Awesome Glacier
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2005
1
49
103
Trip End
Jun 24, 2006
El Calafate,
Argentina
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Miles travelled: 43816
After a scenic drive around Lago Argentino, the third largest lake in South America, we arrived at the "other" resort town for Los Glaciares National Park, El Calafate. It is comparatively more developed and has more tourist services and infrastructure.
The highlight of this area is the Moreno Glacier. This is a huge river of ice extending 30 km down from Cerro Moreno mountain, and its snout protrudes into Lago Argentino with an 18-story wall of ice which alternately advances and recedes. The most spectacular thing is when huge house-size chunks of ice break off from the face and crash into the water with the sound of a cannon and a tremendous splash. We saw several of these awesome displays (unfortunately, we weren't fast enough with the camera to record them). It is truly amazing.
We also got a chance to do some ice-trekking on the glacier. Putting on crampons (spikes that tie onto boots to give grip on the ice), we went with our guide on a walk to view the deep-blue hills, valleys, and crevasses of the glacier. There are places where meltwater gushes down into little streams and then disappears into a 30-foot deep crevasse. Cool.
