Running to the Martial Glacier 🏔️
Have you ever heard of Ushuaia, one of the most southern cities in the world? I had always wanted to go, mostly because of the breathtaking sightseeings that it can offer. I went there by myself in 2019, when covid restrictions were softned a bit to increase tourism. Of course, my plan was to run in different locations... Martial Glacier was one of them.
Although it was December (summer season in Argentina), it was really cloudy and very, very cold. In fact, when I got to the Glacier, it was snowing. So I had carefully prepared everything beforehand and I had studied as well the path I had to do. My original plan was to skip all the touristic sightseing and go straight to the glacier. Little did I know that I was going to visit them anyways, lol.
I got to the base of the Martial really early, around 8am so that I could have enough time to run, enjoy a bit at the top and then come back at a reasonable hour. This path, if you went hikking, was supposed to be done in 4 hours, so I did have a lot of time ahead.
What this sign is showing is the road that leads you to the base of the Glacier itself. You can get to the top by car and it has a lot of different touristic attractions and places to eat, but of course, I wanted to get there running... to run a bit more to get to the glacier.
Everything started really smooth, I didn't want to rush and, as there were some cars on that rute, I wanted to be careful as well. I started running and there were a bunch of people riding their bikes a couple of meters ahead of me.
As a person who loves sports, running and hikking are my life. You might have seen in my blog that I have been through different experiences, sucha as running abroad, being part of massive marathons and enjoying beautiful hikes with my friends. I have always felt really safe, I can't remember a time in which I didn't feel comfortable doing this activities... but this time, I had to experience something a bit uncomfortable.
As I was running, a car stood next to me and the guy that was driving asked me if that was the way to get to the base of the Glacier. I was kinda confused, he was only wearing a shirt when it was freezing outside, which made me realize that he was a local, rather than a tourist. I told him that he was right, he thanked me and kept on his way.
A couple of minutes after that, I saw that this same car was coming again in my direction. He stopped his car next to me again and told me that it was raining very heavily at the top, he offered me a car ride and I said no. He insisted a bit and I was already freaking out.
He left, but I wasn't feeling comfortable. And I was right, because just minutes away from that, he stopped his car next to me once again, but this time he asked me if I had a boyfriend, if we could talk, if I wanted him to go with him to the Martial so that I wouldn't get lost. That jerk wouldn't stop talking to me and I was scared. He started insulting me, as I told him I didn't want to speak to him and he left.
At that moment, I left the road in which I was running and I let myself run in the middle of the forest. I didn't know which way to go, but at least I'd be safer than I was before.
That was the only inconveniente regarding this experience, from this moment and on, everything was great!
As I said, I was lost. I got deeper and deeper into the forest, it was a place in which a fairytale could have taken place. Very, very tall trees were surrounding me, it was very silent and nice.
Luckily for me, as I got deeper, I started finding blue pircas all the way. Pircas are those blue spots that you can see painted in the trees, they're supposed to show you the way and guide travellers get from one point to another.
Did I know where this pircas would take me? No. Did I have phone signal to check? Nope. Was I going to follow them? Hell yeah.
First pircas that showed up, beautiful blue spots in tall, tall trees.
From one moment to another, I stopped seeing pircas for quite some time. And then I found out why, I had stepped from the path once again. I saw this sign, I was in the middle of the place in which people practice archery:
Informative sign: ARCHERY ZONE. OMG.
I had already risked my life enough for a day, so I went a couple of steps back and I saw blue pircas once again. I really compromised to being completelly aware of everything from that moment and on.
Wallner viewpoint
A couple of meters after that, I saw that this path lead me to what would be the first of three viewpoints. I didn't want to do the tourist path... and there I was, enjoying the view. Lol.
I got there and found this sign, I saw a couple of people taking pictures and there everything made sense. At that moment I changed my plans, I would check all the viewpoints and, after that, I would get to the top of the Glacier.
Informative sign - Wallner viewpoint
View was fantastic, I got to say. Those mountains at the back are what divides Argentina from Chile. To the left, it's argentinian territory, and to the right, it's Chile. You could also enjoy the view from different bays and the first view of the city.
I was already there, so picture time!! 🤣🤣
This is me in Wallner viewpoint, freezing, of course
Martial viewpoint
After just 500m from the Wallner viewpoint, I followed the pircas once again and got to the Martial viewpoint. In my opinion, this was simply incredible.
At first, I saw the sign and then I checked the landscape. I was thrilled, I felt so little in the presence of such huge hills and mountains. For a moment, I wish the day wasn't that grey, but then I realized that those dark clouds were making nature even prettier than it already is.
All those mountains in front of me. Thank you, Universe, for this amazing gift.
Godoy, Roy and Middle Hill!!
Beagle viewpoint
Last viewpoint before my way up to the Glacier.
This view was different. Grey cloud, some dead trees and a very open view. Once again, Chile and Argentinian division and those great hills.
There's something incredibly magical about a grey sky, or is it just me?
Final stop, now heading to what was really challenging for me!!
My way to the Martial Glacier
My Garmin said that I had already run 7km... which I didn't even realize. I crossed paths with a woman that was carrying around hikking sticks, so I figured out she would know the way to the base of the Martial Glacier.
And she did!! She told me to follow the red pircas this time, that they would lead me straight to the base and, after that, I should follow the signs that were there. Bless that woman.
This trail was a lot more fun to run in, so the first kilometers in there were interesting. I'm not used to running in the wild, as I live in a city far from hills and mountains, but I definitely enjoyed a lot in there.
Trees growing out of nowhere, roots that would almost make me fall down, bushes, that grey sky protecting me and raw nature at it's purest form. Simply perfect.
After a bunch of minutes, I got to the base. Finally. I was wise enough to leave early in the morning, as it was already 11am and I had a long way to go from that moment.
The path was clear and as we were gaining altitude, there were a lot less vegetation than before. Weather was also colder, there was a light rain starting to fall down, lucky for me, there was almost no wind at that time. I checked in with the people at the center that was there, so that they knew I was going to be going up and let myself live the adventure.
I have to admit that the landscape there was amazing. It had almost everything, a very nice water stream, hills with snow at the top and a breathtaking view from the city. Still, I couldn't stop that much to take pictures, I was wearing globes and it was getting a lot colder than before.
Gaining elevation very, very slowly and trying to run at a comfortable pace not to get extremelly tired. That was my intention.
At that time, I had already run 13km and had a few more to do... but I got the first sight from the Glacier right in front of me:
Do you see those places in which fog covers the hill? I was getting there.
The view from the top
A couple of kilometers after that, I got to the top!! At that moment, it was raining a bit more heavier than before and I started to feel a lot colder. Anyways, I was already there, enjoying the view... I simply didn't care.
After watching and admiring the glaciers closely, I turned around and saw this beautiful landscape:
Wow, did I get this far just by myself?
You can see at the bottom the city, which it's almost impossible to recognize due to the thick fog. All the way of the path I had just done was showing there, I really enjoyed my time in there.
I had got there after so long and such a complicated journey, you know what that means?
Of course, picture time:
Believe me it's really hard to take pictures of your own when it's so windy and your tripod can't stand still for a single second.
Thank you all so much to those who got this far!
This post turned out to be a lot longer than I was expecting, lol.
