Every time I write about a trek I did when I was in Ushuaia and I look back at the photos I took, I sometimes find it hard to believe that I was in those beautiful places. In the end, having done all the traditional treks had its advantages, because as the days went by I was able to find others that were not so well known but much more incredible than the ones I had seen so far. One of them was recommended to me by an Uber driver on one of the many times I used the service. After telling him everything I had walked, he recommended me not to miss the Bird Passage, and his suggestion was more than right 鉂わ笍.
When I wanted to research this trek, I couldn't find that much information online. As you want to do trekking outside of the usual Ushuaia treks, it becomes more difficult to find accurate data about the state of the trails. What I did find was the trail to Laguna Halc贸n, with a 28 kilometre round trip. But the Uber driver had mentioned to me that there were three more lagoons to see nearby, and when I saw the map with the satellite I confirmed it.
With the information I had, I knew that I would surely get to Laguna Halc贸n without any problems, but once there I would investigate how to get to the others. This trekking was very long and luckily I didn't have to do it alone, as Fernando, my Spanish companion with whom we went together to Laguna Submarino a few days before, was still staying at the hostel. I needed a reliable companion to do 28 kilometres of trekking in the same day, and I trusted him completely to do it.
I had estimated that this whole hike would take us about 12 hours, so although my idea was to be at the trailhead at 8 AM, of course I didn't keep my word and we ended up starting the hike at 11 AM. This was really late, but since it was summer in Ushuaia, I knew we would have natural light until at least 10 PM. We still agreed to go at a brisk pace so as not to play so much with the clock.
This trail starts about 8 kilometres from the city of Ushuaia and we arrived on it by Uber. The trail is the same as the one that takes you to the Cascada de Los Amigos waterfall, but instead of turning left to see the waterfall, you follow the path upstream. At the beginning everything was very well signposted with yellow poles, but the further you went, the more you had to use your intuition or use the offline map to guide you. We must have gone off the main path a few times, but finally we reached the first lagoon: the Laguna Halc贸n.
It took us about four hours to get to Laguna Halc贸n, and between lunch and some rest, it was almost 4 PM. At this point my companion suggested that we wouldn't have time to visit the other lagoons because we didn't even know how far away they would be, but I wanted to try anyway. At the lagoon itself there was no signposting to show where to go, but looking at the layout of the lagoons on the satellite we decided to go around the lagoon to the right and start climbing a bit.
This decision was a wise one on our part because a few minutes after starting the hike, we saw several stones piled up in the shape of small towers. These signs are handmade by walkers who have been there, and are useful for marking the path when it is not officially signposted We were a little hesitant on this stretch, but after a climb of only 20 minutes but intense, we arrived at the second lagoon: the Laguna Condor.
Finding the second lagoon with its beautiful colour just like the first one left us ecstatic, so we wanted to go and see the other two without fail. Luckily, we found more little stone towers to show us the way. It also helped a lot that as it was summer, there was no snow on the road and everything was clear enough to pass without any problems. With just another 20 minutes walk to the left of this lagoon, we reached the third one: the Laguna Chimango.
By then, it was already past 5 PM and I was the one who started to worry about the time to get back before nightfall. But it was Fernando who told me that we should try to get to the fourth and last lagoon because it should not be far. If after half an hour's walk we didn't find the lagoon, we would go back. But this was not necessary, because we only had to walk 10 minutes to find the last and most beautiful lagoon of all: the Laguna Matamico.
I was glad that Fernando insisted on going to see the last lagoon because it was so incredible that it left me speechless. This lagoon had a blue colour that contrasted so much with the surrounding landscape that it seemed out of place. None of the photos we took of it did justice to its true colour. Getting to this last lagoon was completely worth it, and I was more than grateful to that Uber driver who recommended me not to miss this place.
We both loved this lagoon, and I personally didn't want to leave because I was mesmerised by its colour. I really couldn't stop looking at it: it was beautiful. We stayed for a while having a picnic with our last provisions, and being almost 6 PM we started to go down at full speed. The good thing was that up there we were able to descend by a different route to the one we had taken at the start, and this allowed us to see a bit of the Vinciguerra Glacier from an unconventional angle. An extra treat from this great trek 馃槂.
At first I didn't know why this place was called Birds Passage, but when I saw the names of the lagoons I understood why. Halc贸n, c贸ndor, chimango and matamico were the birds names given by some creative person to these remote lagoons, not visited as often as others closer to the city. Undoubtedly, this trek along with the Cerro Guanaco and the Ojo del Albino Glacier were my favourites in Ushuaia: one more incredible than the other 馃挒.
I really enjoyed sharing these treks with Fernando because I think we made a great trekking duo. Our previous experience in the mountains allowed us to return to the city safe and sound, although we reached the end of the trail after 10 PM when it was almost completely dark. In total, our step counter showed that we walked more than 30 kilometres in the mountains. This was the most I walked in Ushuaia in the same day, and needless to say it was completely worth it 鉂わ笍.
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 馃挄.
