Pliegue Tumbado
If you are having 3 days in El Chalten, this circuit is recommended to complement your visit in the area, because enables everyone to fully grasp the true magnitude of the entire area, with panoramic lookout points ideal for photographs.
The starting point of this trail is located at the entrance of the town, next to the National Parks Administration Office. Once the hike is initiated a small bridge made out of logs which leads across a beautiful stream, which after an ascent will be located at our left, a little further away, we are able to see a rock that stands out, and calls the attention for its perfect balance, right after, we begin to traverse through a delightful forested zone filled with Lengas and Ñires, reaching an open sky zone, called “Pampa de las Carretas”, with a wide and clear view of the Fitz Roy, Torre and Huemul massif. Following after, the trail leads once again trough a dense forest, where surely many autochthonous birds that inhabit the area.
Once the forested area ends a more arid and mountainous terrain appears, and the trail continues to the Mirador Del Pliegue (Pliegue viewpoint), on this section marine fossils remains of ammonites and belemnites from 100 million years old are found easily.
In this Viewpoint, we can enjoy of and spectacular view of almost the entire area: Fitz Roy Canyon, Grande Glacier, Adela Glacier, Glacier and Mount Torre, Mother and Daughter Lagoon, Mount Fitz Roy and gives the chance to appreciate Laguna Condor. In brief we get to admire Fitz Roy, Torre and Huemul Mount massif. Continuing 45 minutes of hike until Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, the view reaches as far as Lago Viedma, with Paso del Viento the way out of the Hielos Continentales (Continental Ice).
- Length: Full Day (8 hs)
- Total Distance : 20km approximately
- Unevenness Meters: 1100
- Technical Difficulty: Medium
- Physical Demand: Moderate
- Departure: Between 8:00 y 9:00hs
- Return: 16:00 / 17:00 hs