When I first read that the city of Ushuaia is only 6 metres above sea level I was quite surprised. In spite of being a low place, it is possible to find mountains with interesting slopes that test your physical endurance. The highest peak of this city is Mount Olivia at only 1300 metres high, but it is only reserved for professional climbers. Instead, normal people can visit other hills to climb on foot, such as the Cerro Cortez, considered of medium difficulty. It may not be the highest of them all, but it still takes your breath away 😃.
Cerro Cortez is one of the closest mountains to the city centre and, according to what I had read, it would only take me about 5 hours to hike to the top and back. This time was perfect for a morning plan before I had to work at the hostel, so I took an Uber to the trailhead, about 6 km from where I was. The highest point of this mountain is 750 masl, but that drive was mostly uphill, so the final elevation gain I had left to walk was only 500 metres.
One thing I like about Ushuaia is that most of the trails are well signposted. Of all the trails I've done, I've rarely had to resort to an offline map. That's why it gave me peace of mind to go trekking alone, because I knew that the chances of getting lost were low. Also, this particular mountain is very close to the city, so I never lost my internet signal. And in case of any emergency, you could call the rescue number 103, which luckily in all my long stay, I never had to do.
I never knew how to write the name of this mountain properly, as in some places it appears as ‘Cortez’ (surname) and on the trail it says ‘Cortés’ (adjective, polite). I liked it better as a surname, so I wrote it that way. What was certain was that the gradient on this mountain was interesting. Although it was a 3 kilometres one way trail, I think that all the elevation gain was concentrated in 2.5 kilometres. My legs gave it their all, but as always, a big elevation gain means good views faster.
I didn't meet anyone on the way, and that's because this mountain is not one of the most touristy in Ushuaia. I thought that maybe I would meet some locals when I was near the summit, but the only thing that was there was a terrible wind. At times I had to sit down and take shelter because I swear it was pushing me. Keeping a steady pace was difficult and I didn't want any accidents.
Despite the wind, I reached the summit and everything looked beautiful from there. The weather made the clouds circulate very fast, changing the illumination of the landscape every minute. Even this also made the moment magical. From this summit I could get a good 360° view of the whole city of Ushuaia, the Beagle Channel, Mount Olivia and even the mountain ranges inside the National Park. I like the high peaks, but the ones that are not so high also offer landscapes a bit closer to see them in detail.
I found a rock shelter where I could take some shelter and have my mountain lunch (a small, non-nutritious sandwich and an apple). I stayed as long as I could, until the humble freezing breezes of the end of the world forced me to come down before my face froze even more. The good thing is that coming down is always a bit quicker than going up, and once back in the forest, there was no trace of the gusts from up there. And on the way up, I found a good location for my new Worldmappin sticker.
I usually take a little less time than the signs say, but this time, the whole route took me the exact five hours it was estimated to take. I even imagined it would be a bit more difficult, but all that elevation gain was challenging. Anyway, the views from there were beautiful and being able to see the city of Ushuaia from a new point was very rewarding. All this without detracting from how convenient it was to get off the trail and have a signal to call an Uber back: if I could have driven to the summit, I probably would have done it 😅.
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 💕.
