Near the end of the World!!!!


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South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
April 17th 2011
Published: April 19th 2011
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End of the world!!


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1: Just a little windy.... 23 secs
Funny!Funny!Funny!

Really?! Open 25 hours, eh?
So after much contemplation, we were off to the south. El Calafate and El Chalten are along the famous Route 40 which runs a huge length of Argentina, sometimes on dirt road in the middle of nowhere. (We had a taste of that on our 4 hour bus ride between the two cities!) The town of El Calafate would remind you of Estes Park. It's on the edge of Lago Argentina, the biggest fresh water lake in the country. It was chilly, but not as bitterly cold as expected. But extremely windy! Here we visited a massive glacier. It's truly amazing. Perito Moreno is 19 miles long, 3 miles wide and 240 feet high. Best thing is that it's accessible and you can walk really close to it. In addition, due to the fact that the glacier is growing and in constant motion, there are constant "calvings" where bits of the glacier, some car-sized, some as large as skyscrapers, split off and plunge into the lake. Hard to capture on video because it happens so fast; a splitting crack and down into the lake it comes! I wont bore you, but there are some amazing facts about this glacier available online:
Flamingoes!!!Flamingoes!!!Flamingoes!!!

Can you believe it? All the way down here!
{url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier}

Only a short ride from El Calafate is El Chalten, famous for it's Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy peaks of sheer granite. These are known for being a technical climbers dream, but for us, it provided for some fabulous all day hikes and absolutely gorgeous scenery. See the pics, as they'll tell the story.

John thought that I might have died on the 50 hour bus rides between BA and El Calafate, so we flew both ways, but had a 20 hour bus ride to Salta from BA. Salta is wine region, second to Mendoza, and as you'll see it was wonderful...........


Additional photos below
Photos: 23, Displayed: 23


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Check out the snow line!Check out the snow line!
Check out the snow line!

Mountains over Lago Argentina, a beautiful bright blue glacial lake
Up closeUp close
Up close

See the tiny little person in the bottom of the photo? Gives you an idea of the massive size of this thing!
More glacierMore glacier
More glacier

Showing the cave near the north end
El ChaltenEl Chalten
El Chalten

The little hiker/climber city from an overlook
8am in El Chalten8am in El Chalten
8am in El Chalten

The sun didn't rise until almost 8:30..
Poincenot, and elusive Fitz RoyPoincenot, and elusive Fitz Roy
Poincenot, and elusive Fitz Roy

Fitz Roy was tricky to view. It's massive in comparison to this little peak and hiding just to the right, covered in clouds
Finally, Fitz RoyFinally, Fitz Roy
Finally, Fitz Roy

...and the whole range from left to right: Saint Exupery, Rafael, Poincenot, Fitz Roy, Mermoz, Guillaumet, Electrico
Our best view of Cerro TorreOur best view of Cerro Torre
Our best view of Cerro Torre

..also elusive and hidden by clouds
Laguna TorreLaguna Torre
Laguna Torre

With Torre obscured by clouds mid photo, glacier Torre beneath and icebergs floating in the lake


25th April 2011
Salto Chorillo, a short hike from town

Awesome
Salto Chorillo. Man, nice photograph. I think I want to go there. How were the people? Friendly? Why did you title the blog "Near the End of the World!!!!"? Just wondering.

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