So I'm a wee bit behind. I'm sitting in SVO (Moscow) airport. BIG bonus points for having reliable, fast, password-free Wi-Fi. WAKE UP, JFK. Hardly any power sockets, though.
It's snowing. Brrrr. I have packed for warm, humid, tropical weather, not this dreary grey and cold scene. Anyway, after paying nearly $23 for a half dozen stale pierogi and some grilled vegetables, it is time to catch up on what I did AFTER hiking the W Trek in Torres del Paine. Well, there was more becoming-one-with-nature.
More photos of this glacier after the jump.
I spent a total of about 3-4 days doing El Calafate & El Chalten, which both lie in the Argentine side of Patagonia, technically part of the Santa Cruz Province. El Calafate was the first stop and considering how draining the previous hike was and how pressed for time I was, I decided against trekking across the glacier and instead spent a day walking the park and built up staircases that weave around part of the perimeter of the great Perito Moreno. I did want to get to Brazil eventually, after all, and I had already done a glacier walk in Iceland a couple of years ago. Walking on water is expensive.
So it's a 45-minute drive to the actual park that can be done via bus, which, I believe, is offered two a day and involves being in a group setting for abot 6 hours. The other option is a bit pricier but gives the flexibility of going when you want (not 7 or 8AM), coming back when you want (staring at ice is cool, but not six hours of cool) and practicing Spanish with the driver (he judged me). The drive is quite beautifu, and our driver was probably a precision driver in a previous life. He had a lead foot, but the handling of the car was superb. Anyway, onto the glacier:
One of the interesting aspects of this glacier was listening to it creak all day, but that required everyone shutting their piehole and boy, was this walk crowded as the path got physically closer to the glacier itself.
The best thing to see on this particular glacier is massive chunks of the face, 20-30 feet or more, break off and float into the water. I saw three of them, one definitely outshining the others, and while it may sound lame, it is really interesting to watch. Unfortuantely, I did not have enough patience to film for long enough to catch a piece of ice break off. Also, don't worry-- this is one of three glaciers that is expanding in size, according to Wikipedia.
It's snowing. Brrrr. I have packed for warm, humid, tropical weather, not this dreary grey and cold scene. Anyway, after paying nearly $23 for a half dozen stale pierogi and some grilled vegetables, it is time to catch up on what I did AFTER hiking the W Trek in Torres del Paine. Well, there was more becoming-one-with-nature.
More photos of this glacier after the jump.
I spent a total of about 3-4 days doing El Calafate & El Chalten, which both lie in the Argentine side of Patagonia, technically part of the Santa Cruz Province. El Calafate was the first stop and considering how draining the previous hike was and how pressed for time I was, I decided against trekking across the glacier and instead spent a day walking the park and built up staircases that weave around part of the perimeter of the great Perito Moreno. I did want to get to Brazil eventually, after all, and I had already done a glacier walk in Iceland a couple of years ago. Walking on water is expensive.
So it's a 45-minute drive to the actual park that can be done via bus, which, I believe, is offered two a day and involves being in a group setting for abot 6 hours. The other option is a bit pricier but gives the flexibility of going when you want (not 7 or 8AM), coming back when you want (staring at ice is cool, but not six hours of cool) and practicing Spanish with the driver (he judged me). The drive is quite beautifu, and our driver was probably a precision driver in a previous life. He had a lead foot, but the handling of the car was superb. Anyway, onto the glacier:
One of the interesting aspects of this glacier was listening to it creak all day, but that required everyone shutting their piehole and boy, was this walk crowded as the path got physically closer to the glacier itself.
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| Seen in a restaurant in Brooklyn |
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| Glacier cave. The dark bit all the way on the right made a spectacular fall&splash. |
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