Cerro Tronador

Hiking to Refugio Meiling on Cerro Tronador is typically something that is done in two days, but we only had one. Unwilling to let that stop us, we began our hike at 8:30am, a Patagonia alpine start. We took a photo of the trail map, which stated Refugio Meiling – 18km and felt a mix of excitement and nerves, thinking we would be hiking 24 miles (including a detour we planned to take). The trail began in a beautiful dense forest with big trees. The sun was still making its way up, but we could already tell that it would be a gorgeous day.

The miles went fast, and our spirits were soaring! It felt so good to be hiking again, and we hadn’t seen a soul – we had the entire trail to ourselves. We reached the detour in half the time listed on the trail signs, and hurried along a side trail in anticipation of a view of the glacier from below. The trees began to thin, and at last we got our first stunning view of the day. The view took our breath away! We raced along the remainder of the trail, unable to find words for how incredible the scenery was, opting instead for exchanged looks of awe.

The glacier hanging over a sheer cliff created many gorgeous, long waterfalls, and we had the view all to ourselves! Anticipating the miles ahead, we peeled our eyes from the cascades and headed back to the main trail. We continued up, following side trails marked by native birds, and pondering the origin of a line marked in the soil. Eventually we passed some VERY slow backpackers, and noted that one of them was dragging a stick behind. Mystery solved! We popped out above treeline, and were rewarded with unobstructed views of the massive Cerro Tronador, which we’d only been getting tiny glimpses of through the canopy of the forest. As the trail continued, the full picture formed: a massive peak covered by glaciers forming the rushing cascades we had seen from below. The sunlight was striking the falls perfectly such that they looked like rainbows. Throughout our hike, we heard the booming of massive chunks of ice breaking from the glaciers and tumbling thousands of feet – the sound of rumbling stomachs of hungry giants.

By the time we reached the refugio, it was apparent that the 18km advertised to reach the refugio was actually a round-trip distance! Confusing, but this meant that we had time for a luxurious picnic overlooking a massive glacier with Tronador towering over us. The views in every direction were stunning, with a lush green valley behind us, and mountains beyond mountains in every direction.

After an extended lunch spent soaking in the views and exploring the area, we retraced our steps back to the car, once again with the trail to ourselves.