2025 Nov 24: Lago Del Desierto

“Fired up the rig” for the 1st time in a few days & drove the ripio road out to Lago Del Desierto. Spent the night in a turnaround at the bitter end of the road.

Leaving the campground we were blocked, got to see how garbage pick-up works:

It’s 22 or 37km out the ripio road (depending on which sign is correct, we didn’t think to measure it ourselves), in the glacier-melt Las Vueltas river canyon. There’s a narrow point with some wind:

It gets more remote, and more beautiful, as you go:

Almost to the end of the road, at the south end of the lake, there’s a kind of rec center with a cafe/restaurant, campsites and some trailheads:

One of the trails goes up (steeply!) to the base of the Huemul Glacier. After a coffee, we set out. You get a shot at Fitz Roy from the back; perfect weather, btw:

Hard to tell, the grey triangle in the middle is the glacier:

Cold but not bone-aching:

The trail is quite steep but one section has ropes to guide & help you. Here we are heading back down:

Back to the cafe, beer is called for. Doors inside are kept closed with a pulley-weight system:

Two hundred more meters, at the bitter end of the road, the south end of the lake, is a Gendarmeria Nacional Station and a ferry terminal. The north end of the lake is a border crossing into Chile. Presumably there are busses deeper into Chile:

Boats arrive twice a day. We happened to be there:

Here we are:

Wedged the camper into the perfect spot at the road-end turnaround, and settled in for the night:

Got up at midnight, looked at stars. Surprised to be able to see Orion (in the north)..

Sunrise on the 25th:

…and out. The road back:

Breakfast at the first sunny spot:

…and the long, slow drive back.