The Rat Race Patagonia Glacier to Glacier trip had been on my radar for some time.

Patagonia was a destination that I first saw in Adventure Races shown on TV in the early 2000’s, it just looked an amazing place to visit. 

I had taken part in Rat Race’s very first event in 2004 and a further 15+ other events over that time, but this would be my first “bucket list” / overseas experience.

Me, John & Yann getting ready for the very first Rat Race, The Urban Adventure in Edinburgh,2004.

I signed up in May for a departure date in November. Over the preceding months we had a trip briefing / Q&A on video call, kit lists as well as medical declarations which meant getting booster vaccinations for Hepatitis, yellow fever, typhoid and rabies. 

Two weeks prior to departure I was keeping an eye on the weather forecast for the area, lows of -2 and highs of 18 and generally sunshine, but always with the risks of the infamous Patagonian winds. With one week to go we got a note saying the long forecast for our week away was for rain and high winds…doh! so I replanned my kit choice. Fresh kit for each day & warmer layer options. 

I ended up with 2 bags, 32kg of kit between them. Seemed a lot, but I felt covered for the worst.

One of last things on the “to do” list was Julie & I getting married, we were meant to get married nearly 20 years ago, but our daughter Zoe’s early arrival had scuppered our original date. However after over 26 years together, we had a beautiful small ceremony the Friday before departure.

I had a flight from Edinburgh to London then via Rio to a very wet and bustling Buenos Aires for an overnight stay.

On arrival at Buenos Aires I reached the “extranjeros” border patrol  desks. The young guy looked at my passport and burst into a smile saying “my name is Alan too!” “…and your surname? Like the actor?” We had a wee chat about the trip in my broken Spanish & his much better English, it felt like one of the warmest welcomes to a country ever! 

The next day, I was on a 3hr flight South to El Calafate to meet with the rest of the group at the airport, the views from the plane gave an indication of the landscape we were heading into.

We were loaded into two mini buses for a 3-4hr drive north along the historic Route 40, 5194km long, considered the spinal column of Argentina, to El Chalten, our base for the first few days.

On the way over we stopped at a taverna  for coffee, the Parador La Leona, we would come back here in a few days time on our route south.  The place is famous for the location serving as a hideout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1905 after a nearby bank robbery.

As we drove further north west towards El Chalten the views of the mountains were simply incredible. 

Upon arrival, we were assigned a room, I would be sharing with Adrian, who had been on the Rat Race Iceland trip the previous year, and Laurence, a journalist who was on a working trip for an article for Men’s Fitness magazine.

Once we were settled, we met with the rest of the group downstairs in the hostel for a briefing. 

Part of the briefing involved everyone standing up, stating your name, where you were from and something about yourself. I said “ I’m Alan, from Scotland, I took part in the very first Rat Race event in 2004, have done around 17 rat race events…and I’m here on honeymoon.” That got a laugh… I found out later that most people didn’t believe me.

The group consisted of around 34 entrants, groups from Brazil & Holland, as well as singles & pairs from Singapore, Canada, USA, Ireland and the UK. 

The event crew consisted of Rob, Seb & Hannah from Rat Race, Roger, the event medic, Leo the photographer and several Argentinian crew, Gerad, Leo, Emmanuel, & Sebastian (who would keep us entertained at pit stops with his rock music selection) they would be helping with logistics, event support, bike mechanics, course marshalling, setting up camps, food prep, as well as professional guides to ensure we got the best support and advice for the trip. 

The next day we went through registration, kit checks, a quick medical review with Roger, picked up our tracker and sorted out the hire bike I’d booked.

I took the bike out for a spin to check the set up, stopping to make some adjustments on the way. The legendary Patagonian wind was highly evident as I had to work harder than you’d expect on a downhill section of road.

Having that day prior to the main activities was really useful as it just allowed you to settle into the new environment.

We were warned that the sun was particularly fierce and the effect was very deceptive if the wind blew as well. You’d dehydrate fast. Covering up as much as possible was recommended. 

The journey would consist of two long days on foot to begin with, involving quite a bit of elevation gain in both days, before hitting the bikes for the next 4 days with a half day kayak in there too.

Noting I said journey, not race, this was understandable for many reasons. Being “heads up” rather than “heads down” would give us the opportunity to take in the landscape, stop for photographs without feeling the pressure to hurry through the landscape. 

Additionally, we would be in a National Park with other visitors, we would be running a lot of it, but much of the terrain dictated a slower pace. 

Adventurers assemble! The 2025 pack ready for the start. Photo credit : Rat Race

Activity Day 1: Glacier to Glacier Begins:

The first stage was 36km of stunning trails with 930m of climbing. Fitzroy and Cerro Torre were the focus of the day as we left town on a gravel road to sweep round from the south of the mountains to approach from the north. Everyone was raring to go, and set off down the 16km towards the first support stop.

Above: Laurence setting the pace

At the support station at the end of the road we switched to single track and climbed steadily through forestry, which offered glimpses of hanging glaciers across the valley.

Seb & Roger were at the track junction to check we were all okay before we began the steep, rocky 2km climb, ascending several hundred metres up the rough track to Glacier de Los Tres. 

The sun was fairly fierce and there was very little wind, so it was a tough climb

The weather was in our favour as the cloud that had stuck around for the previous few days cleared to give us fantastic views. (Those dots around the frozen lake are people, that helps to give an idea of the scale of the scenery).

The return back down to the village was on a flowing track which offered wider and grander vistas of these stunning mountains.

Activity Day 2: more trails & more spectacular scenery

We hit the local trails again for a 32km route with 750m of climbing as we made our way to the Laguna Torre glacier, a spur of the mighty Viedma Glacier. 

This route undulated a lot more than the previous days route and we had a long approach route through the valley.

Upon reaching the top of the moraine we were offered views of a stunning lake with chunks of glacial ice floating in it.

couldn’t resist it..

We spent a lot of time taking photos here, prior to then heading up to the end of the track to see right into the glacial valley.

Our return loop took us past two stunning lakes, Lago Madre & Lago Hija (mother & daughter) before bringing us via another close up with Fitzroy, some more incredible glacial scenery and a stunning ridgeline, affording amazing views across this magical landscape.

Joining Paul & Connor on the descent, we stopped at the impressive Laguna Capri, a Caracara flew down from the trees for a drink. A beautiful bird, but you wouldn’t want it to have a go at you.

photo credit : Conor Dunne
After that stop it was 8km or so back down the trails to base.

Activity Day 3: on the bikes!

Leaving El Chalten,  the 110km route goes west to east, on a very quiet road, with very few bends, before swinging south onto Ruta 40, Patagonia’s legendary arterial road. A quick stop at the outskirts of town for a group photo before hitting the road. 

What would have been a tailwind for the last 4 days had changed direction, it would now be hitting us at 45Deg on our right shoulder, then on the nose for the last 20km

As we set off, we quickly split into smaller groups of those with a matched pace. 

After maybe 20km, I found myself with a group that I spent most of the next few days with as we helped each other along the route.

We called ourselves “The Empenada Express” it was a very fitting name as we tucked into this local delight at the event pit stops.

Above: The beginnings of the Empenada Express: from left, Laurence (holding an empanada…) me, Sabrina, Jessica, Corc & Sean. We’d be joined by various others over the next few days.

Our destination was the legendary Parador La Leona, the riverside saloon that we had stopped at a few days before. 

Above: Julio on the lounger: he called me over to introduce me to his wife who he was talking to on the phone. Julio was hugely popular on the trip, a wonderfully warm personality and always so positive.

The support team had erected tents in the trees behind the saloon, the stars in the sky above were amazingly bright, however the wind had picked up and would hit the tents hard during the night.

Activity Day 4: kayak / Biking 

The high winds, well in excess of 20mph forced the team to shorten the kayak section to 20km for each group.

It would still be a tough kayak, even though the river was flowing fast in our direction. In some sections the wind was so strong it was a real graft to keep the kayak going straight, and forward. The group was split in two for this activity to make it a more manageable group on the water.

As I got myself ready, one of the kayak crew asked where I was from, “Escocia” I said, “Escocia? Sorry about the rugby!” He laughed. (Scotland had lost to Argentina at home the week before, Scotland squandered a 20+ point lead…🙄) “Lo siento, yo no hablo español o inglés” I replied, he laughed heartily and slapped me on the back.

I had volunteered for the single kayak, this had different dynamics to the double kayak and felt a lot more responsive to the impact of the currents & wind.

Kayaking into the Patagonian head wind was hard going, even with a strong current with you, paddling forward and keeping the kayak head on into the wind to prevent it being caught by the wind was taking a fair amount of effort.

At the 2nd last corner, the stern of my kayak got clipped by another kayak behind me and immediately I was spun round, the wind then caught it, pushed it round and then flipped it over. I was upside down underwater. Id been in this situation before so unfortunately not too unfamiliar..I quickly pulled the skirt strap to get myself out of the kayak. On the surface I checked I had my paddle and grabbed onto the kayak before it got away from me in the fast flowing river. I couldn’t reach the ground so just had to hang on and try and get to shore. A guide came over to help me get it under control and to the riverside. This took a few minutes as the river was flowing fast and the wind still blowing hard. 

Kayak drained and safely back in, I gratefully got to the changeover point. Getting out of the wetsuit in that wind quickly took out whatever heat you had in the body.

Luckily I had filled a thermos flask of coffee at breakfast and had some at transition, it made a big difference.

I got changed and ready for the bike. This would be a 40km section on exposed road so we’d have headwinds and cross winds but very little tail wind. We assembled the remnants of the Empenada Express (as some were on the 2nd kayak leg) & headed off.

Again we worked well together and stopped for lots of photos to break up the journey.

The one above of Jessica is a particular favourite of the trip, the colour of the lake / lago behind is so eye catching. As we approached the 40km mark I was wondering how & where they could set up tents in this wind. 

As we turned a corner the road dropped and I could see the Rat Race flags in an area tucked behind a small hill and among a group of trees.

Absolutely perfect wild camp spot beside the river. 

It was an old gaucho station and stockade and was the only shelter for miles around. 

As we got ourselves sorted, the Argentinian crew got to work preparing a fire and chopping vegetables.

A few hours later they served up a fantastic stew, meat and non meat options. 

It was a wonderful evening, we drank beer & wine by the river side as Rob gave us the briefing for the next day..

Activity Day 5: a big day on the bikes 

A 97km route on the bikes we headed back to civilisation, passing through El Calafate for a pit stop before swinging uphill and out of town.
The 35km of gravel section had several false summits, each giving more tantalising views of what lay ahead.
There were lots of photo opportunities here!

35km of undulating gravel roads would lead us to the stunning location of Estancia Mitre, the colours of the landscape here were like nothing I’d ever seen before. I took sooo many photos..

The Estancia was all off grid and operated on solar power, the smell of the cooking & the hearth fire when I walked in was just amazing.

As we all gathered for dinner, our leader Rob noted we had to be on the road by 6.15am as we had special permission to access the national park before the gates (& roads) opened to the public, so would be up at 5am for breakfast and bag drop. 

Activity Day 6: to the glacier!

Our final day. It was a very cold start as we gathered for the start, looking forward to the sun rising higher to give us some heat.
the mountains in the distance looked like a toasted meringue as the sunrise hit it.

We certainly enjoyed the unique cycling experience, 39km of closed roads through the Parque Nacional los Glaciares.

The undulating road twisted round the headland, giving us glimpses of the glacier ahead.

Finally we reached our journey’s end at the mighty Perito Moreno Glacier. 

It was hugs all round as we cheered each other across the finish line for an emotional finishing medal presentation.

It was a stunning backdrop for photos. 

After a group photo and some fizz, the local guides took us on a tour of the area along an impressive walkway, we stopped many times to watch ice crashing off the glacier, the noise was quite something.

The glacier itself sits 70m above the water level and over 4.5km across. So puts the scale of it in perspective. The mountains in the background form the border to Chile.

A bus took us back to El Calafate and the luxury of a hotel, pool and spa.

We gathered for an evening meal, beers and wine, realising our journey was maybe coming to a close but we had all made friendships that were just starting.

The whole trip was really well organised by Rat Race, from my previous experience with them, I knew it would be top class. Their inclusivity of differing levels of speed and ability help everyone feel as one group.

Yes, you can visit Patagonia yourself and see the same sights, but to do it in the form of adventure sport is what sets this trip apart.

In a trip like this you will inevitably meet like minded people, but to be blessed with such a wonderful group, of many different nationalities and languages, we all communicated the universal language of a smile and words of friendship and encouragement. The groups of Brazilians and Dutch simply ramped up the enthusiasm and feeling of fun to everyone. 

I look forward to welcoming them all to Scotland, should they choose to visit.

We were very lucky with the weather, being dry the whole time helped with the long hours outside, and the clear skies provided the most beautiful views.

My favourite souvenir of the trip, a tote bag signed by participants and crew.

A big shout out too to the Rat Race team, Rob, Seb, Hannah, Roger & Leo and the local Argentinian crew who we all came to know and appreciate their hospitality and support, you all made the trip for us and made us feel so welcome.

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