I am a mountain goat and I will not fall

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A thunderous sound like a gunshot reverberated through my body. I looked down at my feet expecting the ground to open up at any moment and swallow me into its icy depths. I carefully took another step. Gingerly pushing my crampioned foot into the ice praying it didn´t give way. It held. Woohoo. I took another more confident step and looked up towards the lake and the mountains in the distance.

We were ice trekking on the Perito Moreno Glacier and it was quite possibly one of the most exciting things I have ever done.

It was cold but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and no sign of rain. All around us was brilliant white ice. The undulating folds of the glacier were home to some spectacular crevices which appeared blue and beckoned me to fall in to experience their cold water.

Patagonia is an area of dramatic landscapes. Miles and miles of barren windswept land led us to the tiny town of El Calafate, the closest point to see some incredible glaciers and icebergs. Perito Moreno is famous for its face, as high as a 20 storey building. As it moves and recedes huge chunks of ice regularly drop in a spectacular fashion into the surrounding waters causing small tsunami waves.

I was hoping that I wasnt standing on the bit that was cracking.

We had been trekking across and along the ridges of the glacier for 2 hours. The adrenalin was pumping and I was loving my life. Just when I thought it couldnt get any better we climbed the last hill towards home and there set against the stark white landscape was a table adorned with glasses, a bottle of whisky and chocolates for the cold and thirsty trekkers.

Cheers to that!

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Photos

ice trekking
i cant believe i climbed that

whiskey on the rocks
i went back for seconds that´s why my glass is full!

perito moreno galcier
the glacier we walked on

Comments

[Renee]

Jealousy's a curse....
Wow, that looks fantastic - and your pics are worthy of a centrefold spread in National Geographic. Loving reading your stories which seem to go from one extreme to another. From string bikinis to glaciers. At least the sun seems to be following you wherever you go. Take care. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Irma]

You are a very lucky mountain goat!
Thanks for updating Melanie - you really are having a blast, aren't you?

[Hannah]

Glacier
What an experience! We are immensly envious, it's one thing we never got to do in Chile, due to time and money but now I have seen your amazing pics and read your tales, we will be back to conquer the almighty Perito Moreno Glacier.

[Rachel E]

Get your rocks off
Spectacular, puts franz joseph in a new light for sure.... whiskey on the rocks, classic!..... very jealous and waiting patiently back in SRV(yeah!) for your return!