24/3/2017 Lake Lapataia – Lago Roca – Cerro Guanaco
Tierra del Fuego National Park, ARGENTINA
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report)
The Cerro Guanco trail is the longest of the day walks in the Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia, Argentina. The walk promises outstanding views of the Fuegian mountains and peat bogs and on this occasion it did not disappoint. The park is twelve kilometres outside of Ushuaia and we drove our hire car to the trailhead. Bus transport is available from Ushuaia.
Friday 24/3/2017 Lake Lapataia – Cerro Guanaco
Max elevation: 992 m
Total climbing: 1140 m
Total descent: -1133 m
Average speed: 3.45 km/h
Total time: 06:04:34
We had today set aside to walk in the national park so we wanted to do as much as possible. The entry fee was 350pesos per person, about $30 (Aust) each so we wanted to get our money’s worth.
On entry, Steve asked which was the hardest walk, so we settled on Cerro Guanaco which had a recommended one way time of four hours with 1000m vertical climb.
Autumn colours on the flanks of Cerro Guanaco
The trail started from the carpark at Lake Lapataia and climbed steadily through the forest. We noticed quite a few more interesting birds here but they seemed very quite compared to the noisy Australian varieties. As we ascended the autumn foliage was really striking. After passing through a very boggy section we gained good views of the lakes below us before we left the tree line behind.
Now it was a steady climb on a gravel trail. It’s always surprising how warm you get when you are walking uphill, even though you know the air is very cold. We saw a variety of bird life including a condor, ground pheasants, swans and another large ground bird that looked a bit prehistoric.
The 360 degree views from the top were expansive and beautiful. We were able to linger here and enjoy the company of a lonely, skinny Fuegian fox. While it was cold there was no wind so we spent lots of time taking pictures.
Fuegian Fox on Cerro Guanaco
The trip down only took two hours and although the track was steep it was firm and not slippery. A great day walk which took us five hours in total, including an hour at the top.
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