We Hiked the Mountain on the Patagonia Logo: Here's What We Thought
We set an alarm for 1am to go and hike a clothing logo, and it's one you've probably got on a jacket somewhere in your wardrobe. That's the opening line of our vlog, and it's still the funniest way I can describe one of the best days of my life!
The mountain is Mount Fitz Roy in Argentine Patagonia, the jagged skyline that people instantly recognise from the jackets, the beanies and the fleeces. Daniel and I aren't hikers, we didn't own a single piece of proper hiking gear, and we decided to walk to the foot of it in the dark so we'd be there for sunrise. This is what we actually thought of the whole thing, honestly, from the 1am alarm to the steak sandwich at the end.
Is Fitz Roy Really the Mountain on the Patagonia Logo? My Quick Answer
Short answer is yes. Patagonia itself describes its label as "inspired by a silhouette of the jagged peaks of the Mt. Fitz Roy skyline", and it has used it since at least 1973. So it isn't one single summit, it's the whole jagged range, and when you're sitting at Laguna de los Tres watching the sun hit those peaks, it really does look like someone took the logo and turned it into real mountains!
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| The hike | What we thought |
|---|---|
| The view | The most incredible view I've ever seen in my life |
| The 1:15am alarm | Brutal, and completely worth it |
| The first 8 km | Easy, honestly |
| The last kilometre | Rough. Very rough |
| The way down | Harder than the way up, for us |
| The whole day | "10 out of 10", said on camera, completely defeated |
The Irony: We Hiked the Patagonia Logo in Non-Hiking Clothes
This is my favourite part of the story, so I'm putting it near the top.
Before we even flew south, we went shopping for proper hiking clothes in Buenos Aires, and it went badly. We went into three shops and came out with nothing, because we didn't know what we needed and we didn't know how cold it was going to be. One shop wanted about $500 for a pair of hiking pants!! I said in the vlog: "It's quite hard to pick hiking clothes when you're not hikers."
The fourth shop saved us. We each bought the same pair of fleece-lined hiking pants from a brand called E.L.T. for 75,000 pesos, which was about A$77 each, and then picked up gloves for about A$30 each and a beanie in El Calafate on the way through. I sized up because the smaller pair was ankle biting me, and you know, that's just not the vibe (I didn't want cold ankles).
And on my feet? My New Balance 990s. So yes, I climbed the Patagonia logo wearing no Patagonia anything, in sneakers, with a belt holding up pants that were slightly too big. I don't recommend copying the shoes, and I've written about what I'd wear instead in what to wear and pack for the Fitz Roy hike.
What We Thought of the 1am Alarm
The plan was simple on paper: sunrise at 6:20am and about three and a half hours of walking, so we'd leave town at 1:45am, which in practice meant about two and a half hours of sleep and a lot of nervous energy.
What surprised me was how quickly I woke up once we were outside. At 10 to 2 in the morning, with a head torch on and the whole town asleep, it felt more like an adventure than a punishment! I had my jumper tied round my waist because it honestly wasn't that cold yet, and we just followed Daniel's offline map out of town.
My verdict: horrible for about ten minutes, then genuinely exciting. Set two alarms.
What We Thought of the Walk Up
The first eight kilometres are easy, and I mean that. It's a dark, quiet, mostly gentle trail, and you're chatting and filling your water bottle from the rivers and wondering why everyone said this hike was so hard.
Then you reach the last climb. You look up and see a line of head torches zigzagging up the mountain above you, and it freaked us out a little bit! It's about 45 minutes of steep, rocky, loose ground that gets colder with every step, and we stopped a lot more than we'd like to admit. I was sweaty and freezing at the same time, which I didn't know was possible.
My verdict: the first part is a walk, the last part is a proper hike, and the last part is short. As I said on TikTok afterwards, it's 45 minutes out of three and a half hours, and you can do it.
What We Thought of the View
We got to Laguna de los Tres at 5:13am, a full hour early, and sat in the cold waiting. Then the sun came up behind us and the peaks turned red, and I just kept saying "No words. I cannot believe we're here."
We'd been dreaming about Patagonia for years, and seeing the actual mountain from the actual logo, glowing, with the lagoon below it, was one of those moments that doesn't feel real while it's happening. Later the lagoon turned bright blue, we walked along the ridge to see a second lake with waterfalls pouring into it ("Oh my god, the waterfalls" is all I managed on camera), and we watched a fox wander across the rocks!
My verdict: the most incredible view I've ever seen in my life. That's not something I say lightly after 53 countries.
What We Thought of the Way Down
This is where the sneakers caught up with me. The steep part we'd climbed in the dark was now right there in daylight, slippery and loose and much steeper than it had looked, and I went down it at an actual snail's pace. I also put my foot in a hole under a tree root and banged my knee, and while I was fine, just sore, going down really does hurt the knees.
After that it's the same easy trail you walked up, except you're exhausted and the last three hours felt like seven. We shared a pair of headphones for the final stretch, one ear each, and I've genuinely never been so happy to see a town in my life!
My verdict: the hardest part of the day, and the part nobody warned me about. Wear proper shoes, and bring a hiking pole if you have one.
So, Was Hiking the Patagonia Logo Worth It?
Completely. We got back about twelve hours after we left, walked straight across the road for a steak sandwich and a full-sugar Coke, and then celebrated properly that night with a drink and a steak dinner. We were defeated, proud and slightly broken, and I said it on the way back into town: "10 out of 10."
This is worth every little bit of pain and tiredness, and I'd tell anyone to do it. It's hard. I'm not going to lie. But we're not hikers, and we did it.
How to Hike the Patagonia Logo Yourself
The full practical version is in my Fitz Roy sunrise hike guide: when to leave, how we navigated, the park fee, how hard each section is and what to expect at the top. The short version:
- Get to El Chaltén. It's a two and a half to three hour bus from El Calafate, and we paid US$35 each. You can check El Calafate to El Chaltén buses here.
- Sleep at the trailhead end of town, so your 1am alarm isn't a 12:30am alarm.
- Give yourself buffer days. If the mountain is in cloud, you won't see the logo.
- Budget for the park fee. There's a Los Glaciares National Park entrance fee for the El Chaltén trails, roughly A$40 to A$50 per person in January 2026, so check the current price.
KUNTUR 2 Cabañas
Our cosy cabin close to where you hike from, with a kitchen for boiling the hike-day eggs and a great little restaurant across the road.
Lo de Trivi
Rated 9.4 from 231 reviews on Booking, about 500 metres from the trail, with private rooms and a shared kitchen.
Still planning? Here is our complete Patagonia planning guide and the full Fitz Roy hike guide.
FAQs About the Patagonia Logo Mountain
What mountain is on the Patagonia logo?
Patagonia says its label is inspired by the silhouette of the Mount Fitz Roy skyline, the jagged range of peaks above El Chaltén in Argentine Patagonia.
Can you hike to the Patagonia logo mountain?
Yes. The Laguna de los Tres trail from El Chaltén takes you to a glacial lagoon right at the foot of Mount Fitz Roy. It's a day hike of roughly 20 to 25 km return, and you don't need to camp.
How hard is it to hike to Mount Fitz Roy?
The first eight kilometres are easy. The last kilometre or so is a steep, rocky climb of about 45 minutes, and the way down is slippery. We're not hikers and we did it in about three and a half hours each way.
Do you need hiking boots for the Fitz Roy hike?
I did it in sneakers and wouldn't again. I slipped the whole way down the steep section, and most people around us were in hiking boots or trail shoes.
When is the best time to see Fitz Roy?
We hiked at sunrise in late January, when the peaks turn red at about 6:20am. Whatever the month, leave buffer days, because the mountain is often in cloud.
Final Thoughts: Should You Hike the Patagonia Logo?
If you've ever looked at that logo on a jacket and wondered what the real thing looks like, go and find out. Just wear better shoes than I did, take a beanie, and set two alarms!
