10/20/2025
Patagonia 2025: Estancia Cristina Hike:
This past April I went on my third Muench Photo Tours workshop, this one in the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile. It was yet another revelatory experience of seeing new places where the scenery, wildlife, and culture provided opportunities to make some incredible, memorable images. These photos are from a pre-tour hike I did with fellow guest Dana Humphrey.
On this last day before the actual workshop commenced, I signed up along with Dana to go on a hike out of a ranch called Estancia Cristina (https://estanciacristina.com/ ) that resulted in a walk through some of the most spectacular scenery, far and near, that I’ve ever had the opportunity to photograph.
This first involved a 90-minute boat ride past mountains, glaciers, and icebergs to arrive at the ranch. That scenery was spectacular enough on its own, but then we hopped in a 4x4 for the dusty, bumpy ride up the mountain to the Upsala Glacier overlook where we started our hike. As it turned out, we were the only two to sign up for the 8-mile hike! Everyone else just rode to the overlook, gawked at the view from there, then headed back down the mountain in the trucks. So, we were able to go at our own pace and had our own guide all to ourselves. Perfect for a couple of photographers. Our only limitation was to get back to the lodge in time to catch the return boat to our starting point.
As we hiked down the mountain it turned into a photographer’s and geologist’s dream, with constantly changing light, spectacular landscapes and exposed fossils of squid, ammonites, and other creatures–all set against a backdrop of the soaring Andes peaks, glaciers, and various formations of igneous and sedimentary rock. The colors and light constantly varied and occasionally we would catch a glimpse of a condor soaring past, visible but far too high to get decent photos of them. We stopped to eat our lunch in a desolate, rocky spot that easily could have been on Mars except for the occasional condor soaring by high above us. Then we continued hiking until we descended below the tree line and the landscape began to include the uniformly orange autumn foliage and dry grasses.
Finally, we reached the glacial stream bridge and old water wheel that marked the end of our hike. Ahead was the main lodge and its individual guest cabins. We gratefully sank onto the sheepskin fur benches inside the lodge and enjoyed a drink while we waited for the boat ride back to civilization, grabbing a last chance to get more photos along the way in the last afternoon light. It was a fantastic day, and we hadn’t even started the “real” workshop yet! (Photos with Nikon D850 and Nikkor lenses including 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-300mm plus iPhone 15 Pro.)
