October 22, 2013

After an absolutely incredible week hiking the W circuit in Torres Del Paine, we said good-bye to Chile and returned to beef country to start making our way north. But before moving onward and upward, we took a few days to enjoy the Argentine side of Patagonia. First stop El Calafate.

Our main reason, as well as everyone else’s, for coming to El Calafate was to go to Los Glaciares National Park. It has been on my list to try ice trekking and after listening to a podcast about icebergs and glaciers, I made it a mission to do some glacier trekking. So seeing as we’re in the neighborhood, why not try it in on an offshoot of the 2nd largest ice field in the world, Glaciar Perito Moreno off the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

With this on the brain, we put our blistered feet and aching bodies aside and immediately signed up for the “Big Ice” trek with Hielo y Aventura upon arrival to El Calafate. We were scheduled to leave at 7 am the next morning for some exploring of the Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. Eek!

The day started with a beautiful drive through the Patagonian shelf to the park. The area was speckled pink with flamingos and the weather was perfect. Within 45 minutes we had arrived at the park, paid our entrances fees, and were officially acquainted with the northern face of the glacier. First impression: a la Steve Martin from Little Shop of Horrors, “Big!” We had another hour to explore the boardwalks surrounding the northern and southern face of the glacier. We walked around anxiously waiting for some serious ice carnage, or calving officially. Unfortunately this epic, imagined scenario never came to fruition, but we did see some calving on a pretty small scale and were able to enjoy the constant roaring percussion of the cracking and changing of the ice. Pretty awesome.

Following the boardwalks, we hopped on board a small ferry that took us across Lago Argentino which is the biggest fresh water lake in Argentina. Cruising through the sweet glacial milk (thanks for the lingo, dad) past icebergs and the immense southern face of the glacier we pulled into the valley of the glacier. From there we had about an hours hike through the woods, fringing the Perito Moreno where we eventually fitted our crampons and split into small groups of 10 before setting foot on the ice.

For the next four hours, in single file, we trudged our way across the glacier. It’s was the most pristine, raw landscape I’ve ever experienced. We were looking into an endless horizon of whipped peaks and stepping our way across crevices, glacial streams, and through caves until we reached a ridge with a hidden oasis of awesome. See pictures below. We had lunch with this spectacular view before heading back.

The trip concluded with another ferry ride across the lake complete with whiskey served over ice from the glacier and alfajoras. Strong finish.