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Published: April 8th 2011
"Deep Dive Corporation - Timba"
"Cafe Del Mar - Parasailing"
Route 40 has it’s “0 kilometer” mark in Mendoza. From there, the route divides into two: Route 40 Northbound, which runs through the province of Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca, Salta and Jujuy, until reaching Abra Pampa in the heart of the high plateau. It is a 1551 km journey. The Route 40 Southbound leaves Mendoza and travels though the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, finishing in Punta Loyola, close to Río Gallegos. It is a journey of 3115 km.
This long stretch of road passes through mountains more than 3000 meters tall, wide valleys, 20 national parks, many nature reserves, and, of course, an invaluable diversity of cultures marked by beliefs, music and rituals completely different.
While parts are paved others are nothing more than small winding mountain roads. In the heart of Patagonia it varies from a rough road in the middle of a freezing desert to a good motorway embraced by mountains and lakes.
While traveling this legendary highway in Argentina, you may come across cyclists, motorcyclists, hitchhikers, rented cars, farm trucks and many buses! One girl
from Gatineau, Quebec decided to bike 250 km by herself and her one month old German Sheppard puppy she picked up in El Bolson. That cute little bundle of fur would sit in her little basket in the front of the bike.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentine Patagonia.
The 250 km2 (97 sq mi) ice formation, and 30 km (19 mi) in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing. The reason remains debated by glaciologists. The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometers (3 mi) wide, with an average height of 74 m (240 ft) above the surface of the water of Lake Argentino, in Argentina. It has a total ice depth of 170 meters (558 ft).
El Calafate is a small town in
Patagonia, Argentina. It is situated in the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province, about 320 km Northwest from Río Gallegos. Its name is derived from a little bush with yellow flowers and dark blue berries that is very common in Patagonia: the calafate (Berberis buxifolia); the word comes from the word "calafate", which is Spanish for "caulk".
El Calafate is an important tourist destination as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park, including the Perito Moreno Glacier (one of the most visited in the world) and the Cerro Chaltén and Cerro Torre.
My Route 40 experience would start crossing over from Puerto Natales on my way to El Calafate where the famous Perito Merino Glacier resides. After visiting his grandparents and cousins in Antarctica, I was wondering if I would still be impressed with Pertio Merino!
I decided that I would only be impressed if I actually hiked on the glacier. So that´s exactly what I did. I loved it, what a great experience. I had never actually walked on a glacier before, so I was pretty pumped. Positive energy as usual. The day
was grey, rainy and snowy. Most people were kind of grumpy! But once we got on the Glacier, the wind stopped and the rain stopped. It would snow lightly and gently. I loved it, it was amazing and reminded me of being back home. The glacier was like an ocean frozen in time. You could see how it flows, and moves much like an ocean would. If you can imagine an ocean, with its swells, waves and white caps being instantly frozen in beautiful deep blues, luminescent blues and pure whites. Its something else entirely to be on a glacier, especially if you take the time to understand it. There are running streams and glacier rivers formed from the summer melt. And the purest water in the world. The snow fall only added to the experience, I was happy! It was a bit expensive, but I didn't let that bother me. I enjoyed a 4km hike along side the glacier, in the forests of the mountains. Then we hiked for 12 km on the glacier and at one point we were closer to Chile then El Calafate!
Chalk up another great experience for me! Time to move on up
the Route 40 to El Chalten!
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Kel
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Glacier pix
Can't believe you walked on a glacier! Very cool. Those pix are amazing. Soooooooo blue! Love you