Hiking Glacier Aysén

Welcome to your adventure hiking in Patagonia!

Arrival at the airport of Balmaceda Here you will have to pick up the 4×4 rental car and drive to Puerto Tranquilo.

On the Hiking Glacier Aysén tour, you will have impressive views of the majestic Cerro Castillo Mountain, the Rio Simpson Valley and the Ibañez Valley. The 1850 km² General Carrera Lake (named Chelenko by the indigenous inhabitants) fascinates straightaway with an unforgettable spectrum of colors and the Llaves Cordillera in the background. In the afternoon and evening the light falls on the best side of the unique marble caves of the Chelenko which favors the sight. Below the turquoise water runs a white marble ridge through the lake.

Overnight at Hotel El Puesto.

In the morning, after breakfast, you will go with your vehicle to the Exploradores Valley and the glacier park, which gateway is directly behind the hotel.

Past the waterfalls, along the Tranquilo lake, the Bayo lake and great views of different glaciers, it goes to the base station. Here the equipment (adequate shoes for the ice, crampons gametes) is tried on and packed into the backpack. You will start walking through the evergreen Valdivian rainforest and after 15 min you’ll reach the end moraine of the Exploradores River, which you will climb and climb down again on the other side. Such a wonderful hike in Patagonia.

The descent is steep, but you do not need any experience. After another hour of hiking through the deposits of the glacier, you reach the “eternal” ice. Little by little one enters the unexplored territory which is in constant movement.

Everywhere, it clucks and bubbles. Near and far you can hear water rushing and stones and rocks in all conceivable sizes are moving. On the glittering white ice surface of the glacier, the crampons are pulled over, and it is explained how these are to be used. We explore caves in surreal forms: The form of rainfalls formed flows (remolinos) which lead deep to the bottom of the glacier and in good weather conditions we look over the glacier to the impressive San Valentin mountain in the northern Patagonian ice field which starts behind the tearing edge of the Exploradores. After about 2 hours hiking, exploring and taking photos on the ice, you will start going back to Puerto Tranquilo. Overnight at Hotel El Puesto. Have a look at some impressive fotos of the Glacier Aysén on Flickr.

Another day in the beautiful Patagonia. After breakfast, our Hiking Glacier Aysén tour continues to the Carretera Austral, down the road to Puerto Guadal.

It is worth doing a detour via Puerto Bertrand to the Baker River, which flows 10 km impressively with the Neff river. Then you continue along the south bank of the General Carrera Lake to Chile Chico, the city of the sun. With spectacular views of this lake in Patagonia, it goes from one of the rainiest regions of Chile with an annual altitude of 4000 mm, to the arid Chile Chico (600 mm), which transitions geographically into the Argentine Pampa.

We also recommend doing a walk along the promenade. We spend the night just a few meters from the border to Argentina at the Hotel Posada del Rio.

Last day in Patagonia! After breakfast, we drive back to Chile Chico, from where we take the ferry to Puerto Ibañez, on the northern side of General Carrera Lake. From here we follow the Carretera Austral to the Balmaceda airport.