I have been to Patagonia three times, the first one in 2010. To say that the place has changed would be an understatement. I guess my wife got tired of listening to me talk about how much I love it there, and decided to organize a family trip there. It turned out to be type 2 fun for her - not fun to do but fun to talk about after the fact I don't do much "serious" photography on family trips so most of these are cell phone images. Nothing particularly unique, but the mountains are SO GORGEOUS no matter how many times you see them.
Some people call this "Waddington Gorge". A bit out of the way, requires fence hopping to get there, but a better view that then one a few miles down the road. The place is windy as hell, and Andrew Waddington built a wind shelter there circa 2015 to allow him to wait on the weather without freezing to death https://bboyanov.com/gallery/_data/i/upload/2025/01/11/20250111202836-0b23ad2a-xl.jpg
From the area of the Poincenot campground. Many people view this place as nothing more than a stop on the way to the completely unremarkable (from a photography point) Laguna de los Tres, but if you take the time to explore it there are gorgeous opportunities https://bboyanov.com/gallery/_data/i/upload/2025/01/05/20250105020721-65947225-xl.jpg
You got some great shots with the cell phone on a family visit! This is one of the places I always wanted to climb, but the season is when I worked, and waiting out the weather (without good forecasts) BITD was too much of a time commitment for me.
live2huntelk wrote:
Thanks for sharing. Patagonia is on the bucket list of places to visit. Which month was you there with your family?
It was late December, the week between Christmas and New Year. It was fairly busy but not as crowded as I expected, possibly due to the holidays. Most people don't think that sleeping in a tent on Christmas eve and eating a rehydrated dinner is an acceptable celebration
The upsides of the summer visit is much better weather - it was almost unpleasantly warm. In 3 days I saw the mountain not entombed in clouds more than in cumulative 3 weeks during past visits. The downside is that it is not nearly as pretty as a late April or May visit. The lenga fall colors can rival anything in the NE US, and fresh dusting of snow on the mountains improves the scenery A LOT. The fierce winds can create wonderful light when clouds are present. But you need to roll the dice and plan to work around the weather.
Al Trujillo wrote:
Such a beautiful place! When you have time would you share with us how it has changed since your first visit?
In 2010 Chalten was a spit of a town with one partially paved street to its name. There were maybe 2 restaurants and the best you could get was mutton. The hotels were mostly hostel quality. But... you could go off-trail in the mountains at your discretion. In 2017 there was some "gentrification" of the place but not too dramatic. They had already started clamping on off-trail excursions but not dramatically. In 2024 there is an ultra expensive Explora hotel, dozens of restaurants, and lots of development. The locals tell me that most of the buildings are hotels or AirBnB's. It is much more crowded, though I hear that TdP has become a clusterf***k in comparison. It was still possible to attain a level of solitude on the trails if you traveled outside of peak hours. I was with my wife so there was no plan to go off-trail but I am now told it is heavily regulated. And yes, now there is a $45 USD/day charge to be on the trails - loosely enforced at the moment but I suspect they will tighten it up.
GroovyGeek wrote:
In 2010 Chalten was a spit of a town with one partially paved street to its name. There were maybe 2 restaurants and the best you could get was mutton. The hotels were mostly hostel quality. But... you could go off-trail in the mountains at your discretion. In 2017 there was some "gentrification" of the place but not too dramatic. They had already started clamping on off-trail excursions but not dramatically. In 2024 there is an ultra expensive Explora hotel, dozens of restaurants, and lots of development. The locals tell me that most of the buildings are hotels or AirBnB's. It is much more crowded, though I hear that TdP has become a clusterf***k in comparison. It was still possible to attain a level of solitude on the trails if you traveled outside of peak hours. I was with my wife so there was no plan to go off-trail but I am now told it is heavily regulated. And yes, now there is a $45 USD/day charge to be on the trails - loosely enforced at the moment but I suspect they will tighten it up....Show more →
We love our great places to death. I'm sure it'll be different again if you ever go back.
"Double G"...OUTSTANDING compositions all!
Just beautiful mountains and such a rugged place!
When I was a young boy, my father took my 2 brothers and I into Maryland's far west mountains on New Years Eve!
Below 0 temps but we loved it!!
When registering with the Park Super, he said "if you guyz are crazy enough to camp out on NY eve in this cold be my guest!" No charge!
GroovyGeek wrote:
It was late December, the week between Christmas and New Year. It was fairly busy but not as crowded as I expected, possibly due to the holidays. Most people don't think that sleeping in a tent on Christmas eve and eating a rehydrated dinner is an acceptable celebration
The upsides of the summer visit is much better weather - it was almost unpleasantly warm. In 3 days I saw the mountain not entombed in clouds more than in cumulative 3 weeks during past visits. The downside is that it is not nearly as pretty as a late April or May visit. The lenga fall colors can rival anything in the NE US, and fresh dusting of snow on the mountains improves the scenery A LOT. The fierce winds can create wonderful light when clouds are present. But you need to roll the dice and plan to work around the weather....Show more →
My family (grandparents to grandkids) visited El Chalten just before your trip. We had a great time and remarkably stable weather. We went on to Chile and Torres del Paine, where my daughter shot this with her RX 100:
zugzwang2 wrote:
My family (including my usually desk-bound 75 year-old sister-in-law) thought that the hike to Laguna de los Tres was well worth the effort:
I think that many, many others did, too--but combining exposures made them disappear. . . .
I did say "from a photographic standpoint". It is pretty to see but not pretty to photograph. There are really no "wow" pictures I can think of Laguna de Los Tres, unlike this for example
Sure, it may be over-processed by the taste of some, but the view of the mountains is far more compelling, unlike the view from Laguna where the base of the mountain range is blocked by the ridge that you used to hide the people
I assume you've probably been but what's your opinion of TdP as well? I'm contemplating a trip down here in 2026 to visit both TdP and El Chalten. First time visit so I'm not sure I want to chance it with April weather. Not sure how long I should spend in each of the areas if others in my group won't be doing the big hikes.
I love these! Makes me want to go out and travel the world to capture landscapes, but them I remember I'm an action photographer and don't like traveling.
I don't do much "serious" photography on family trips so most of these are cell phone images. Nothing particularly unique, but the mountains are SO GORGEOUS no matter how many times you see them.