Hiking and Glaciers
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
19
59
Trip End
May 28, 2008
El Chalten,
Argentina
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Mount Fitzroy is named after the captain of The Beagle, which carried Darwin on his travels through Patagonia. It is also known as the "mountain that smokes" because the it is often covered by cloud, but we were lucky enough to get a clear view of the range. The first hike I did was to Laguna de las Tros, at the base of Mount Fitzroy. The last mile of the walk was up a very steep hill, but unfortunately the weather closed in as we approached the top. The winds were so strong that I had to cling to boulders and at times I was blown off my feet (but luckily away from the steep drops).
The second day was a slightly more leisurely walk to visit Glacier Torre. The scenery was amazing, but my feet were feeling sore after walking 45km over the 2 days. A much deserved hot chocolate and a visit to a microbrewery helped to ease the pain!
The next stop was the town of El Calafate which is the base for trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is not the largest glacier in Argentina, but it is one of only 2 advancing glaciers in South America. It is fed by the huge Southern Patagonian ice field high in the Andes.
The front of the glacier is 5km wide and up to 60m high. The middle of the glacier is advancing at up to 2m per day, whilst the edges move only 0.4m. Every so often huge chunks of ice fall off the front of the glacier and into Lago Argentino.
We went for a boat trip to get closer to the front of the glacier. Every so often there would be a huge bang, followed by a splash as more ice fell into the lake to make icebergs. The view of the glacier was an awesome sight and well worth a visit.
