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Published: March 15th 2012
Oh my heck! This trip just gets better each day. Today was the Big Ice hike on the Perito Moreno Glacier. This is the reason that I am down here in Patagonia. When I start to plan my trips, I pick up tour guide books and come up with very broad strokes of where I want to go and what I would like to see. From there, I purchase air tickets in and out. That gives a good base of what I can do and then I start picking the who, what, when, where and why. Actually, since I travel alone, it isn't so much about the who as it is the other 4. Big Ice was the why and El Calafate, Patagonia was the where. I can honestly say that I had never heard of this glacier before, but when I did, it was on. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint at all.
There are set guidelines of what one needs to bring on this hike, including a backpack, waterproof pants, box lunch and gloves. I had to purchase a good deal of the stuff, but was glad I had it. The waterproof pants not only
Dead Ice on the left
This is what is left after the rupture March 4.kept the water out, but the wind and also allowed me to sit on the ice while I ate. The age cut off was 45 years old, so I did a vanity age change and made myself 45 again. I knew I would be fine, so wasn't worried. The bus picked me up around 7:30. There were between 40 and 50 of us on the bus. Later we would be separated into Spanish speaking and English speaking and then once again into smaller groups of about 12. It made for a nice, small group lead by 2 guides each group, or at least in our group. Our one guide was new, so he may have had back up, but I am not sure how that worked. We drove about 75 kilometers to a hiking trail/viewing point in the Glacier National Park. While we were there, we could hear the loud gunshot sound of the ice breaking off and falling into the lake. This is called calving. Just before I left for this trip, the glacier fractured, meaning that an ice bridge crashed into the lake leaving a large chunk of the glacier by itself. Since it is no longer attached,
it is called dead ice. If you are interested in finding out more of this, search it on the internet; it happened March 4, 2012.
From the hiking/viewing point, we drove to a port and took a boat across the Rico Arm of the lake and prepared to hike around Lake Rico. My trainer at the gym has been working me like a bad dog to get ready for this. I had heard that the first hour was the most arduous part of the hike and did not want to be the one to slow the group down. A huge shout out to my trainer, because I was on the mark today. It wasn't a big deal climbing over the rocks, up hills and through the woods. No panting, no wheezing, no wishing I were home watching tv. Once we were ready, we picked up our crampons, the metal spikes that fit onto our shoes. It was so incredible having the crampons on and walking with them. I felt as if I were a real hiker.
Off we went, walking crab like at times in our crampons. Up, down, over, around, we walked by running water, through the
enormous field of ice. I will put a ton of pictures on here. If you want more numbers on the glacier, feel free to look online. What I will say is that it stands about 20 stories high on the face where it meets the lake. It does not float on the water, but is on the ground underwater slowly moving. The entire height above and below water is approximately a 36 story building. Now that is a lot of ice.
After several hours of hiking on this phenomenal glacier, we stopped for lunch. We sat on the ice and ate enjoying the sun and spectacular view. If I can just say that I was so darn grateful to be here, but also to be here on a gorgeous sunny day. It was a little chilly, especially in the late afternoon when the wind picked up, but it was nowhere near as cold as I had anticipated. I could go on for a whole lot longer talking about how blue the ice was in places, how smooth it was in the center, how graceful it was as it rose into crests and fell into crevasses. My hope is that
the pictures will do this justice and you will understand what a special day this was. All told, we spent about 7 hours out on the ice. That is according to their website; my watch was covered with my coat and gloves, so time meant nothing. At one point I filled my empty water bottle with running glacier water and drank it. What an incredible treat that was. There was a couple from Amsterdam in my group that I talked with and took turns taking photos. When it was time to go home, we all crunch crunch crunched on our crampons to the edge of the glacier and reluctantly removed them. I for one was sad, because the illusion of being a full-on glacier hiker was gone and I was left with my boots. It was a very quiet hike back down the hill and around the lake. The glacier was calving a lot as we walked and I could hear the loud crack of the ice breaking, followed by the splash of it hitting the water.
On the boat back across the lake, we had glasses of Jameson Irish Whiskey served with glacier ice. It was a fitting
toast to the majestic glacier. The ride home was long and quiet. We were all tired and worn out from the day. I came back to the hotel and filled the jacuzzi tub in my room and soaked before dinner. At one point during the afternoon, I caught one crampon on the other during a precarious descent. Luckily the guides were there and I was able to catch my balance before falling down the slope. I did hurt my ankle which is why I felt obligated to sit in the jacuzzi tub. I wasn't up to walking down to the town for dinner, so enjoyed a very nice dinner at the hotel. Now, it is time for bed. I am in a quandary though. After such super magnificent adventures on this trip, where to go next? I am really digging the outdoor adventure. Will Travel Brendan kick Pamper Brendan to the curb? Not really sure. All I know is that the past few days in Argentina have been some of the best travel days I have had. If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to come here, jump on it with no questions asked. It is truly remarkable.
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csl lady
Connie Lehman
Glacier Climber Brendan. Cool!!!!!!!!!!!
My goodness. You are right. Every day just keeps getting better. This glacier is absolutely beautiful. You have gotten some magnificent photos. What amazing memories you are going to have of this trip. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!