Lots and lots of ice

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  El Calafate, Argentina
Saturday, March 15, 2008

hello all

well, wednesday we said goodbye to the end of the world and prepared for another long day on uncomfortable buses.  we left at 6am and headed back to rio gallegos.  the bus took a bit longer this time.  at the border crossing into chile a guy on our bus didnīt claim some fruit that he had in his bag, and they found it.  he had to fill out a bunch of papers and pay a fine (ismael heard someone say itīs $35 for each piece of fruit!).  so that took awhile.  and then we had to wait about 45 minutes for the ferry across the strait of magellan.  we tried going out onto the deck to look for dolphins again, but the wind was so crazy strong i had to hold onto my hat, so we went back inside.  in rio gallegos we ate some snacks while we waited for another bus to el calafate.  we arrived to town at about 1, so about 19 hours on buses.  yuck!  iīm getting so sick of the bus

rainbow at the border

. 

thursday we booked a tour for the next day and then tried to figure out what weīre doing from here.  weīve decided to scrap the trip to see the penguins.  iīm a little sad, but money and time have kicked that off the agenda, and the fact that many of the penguins have already started the trip back south, so it wouldnīt be like i had imagined it.  maybe some other time.  we spent a great deal of time on the computer trying to find out about flights from here to buenos aires or iguazu falls.  we found a great deal so we reserved it.  when we tried to pay however, it wouldnīt let us.  so we went down the block to the office.  turns out our amazing price was for argentinians.  for us it would be $100 more per ticket.  ridiculous.  but itīs that or 42+ hours in buses. 

friday we took a tour to the perito moreno glacier.  it was unbelievable.  the glacier is part of the patagonia ice field, the third largest in the world behind antarctica and greenland.  the ice field is over 370 km long and 16,000 sq km.  the perito moreno glacier is one of 48 glaciers coming from the ice field.  the glacier is 5 km across and 35 km long.  the front extends down to a lake and the part above the water can get as high as 70 meters, with another 150 meters underwater.  since my brain doesnīt really get things in meters, thatīs over 200 feet above the surface of the water

windblown tree

.  the glacier is famous because it is one of the few in the world that is steadily advancing, up to 2 meters a day.  the glacier cuts into lago argentino and can advance enough to cut of the flow of the lake from one side to the other.  right now itīs closed off, so they are expecting a rupture soon.  thatīs when the water pressure on one side of the lake rises enough to push through the ice and quickly erodes the ice to form an arch.  within a matter of hours the arch gets big enough that the top cracks and the front part of the glacier comes crashing down.  the pictures of it from 2004 are amazing.  also, because we were at an altitude of only 200 meters, it was rather warm, so the glacier warms and huge chunks can carve off and fall in the water.  the sound of the ice cracking and crashing to the water is so loud and echoes around the valley. 

alright, that was the little lesson about the glacier.  now to our trip.  we got there and were given almost 2 hours to wander around the trails and balconies overlooking the glacier.  it is truly amazing.  so massive.  the balcony closest to the glacier was closed, so that was a bummer.  we sat and just looked at it, hoping for some massive piece to come crashing down, but no luck.  there was one way off to the side, but we were to far away to really see much.  we ran into a guy, carlos, on our tour that we had met in ushuaia and had planned on having dinner with, but he got lost

um...okay

.  so it was cool to see him again.  then it was back to the bus and over to the boat launch. 

on the boat we got to see the other side of the glacier face.  this is the side where the water rises when itīs cut off.  right now itīs already up 6meters.  there were some huge iceburgs floating in the water, bigger than our boat. we crossed the lake and disembarked.  then we hiked about 20 minutes to the base of the glacier and got fitted with crampons.  they had told me to tuck my pants into my socks to avoid getting them caught, so i was a real fashion statement.  then, it was out onto the ice.  we got to hike on the glacier for about an hour and a half.  itīs a little awkward to walk in the crampons.  you have to keep your feet apart so the spikes donīt get caught on each other, and you have to step with all your weight to drive them down into the ice.  walking on the glacier was one of the coolest things weīve done.  itīs unreal how massive the glacier is.  we walked out and then looped back, but we didnīt even get up high enough to see across.  the entire surface of the ice is rough, which surprised me.  i expected it to be smooth.  there were small pools and rivers of melted water, and it was the cleanest, clearest water iīve ever seen.  and the ice has a blue tint from minerals.  i remember the blue from the glacier in france, but this seemed more vibrant, purer.  it really is impossible to describe the glacier adequately, even with pictures

back across the strait

.  nothing can truly capture the effect it has on you. 

at the end of the hike there was a small table set up with glasses and whiskey.  they chop up a chunk of glacier ice and fill the glasses.  i had some just to be in the spirit of things, but i really donīt like whiskey.  carlos thought my reaction was hilarious, so he had me take another swig so he could take some photos.  after that we hiked back over to the boat.  as we were walking through the woods we heard a loud crack and looked in time to see a huge piece crash down into the water.  at least i looked in time, ismael was behind some trees and didnīt get to see it fall.  back on the boat we started to pull off from the rocks.  there was a huge iceberg the size of a 2 story house behind the boat, maybe 25 feet from the back where i was standing.  i saw it rock a little and thought it was from the vibrations of the boat.  then i realized that it kept leaning.  the weight had changed and the iceburg was rocking to find balance.  we thought the whole thing was going to flip over, and it came pretty close.  but as our boat drove away, it settled into a sideways position.  a rather cool end to a very cool day. 

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

i hate the bus	perito moreno glacier	can you see the chunk falling?	glacier
flower and glacier	blocked off	the arch has started	big iceberg
people hiking	people hiking zoomed out	getting fitted with crampons	i'm holding a glacier
so blue	just chillin' (get it chillin', ice, ha!)	i did it!	aaaaa!!!!!
beautiful ice	whiskey	sooo big	enjoying the view

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