After our trek in El Chalten, we continued south on our way to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for our next trek. A nice stopover in El Calafate would allow us to see one of Patagonia’s great glaciers (and continue to rest up for the next hike—did we mention how out of shape we are!?).
On the way in to ‘Los Glaciers Natural Park’ our first look at the glacier was from a boat on Lake Argentino… fed by the massive Perito Moreno Glacier.
Moreno Glacier is one of the few glaciers in the world that is still advancing (despite global climate change!). We were lucky enough to catch one of the massive ice chunks plunge into the lake and the mini-tsunami that resulted.
Panoramic of the glacier from lake level (3 pictures merged):
After viewing the glacier from the lake, we continued into the park where we could view the glacier from land. The glacier extends into ‘L-shaped’ Lake Argentino in such a way that the glacier comes right up to the hillside:
No, we did not take this picture. :o)
Very fortunate for tourists that want to see something like this up close… the land inlet provides a unique viewing opportunity from some amazing vantage points:
A series of inter-winding catwalks along the hillside give us plenty of viewing space from different angles.
As we stood and looked on, we could hear the glacier groan and crack… the only audible sounds. Us and the other onlookers watched and waited for big pieces to fall off and splash into the lake. We waited and waited with cameras ready. Although we caught an amazing ice fall from the boat, we wanted to catch “the big one” on camera from up-close. We had plenty of time to kill before our bus back to El Calafate, so we wandered around the different viewing platforms… but always ready to take that perfect picture (and video).
Chunks of ice floating beneath the glacier.
The ice floating deeper into Lake Argentino
After a while, just standing there, we got cold and decided to go in to the park building to warm up. We climbed the catwalks up to the main building, and just as we were out of sight of the glacier, we heard a HUGE rumbling, followed by everyone CHEERING and clapping!! We scrambled to catch a view and saw only a huge wave moving across the lake. Yup, we missed it.
Oh well… at least we caught one big ice-fall while we were on the lake. :o ) A few more pictures late in the day:
It took four pictures, merged together, to get this panoramic view of the glacier from above. These pictures still don’t do a proper job conveying the enormity of this glacier!
We bused back to town, tired and cold… but still in awe at this natural wonder!
Next stop: Puerto Natales and the long-awaited Torres del Paine trek!!!
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