to my chest. I ended up doing the hike in less time than expected bc I couldn’t find the first campsite so I just continued on and completed the second day on the first day (and did the same on the way back). I did see a ton of wild cows, some of which woke me up at 4 am in my campsite bc they wanted me out. Cows in the wilderness kinda freak me out more than any other wildlife bc they can be highly aggressive, but I did get to see a bunch of wild horses too! I camped at the trailhead on the way back to Candelario and then walked a few miles back down to the village on Christmas morning. I unexpectedly found a starlink network at the house so I was able to text/call ppl on Christmas which was a nice surprise! I then somehow got myself invited to a Christmas goat roast. Then, the owners of the house I was camping at, María Luisa and Ricardo, very kindly invited me to the village’s Christmas dinner (population: 7 people, including 3 members of the Chilean National Police from the border office). I didn’t want to intrude but ended up going and having an absolutely wonderful time following the conversation and participating where I could. They roasted a goat, which was delicious, along with the other dishes and I feel so grateful for this experience (tbh all the years I put into learning Spanish were worth it just for this). I left the following day to hike back to the north end of Lago del Desierto and check back into Argentina. The day after, I hiked back to the south point of the lake and read along the lakeshore until my transit arrived.

Transit: Transit to Lago del Desierto is expensive (like a dollar per mile), but I just wanted it taken care of and didn’t feel like dealing with hitchhiking. Transit to the south point of the lake can be booked with lots of tour companies. Most travelers will hop on the boat from that point, but that’s where hikers begin the trail that goes along the lake.

Tips/recommendations: I would highly recommend the hike along Lago del Desierto (one of my favorite hikes ever!!!) and the hike to Candelario Mancilla for a beautiful view of Lago O’HIggins. I would not recommend the glacier hike I did without very significant backpacking experience, and even then I wouldn’t really recommend it. I was just so desperate for isolation in a crowded region that I was willing to deal with the conditions. There will definitely be people camping at the Lago del Desierto and Candelario camp spots, but it was a different crowd than that of more popular trails in Patagonia and the vibe was really nice (I met a lot of cool people!). The Candelario camp spot is 10,000 Chilean pesos per night and has a shower. The main reason I would recommend this route, aside from the jaw-dropping views is that I felt that the forest scenery was very different than what I experienced on the trails in El Chalten. The forests on this route were extremely lush, whereas the forests on other trails had a drier, more Patagonian desert vibe.