The Huemel circuit
By Jaimy de Vries
The Huemel circuit is a 60 kilometer (40 mile) trek that starts from El Chaltén and ends on the banks of Lago Viedma. Its one of the hidden gems of the Argentinean Patagonia. The trek brings you through meadows and forests, across rivers and up windy passes and rocky moraines. The highlight of the Huemul Circuit is the unparalleled view of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the second-largest non-polar ice mass in the world. It is a challenging hike, both physically and mentally. It is a hike for more experienced hikers, but an unexperienced hiker like me did it!
On day one of my visit in El Chaltén I heard about a 4-day hike called the Huemel circuit. it is namend after the animal Huemel, family of the deer. My interest was piqued, but a four day hike…how!? I had no experience and I certainly can’t do it alone. But I heard, even though its one of the most challenging hikes in Patagonia, it’s doable, even for less experienced hikers. After trying out a first multi-day hike at Fitz Roy I had more confidence. The next day I got an invitation to join a group of French backpackers. A girl of the group met a tour guide from El Calafate and he’s going to join us. How great! Someone who is familiar with the environment and has a lot of experience. Me and my hiking buddy Maarten joined the group. First we had a rest day after our Fitz Roy hike and that day we could use to prepare ourselves for the trip.
Planning the trip
After a good night of sleep our group came together. In our group we have Emiliano, Axelle, Sofie, Valentin, me and Maarten. We had a nice big breakfast together and made a checklist. It was quite difficult to make arrangements and plan the things we needed to do because we were with a big group. So Maarten and I decided to do most of the arrangements ourselves and only do grocery shopping with the whole group. While we were preparing ourselves we heard some frightening stories about accidents and people that were not prepared. Doubts kicked in: “how do you prepare yourself for such a trip? Can I do this? Won’t it be too hard for me?”. Luckily we also met some very relaxing people that reassured us we were going to make it. Well underneath I made a little guide how to prepare yourself and how the Huemel circuit is like.
1. Weather
The Huemul Circuit is notorious for its wild wind and relentless rain, so give yourself a few days of wiggle room and start the trek when the weather looks favorable. Your trek can go sideways in a hurry if you are unprepared for the weather ahead. I used WindGuru, like the locals, to keep track of the forecast. And we were in luck: two sunny days and the third day some possibility of rain.
2. Navigating
A GPS map is more or less essential for this trip since much of the trail is unmarked and quite difficult to follow. I used two Navigation apps that works really well on this trek:
Wikiloc
You can download this Wikiloc on google store. Wikiloc is an app with lots of hiking trails over the whole world. You can download the maps and trails online and use this navigation tool offline. You can share your experience, photo’s and make contact with other hikers. You can also see details of the trails, like the elevation gain and loss.
Download the Vuelta al Huemel trail. I used the map made by Alberto Pedrotti.
Maps.me
You can download this maps.me on google store. When you open the app download the region surrounding El Chaltén before your trek. Drop a few bookmarks onto your offline map while you have internet access so you know where your campsites and landmarks will be. Here’s a list of the waypoint you can bookmark:
- Centero de visitantes “Gpque ceferino Fonzo”
- Toro camp
- Paso del Viento
- Paso del Viento Camp
- Camp Bahia de los Tempanos
- Tyrolean (river crossing)
Your phone would be your navigation tool, so make sure you bring a power bank so your phone has enough battery.
3. Registrating
Furthermore, one of the reasons that the trail is lesser known is that some parts are unmarked. Therefore, you’ll need to have experience navigating. As a result, it is compulsory to register with the park rangers before setting off. It costs nothing, but if you’re caught without a permit you will be liable for a fine. The rangers operate this system so that if you don’t make it back by your estimated finish date, they send out a search and rescue team.
4. Packing
To safely hike the Huemul Circuit, you’ll need a backpack full of quality equipment to stand up to the windy, rainy, and ruthless Patagonian wilderness for four days. Because this trek is so remote and technical, in order to start your hike it’s mandatory that you back some special equipment that you can rent at one of the outdoor shops in El Chaltén. You must pack:
- A harness
- Two carabiners (one aluminum, one steel
- A map of the hike
- 20 meters of thin rope or paracord
- A camping stove (no open fires allowed)
Besides your equipment you need good clothing where the key word is layers! And of course you need to buy food that is very nutritious and light at the same time. Click on the link below to read my post “how to prepare for a multi-day hike” to see what other stuff you need to pack and how much. This post includes a complete checklist.
A good rest
The hike is challenging mentally and physically. Make sure you take enough rest and some good meals with lots of nutricion, because you’re going to miss this on your hike.
My story of the Huemel circuit
Day 1 - From the APN to Laguna Toro Campground
Distance: 15 kilometers (9,9 miles)
Elevation gain/loss: 762 meters (2,500 feet) / 610 meters (2,000 feet)
After arranging the last stuff like picking up our gear at the rental shop we made a group photo and then we finally set off at the end of the morning. First towards the camp rangers and then off to Los Glaciars national park to hike to our next temporary home: campground Laguna Torres. The camp rangers offer you a slideshow with all the information about the trek and they can help you practice using your gear.
This part on day 1 is the most busiest of the trip. Some people stay here at the first campsite and go back to El Chaltén. Or they take the Huemel circuit, and continue the more adventurous part of the circuit.
We crossed six hours through green meadows with an elevation of 700 meters and walked 16 km. We saw lots of wild cows moaning at us, they want to protect their little cubs. It was quite hard making an elevation with a heavy bag of more than 10 kg. While they say it’s the easiest day of the entire circuit. My fitness and endurance were already tested. I also got a bit anxious about the rest of the trip. But we made it in 5 hours, instead of 6 including a big lunch and little nap. So we had quite a fast travel pace.
When we reached the highest point on our first hiking day we were surprised by an amazing view over the Huemel mountain range. We also saw some strange looking clouds, they’re called: Lentucolas clouds.
After a descent we walked side longs the Tunel river and arrived at the Torro campground We build our tent, cooked dinner and went to bed early.
Day 2 - From Laguna Toro Campground to Paso del Viento Campground
Distance: 15 kilometers (9.3 miles)
Elevation gain/loss: 914 meters (3,000 feet) / 671 meters (2,200 feet)
I had a good sleep thanks to my earplugs because otherwise you can hear lots of wind and some of our group slept bad because of that. We woke up on 8 O’clock, made a nice cereal breakfast, packed up our tent and then set off. We just walked out of the camping side and I almost got blown away by the wind. “Welcome to Patagonia”, Emiliano said, laughing. This is just an average day. After a one hour hike and little elevation we arrived at the Zip-line. This can be a challenge for solo or inexperience travelers. The zip-line is a steel cable that goes from on end of the ravine to the other. You need a harness with a steel and carbin carabiner with a safety rope. The river underneath is freezing cold and we’ll take you with it. It was an exciting experience. I was happy that I went with a group that had experience. First two people went to the other side and then we transferred all our bags. We clipped the bags on the traverse and the two on the other side pulled the bags towards them with an extra rope we brought with us. After our bags arrived safely, then it was my turn to cross the ravine.
When you go make sure all the carabiners are safely attached. If you’re ready make sure to give a little kick to the rock to gain more speed, enjoy and don’t loose your speeds otherwise you need to work harder to get to the other side. I arrived safely and the rest of the group too. This procedure took us at least one hour. Its also possible to cross the river by foot if there was not much rainfall, but the stream of the river is very powerful and can be dangerous. It was a long morning, but this was just the beginning….
We needed to arrive at Paso del Viento campground and it was still an eight to ten hour hike away with a steep elevation of 1000 meters at 1550 meter above sea level. First we walked 45 minutes to reach a glacier, the Glaciar Tunel Inferior. Hiking across the glacier is one of the many highlights of the trek, but the paths leading onto and off of the glacier are extremely loose and slippery. Be ready to slip and fall on your ass a time or two, as I did. How long or how little you hike on the glacier is up to you. My advice is to stay on the glacier as long as possible. It is such a special and unique experience that you simply can’t do every day. Not if you are Emiliano though. Emiliano is a glacier tour guide, so I felt really safe walking over the glacier. He knew which spots were dangerous (watch out for moraines), but there was only one spot on the trail we needed to look out for. It was quite easy to walk over the Glacier. It was the first glacier I walked on….technically speaking that’s not entirely true because I went to Antarctica full of glaciers and snowmobiled on a glacier in Iceland, but there was so much snow that I couldn’t see the shape and looks of a glacier with all its cracks and holes like this one. It felt like we walked over a cloud. It was amazing!
After the Glacier walk the ascent started immediately. Now the heavy part started, an elevation of 1000 meter. There were lots of slippery rocks that sometimes slide you back down. Almost as quickly as you finish slipping and sliding up the rock, a new challenge will present itself: Paso del Viento, the “windy pass”. The ascent isn’t overly technical, it’s just steep and relentless…..and windy. I had a hard time climbing the mountain, it was a physical but also a mental challenge to keep going. Mentally it was hard because you get the idea you finally reached the top, and when you do you found out it wasn’t. And this happened to me over more like six times. I needed to climb, climb again and again….it looked like there was no end. But (luckily!) with every beginning you have an end. After a four a five hour climb we finally reached the top. When you reached the top you get a well-deserved unparalleled view of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third biggest glacier over the world that is approximately 360 kilometer long and 80 kilometers wide. If you climb a little bit more off the trail (ten minute walk) you are able to see a 360 panoramic view over the glacier and the ice field.
It was lovely hanging out here. But we needed to go down to our campground. So after taking some picture’s we started our descent of 900 meters. It was hard to stay on the trail, because it was a rocky terrain and you get lost quickly. I was so happy we had Emiliano, our tour guide, with us. Once the path levels out a bit, we were treated with a blissful moss-covered peat bogs and many small streams and rivers that we crossed. Enough water supplies! And you can safely drink from the water of these river streams – it’s very clear, cold and tastes very good! A nice treat when your working hard to go from point A to B.
After a 2,5 hour walk we reached the campground Paso del Viento. “Yes, finally!”. We were all tired and it was already 7:00 p.m. Some took a shower in the river, I didn’t try this because I was so cold already. Besides the camping site is on the windy pass…If you get cold, you’d probably stay cold and I learned that it’s important not to cool off before you go to bed.
We set up our tents behind the small rock walls (give protection for wind) and started cooking. After dinner at 9 p.m. I cleaned and went to bed. I took all the food with me in the tent, because there are lots of mice and they don’t care to make a little hole in your backpack to get some food. So be sure to bring all the food in your tent!
Day 3 - From Paso del Viento to Lago Viedma Campground
Distance: 18 kilometers (11,2 miles)
Elevation gain/loss: 640 meters (2,100 feet) / 1342 meters (4,400 feet)
The next morning we woke up on 8 am and started with a nice cereal breakfast and some warming up exercises. Then we packed our stuff and left around 10 a.m. Our first six kilometers we had a fast pace, de trek started off gentle. After six kilometers of a quite easy walk, we ascended, and descended, then ascended, descended again…and go on. There was (again!) no end. Was this the 400 meter accent we needed to make (from 600 meters above sea-level to 1000)? Nope I got fooled again! Once we reached close to the Paso Huemel we had a quite steep ascent on slippery rock and gravel, with lots of wind! I fell over 3 times because of the strong winds. Luckily I had the wind on my back side. The wind was so strong I was imaging to jump high and just fly my way to the top. But unfortunately that didn’t work, so I needed to climb myself. One can dream right!?
Once we reached the top we had an amazing view over the southern Patagonia icefield that stretches far into the horizon, revealing white snow-covered mountains. Once we passed the paso Huemel we took a last look at the Patagonia glacier field and then we walked towards Viedma lake, wow! It’s a glacier lake and if you look well you can see some white spots, these are icebergs.
First the descent was okay, we read that it was really hard.. but after half an hour walk we could understand why, then it presents its real challenge — 700 meters (2,300 feet) descend over 1,9 kilometers (3,900 feet ) of the trail. That’s really steep, makes it almost impossible to walk without sticks. My legs and feet were already so sour, I had many blisters on my feet, my body was broken, but I continued on mental strength. While descending I needed to grab lots of tree roots, and scoot on my bottom to prevent me from falling over. At not one but two points we needed to rappel down on a three meter long rock formation, with the use of a rope set made by the park rangers. Once I landed after the second rappel I saw a huemul deer, just 30 meters away. It was a knee-busting descent. Finally when my body, mostly my knees, were almost giving in on the weight of my backpack, the trail started to flat out and leads out to a lake front, the Viedma lake where our campground was. Quickly we set up to tent, I washed myself at a small river stream and rested with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the amazing view from the tent. I could see the glacier and icebergs from out my camping spot. I was so proud of myself and everyone that reached the camping site. We earned to be here! We made dinner and after it turned dark I went to bed. It would be our last night on the trek.
Day 4 - From Lago Viedma Campground to El Chaltén
Distance: 23 kilometers (14,3 miles)
Elevation gain/loss: 427 meters (1,400 feet) / 417 meters (1,400 feet)
I woke up to clear skies and a beautiful pink sunset. I enjoyed my cereal breakfast on the rocky beach and enjoyed the view over Lake Viedma. I was a bit sad that this was our last day, but I was also happy to go back to civilization with a warm shower and a nice meal, and to call back my love & family and let them know I’m safe.
Our group had a fast travel pace and I had difficulty following them, because my body was so tired. We need to climb some mountains too. They said the last day would be flat, well flat for me is flat like the Netherlands, not an elevation of 500 meter – that’s more than our highest mountain of 300 meters haha. But I knew there was a nice shower and a cold coke waiting for me in El Chaltén, enough motivation to walk fast. We wanted to walk fast to arrive a soon as possible at the zip-line to avoid waiting to cross in a queue of hikers.
Around lunch time we arrived at the zipline at the Tunel River. We went to the other side with our backpacks on, the zip-line is able to support the weight of a hiker and their backpack. That saves some time, so this cross-over went a lot quicker than our first zip-line. You can just slide down to the middle and then pull yourself to the other side. It was fun. For me it was a little bit hard to pull myself to the other side, because of my breast surgeries in the past. But I made it!
After that it was a 2,5 hour walk to the city. When you reached the gravel road you see some cars passing by. Me and Axelle were so tired that we walked like old ladies… Once we read the paved road we decided to try to hitch hike. We waved at the first car we saw and they stopped. Yes! A middle-aged couple drove us to the tourist office. It saved us quite a walk and we waved at the rest of our group from the car. This was our first time hitch hiking experience and it was the best idea of the whole trip!!
After our trip I took a very long shower. On a 4 day trek it was not possible to clean yourself well (only baby wipes) and with a zip-off pants I don’t feel lady-like at all. I was so happy to take a nice long shower, dress up and put some make-up on and earrings in. Back to normal! After that I treated myself to go out for dinner. I ordered a very nice Argentinean meal: a meat stove. Lots of protein to gain some strength and energy after a 4-day hike.
The Huemel circuit was a hard multi-day hike that challenges you to your limits. There were so many contrasts during this multi-day hike. And with that I’m not only talking about the constantly changing landscapes from steppe, to peatbogs, to slippery rocks, to glaciers and iceberg lakes. No, I’m also talking about the emotional rollercoaster: there were moments I felt hyped, excited and strong – but also moments I felt tired, insecure, weak and sad. But I overcame this and finished the 4-day hike.
Now I’m overwhelmed with joy and I’m just very proud of myself. I would do it all over again!
This Post Has 5 Comments
Hello Jaimy, I am a collegue of your mum and it’s great I can follow your big adventure. You sure are a power girl and I love the picturs of the beautiful nature. I wish you a lot of success with the rest of your journey
Hi Loes! Thanks for your sweet comment, that makes me really happy! Well I have much more stories to write about. I read that you subscribed for my newsletter, so I’ll keep you updated! 🙂
I like to read the rest of your adventures
Hi Jaimy!
What an amazing trip you had so far! I loved your photos and your detail experience. Chona and I were telling each other we need Jaimy here to show us how to pose for our pictures during the hike to Fitz Roy. I am so impressed of your bravery to take on the 4 days long backpack hiking the Huemel Circuit. Now that I am home and back to my normal daily routine of work and family, can’t wait to see more of your post to take me to other parts of the world. Happy travel and stay safe!
May I simply say what a relief to uncover somebody that really understands what theyre discussing over the internet. You certainly know how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people really need to check this out and understand this side of the story. I was surprised that youre not more popular because you certainly have the gift.