January 12, 2019 to January 14, 2019
El Calafate and Perito Moreno
After the W Trek, we had a few days to recover a bit – travel days and/or little hiking. We crossed into Argentina where we spent the next five days visiting Los Glaciers Parque Nacional. The interlude was most welcome as it gave my feet a chance to recover a bit. I lost another toenail and spent most of the time in flip-flops as it was too painful to wear my sneakers. I was becoming a bit concerned about being able to bike next week, but the toes seemed to get better each day.
The next morning, we were off to El Calafate, a town of about 20,000 located on Lake Argentina, near the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This massive ice field is the second largest contiguous nonpolar ice field in the world (Southeast Alaska’s is larger). There are 47 big glaciers and more than 200 smaller glaciers in the ice field, and their drainage pattern determines much of the border between Chile and Argentina. Glaciers of Chile flow west into the fjords and the Pacific Ocean whereas those on Argentina flow east, eventually drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Los Glaciers National Park in Argentina is home to 13 big glaciers, including the famous Perito Moreno Glacier, as well as two iconic peaks of the Patagonian Andes: Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
El Calafate gets its name from the Calafate berry, which is indigenous to the area. Legend has it that if you eat a Calafate berry, which appears similar to a blueberry, you will return to visit Patagonia – a legend not unlike kissing the feet of the Patagonian Indian. El Calafate is also home to several homages to Francesco Moreno, a scientist and explorer who undertook a number of expeditions to Patagonia and the Andes. He founded the La Plata Museum of Natural History and played a critical role in establishing border between Chile and Argentina. He is usually referred to as Perito Moreno, which connotes expert/specialist, and gives his name to the most famous tourist attract in the Argentinian Patagonia – the Perito Moreno Glacier. One reason for its popularity is the accessibility of the glacier. Located only 48 miles from El Calafate, roads take you right up next to the glacier and there is an extensive network of stairs and pathways that allow multiple viewpoints of the glacier. Not only do you not have to hike in to see a glacier, much of the viewing area is wheelchair accessible.
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We drove up to Perito Morena from Calafate and took an excursion boat that takes you within 300 meters of the glacier wall. Afterwards, we walked up and around the viewing area, which allowed a better appreciation of the whole glacier field. The whole experience was otherworldly – a 3 mile-wide, 250 foot-high wall of blue and white ice.
Unlike most glaciers, Perito Moreno is advancing, moving forward about 2 meters/day. Because of this, the terminus of the glacier is unstable and there is frequent calving of the glacier, where large chunks of ice break off and fall into the water. These calving events can be quite dramatic – and several occurred while we were there. An exceptionally large calving occurred just as we got to the viewing area, leaving a large ice-blue ice sheet with noticeably large cracks. Convinced that this section was also about to calve, we watched and waited for a crescendo that never came, at least in our presence.
I snapped picture after picture, exploring various angles and using almost the full range of my camera shooting options. I include a number of these that try to capture the enormity and magic of Perito Moreno Glacier.
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