Mountains of rock and ice have white clouds swirling around the summits The Patagonia Diaries
Notes from the wild and windy Patagonia mountain trails. El Chalten and the Patagonian mountains await us. Lots of photography, hiking, backpacking, mountains, sunsets, sunrises and wildlife!
Subscribe via RSS here
El Chalten Hiking Photography Travel Wildlife

Feathered & Furry Findings November 13th

Some of my favourite finds from today's half day walk up a windy Cerro Antenna. • Andean Condor • Guanaco  • Long-tailed Meadowlark Just as predicted, it’s a windy day in El Chalten. We seized a brief lull in the weather—a precious window between yesterday's gusts and the stronger winds forecast for this afternoon and tomorrow. With our backpacks loaded with cameras and extra layers, we set out. My expectations for wildlife sightings were low, but the morning held some beautiful surprises. The undisputed stars were the Andean Condors, putting on a dramatic show as they battled the ferocious winds,...
November 13th, 2025 Wildlife

A Windy morning on Cerro Antenna

The Patagonian weather is finally breaking. After days of settled conditions, the script has flipped: while patches of sun still linger, the peaks are now swaddled in cloud, and the wind has arrived with a vengeance. These are the strongest gusts we’ve felt in the 13 days since we arrived. A proper Patagonian welcome. And that’s saying something. Patagonia is notorious for its ferocious winds, but to experience them is something else entirely. I’ve stood on my share of windy mountain tops, but this is like nothing else on the planet. There’s a reason these winds feel so profound. They...
November 13th, 2025 Hiking

Feathered Findings November 10th

Some of my favourite finds from our aborted bivvy on Loma de Pliege Tumbado. After my illness cost us several good weather days, we decided to seize a narrow window for a hike. The climb was a grueling 1000 meters with heavy overnight packs, making "slow and steady" our only pace. For a birder like me, that’s perfect. I’d hoped to birdwatch at specific spots on the way up and again the next morning, but as we’d soon learn, this trip had its own plans. • Magellanic Woodpecker  • Austral Parakeet  • White-throated Caracara  • Ocra-napped Ground Tyrant  Our first...
November 12th, 2025 Wildlife

How a Bottle of Malbec Lured Me Off the Mountain

"I don't think the clouds are going to change color," Kiersten said, her voice barely audible over the wind screaming across the ridge. I grunted, a non-committal "Hmmmm," that hid the battle raging in my mind. We were at 1,276 meters on Loma de Pliege Tumbado, a spot I’d called my favourite viewpoint in all of Patagonia. We had sweated for five hours to get here for this overnight bivouac. Sunset was in three hours. And now, my wife was offering me a way out, sealed with a single, magical word: Malbec. "OK," I said. "Let's go." This is the...
November 11th, 2025 Hiking

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Laguna Torre

Just back from a stunning two-day backpacking trip to Laguna Torre, at the foot of the mighty Cerro Torre. We're committed to honest travel tales, the sublime, the frustrating, and the downright ridiculous. So, here's our warts-and-all report from the trails. The GoodLet's start with the obvious: the scenery is otherworldly. The jagged summits of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy, the ancient glaciers, the turquoise lakes, and the wind-sculpted Lenga forests—it's a landscape that defies hyperbole. On a good day, Patagonia is untouchable. The D'Agostini campsite is worth every peso of the 20,000 ARS fee. It’s a haven of organisation...
November 8th, 2025 Hiking

A Double Dose of Duck Delight on the Río Fitzroy!

Talk about a lucky day in Patagonia! We were treated to the spectacular sight of not one, but two stunning male Torrent Ducks riding the rapids of the Río Fitzroy. These aren't your average pond ducks! These are the white-water kayakers of the avian world, true specialists, built to thrive in the fast-flowing rivers of the Andes.  The story goes something like this..... So, we set up camp and immediately embarked on an expedition to find the elusive Torrent Ducks. We'd been hiking past their neighborhood earlier but hadn't spotted any.  Cut to: five minutes from camp. Richard asks to...
November 7th, 2025 Wildlife

Patagonian Patience and Dive-Bombing Birds

Sometimes, the most challenging part of an adventure isn't a gruelling hike or a blizzard on a pass—it's the patience required when your plans are put on hold. Today was a lesson in exactly that. A familiar feeling of frustration crept in as we, once again, had to postpone our long-awaited trip into the mountains. Kiersten is still fighting off a stubborn bug, and in a place as wild and unforgiving as Patagonia, the "better safe than sorry" mantra isn't just a saying; it's a essential rule to live by. It’s a bitter pill to swallow when the weather outside...
November 6th, 2025 El Chalten

Feathered Findings November 6th

Some of my favourite finds from a potter about town. I've been feeling pretty rough with some bug I've caught, I'm hopeful I'm over the worst now so I'm catching up with some pictures. The first picture, not the greatest of pictures as this was a long way off but it tells a story. These Southern Lapwing birds are some of the feistiest parents in the world, they will fight off anything they see as a threat to their family. This Crested Caracara came under attack from the two Lapwing, both the Lapwings had deployed their spurs, the Caracara wisely...
November 6th, 2025 Wildlife

A Tale of Foiled Plans and Four-Hour Pints

Greetings from the bottom of the world, where the weather is as predictable as a coin flip and the beer is cheaper than a decent cup of coffee. First, a mission statement. We’re not here to sell you a lie. You won't find a single photo of us, tanned and serene, doing yoga on a sun-drenched glacier. No, sir. We’re here to bring you the raw, unvarnished, and often damp truth of Patagonia. Think of us as your friendly, slightly shivering reality TV show from the Andes. So far, the "good, warm weather, sun and blue skies" package has been...
November 5th, 2025 El Chalten

Peaks, Condors, Ducks and Clear Skies

Another day, another slow pace: just 8km in 5 hours. But today, we have some pretty good excuses.Our first detour was to the Mirador de Cóndores. After an hour of watching a playful group of Kestrels with no condors in sight, we were about to give up. Then, as if on cue, a lone condor passed right over our heads, no more than ten meters away. Kiersten definitely got some amazing shots. We then hiked on to the Mirador de Águilas (Eagle's View). Guess what? No eagles. The fine view of the icebergs floating on distant Lago Viedma was some...
November 4th, 2025 Hiking

Pappardelle alla Rustica con Cime di Broccolo e Salsa Pomodoro Affumicata

A symphony of artisanal, sun-dried durum wheat pappardelle, generously enveloped in a slow-cooked passata di pomodoro. This foundation is elevated by a confit of sweet, translucent gold shallots, offering a delicate sweetness that harmonises with the tender, hand selected broccoli florets, roasted to al dente perfection. The dish is a testament to the beauty of simplicity, allowing the purity of each curated component to resonate on the palate. The reality ... Pasta, Italian sauce packet, onions & broccoli mixed together A fiercely dedicated smoke-kissed sauté pan, bearing the profound, smoky patina of a blisteringly high-heat finish.
November 3rd, 2025 El Chalten

Smooth Move, Supermarket Chaos & Happy Hour Luck

Today marked a little shift in our Patagonian adventure. We said a temporary goodbye to the wonderful Gabriella at the Hotel Confin Patagonico (thanks to Claudia and Jorge who gave us a fantastic deal – ¡mil gracias!) and moved to a new base camp. Through their recommendation, we’re now settled into a compact and brilliant apartment run by their good friend, Fernando. The service was seamless - help with our bags was included, a touch we can’t recommend highly enough! While our stay at Confin Patagonico was great, Fernando’s place on the main drag is exactly what we were looking...
November 3rd, 2025 El Chalten

An Inadequate Description of a Perfect Patagonian Hike

Let me start with a confession: I am utterly unequipped to do today’s hike justice. My vocabulary fails me, and while I’m a perfectly acceptable photographer, my images are but pale echoes of the reality we witnessed. They capture a moment, but not the soul-stirring, immersive feeling of being there. So, I won’t try to wax lyrical. Instead, I’ll simply tell you about the walk—the Cerro Paredón circuit—and why, if you ever find yourself in El Chalten, you should make it your first priority. I’ll leave you with my photos, which I’m genuinely happy with, even as I acknowledge their...
November 2nd, 2025 Hiking

Day 1 Rio de las Vueltas, Pumas, Pesos, and Pre-Owned Cars

The day began, as so many do, at the National Park office. It was a visit that proved more worthwhile than we could have imagined. We were hit with the news straight away: a whopping $45 per person, per day, to hike in the park. Considering we're here for over a month, that number was enough to make our wallets whimper! Fortunately, we discovered a loophole in the form of an annual pass for 225,000 pesos (about $160 each). Still a significant investment, but our best option by far. The real win, however, was securing permission to bivouac at a...
November 1st, 2025 Hiking

The Finest Journey of All (How We Stopped Being Grumpy Gits)

If you’ve been following this TravelLog, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’re two joy-sucking vampires who hate fun, sunlight, and functional transportation. The journey had been a masterclass in frustration, requiring the patience of a saint and the resilience of a Nokia 3310. But then we flew into El Calafate, and the travel gods finally decided to stop using us as their personal punchbag. Being a small municipal airport, we collected our bags in roughly 20 minutes — a timespan so brief I almost forgot how to scowl. Even others on our flight noticeably relaxed. Immediately, we were met by...
November 1st, 2025 Travel
Archives
powered by Scribbles