Matthew's web log

Today we got to do something we’ve never done before – walk for a few hours on a glacier.  Our tour picks us up shortly after 7am and then we’re on our way to the Perito Moreno glacier.  After the bus enters the park, we pay our admission fee, and then stop at the “balconies”.  The balconies are a series of walkways from which you can see the face of the glacier.

It’s big, blue, and more spectacular than Glacier Bay, AK (we’re also much closer).  We even see one pretty big chunk calve off.  More often, we hear, but don’t see, the glacier in motion.  We have about an hour at the balconies and could have used more.   You could easily spend a couple hours watching and listening.

Back on the bus, we have a short drive to a small dock where a boat takes us to the other side of the lake.   While our group on the “Big Ice” tour is gathering, I see a huge part of the glacier calve off which was an awesome site.  All ready to go, we hike about 45 minutes through the forest (uphill, of course).  En route we walk very close to a waterfall and have views of the scenery and glacier. 

When we’re at the edge of the glacier, we stop to put on crampons which are spikes that attach to your shoes and enable you to easily walk on the ice.  There are three guides and about fourteen of us.  They lead us around the glacier (or at least a small part of it) for three to four hours.  We see big crevices , holes, and even a lake.  Only a few places require some balancing to walk through, but the guides are right there helping you.  They pave the way when necessary by chipping  the ice surface to flatten it out or to make stairs for us to walk on.  We finally leave the ice and hike back to the boat the same way we came for our return to El Calafate.

Glacier hike photos:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%2010,%20Perito%20Moreno/index.html