Guided trekking traverse to Meiling Hut in 3 days

We’ll start the hike on an easy trail through a native forest of huge Cohihues. After crossing the Castaño Overa stream, the trail gently gains altitude for a couple of hours. Then, the walk requires legs strength to get around the famous “Caracol” where we gain more altitude. When arriving at La Almohadilla the vegetation begins to disappear, being replaced by volcanic rock and snow. An hour later, we arrive at the Meiling Hut at 1900 meters which gives us incredible views of the glaciers. We will relax and appreciate the majestic mountain environment that surrounds us. Before dinner we’ll have a talk about the plan for tomorrow.

After a good breakfast, we will set up the backpacks and get ready to leave to the Alerce Glacier. After a short hike, it’s time to ascend to the glacier. Traveling through the glacier we will cross fields of cracks, appreciating the size of them. After a few hours of walking, we’ll arrive at the rocky edge that leads us to Paso de Las Nubes (Clouds Pass). The descent has steep parts that may require the use of ropes, we will take time to cross the terrain without problems. We’ll cross green pampas of mallines before arriving at the Rocca Hut that is located over the pass.

With a privileged view, we take advantage of its terrace to stretch the muscles and to rest after such a beautiful traverse in the mountain. At night, we will have dinner at the hut and share stories with other visitors and mountaineers.

We will have breakfast while we watch the Alerce Glacier change its color with the dawn. Today we will cross the Frías Valley, following its waters to the Frías Lake. It is a walk of about 6 hours through a lush forest inhabited by Larches and other typical species of the Valdivian Forest.

After an hour we will arrive at the Frias viewpoint, just below some walls of rock and ice with long waterfalls that originate the Frias stream. We will enter the forest and follow the river bed. It is a difficult hike because of the large number of fallen trees and dense vegetation.

In the afternoon we will arrive at Frías Lake. Its turquoise waters come from the glacier and provide a particular contrast. We will take the boat and sail its waters. Already at Port Bless, the last stretch of this incredible journey begins. Then we will sail the Nahuel Huapi Lake until arriving at Bariloche. Many tourists take this boat just to enjoy the sights. In our case, it will be our way to close the adventure with great style!