Patagonia on ice

As we leave El Chalten, some parting notes on it's famous Fitz Roy peak. First, it is named after the captain of Darwin's ship, The Beagle. It is considered the holy-grail of Patagonian climbing, and is second only to Everest in difficulty, primarily due to its sheer vertical granite faces, requiring exceedingly technical climbing in death-defying winds:

Fitz Roy from the base

Geezers by the glacier lake at the end of the climb

And for those statisticians among you, Everest is frequently climbed by more than 100 in a day, while Fitz Roy's peaks are not successfully ascended more than once a year. Just getting to the base of the rock face was an exciting challenge for us, rewarded by the surprising discovery of crystal green lakes fed by falling ice from the peaks.

As Simon clicked away, Esther found a small rock shelter where we escaped the wind for a well deserved lunch break.

Celebrating the end of the hike

After a long descent, we ended up right in El Chalten, in time for a dinner followed by a real and improved hot chocolate.

We left El Chalten on a rainy morning that made this frontier town look even more desolate and headed to El Calafate, 220km further south (remember south here means colder and more windy). The winds are so ferocious that the world's record for gliding was set near Calafate at an altitude of over 50,000 ft - a 747 travels at 30,000 ft. We expect that Simon's hat will soon break that record.

As opposed to El Chalten, El Calafate is a hub of activity as it is the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and perhaps the world's most famous glacier, Perito Moreno. (Calafate is the name of a common Patagonian bush with yellow flowers and deep blue berries that is an excellent ingredient for ice cream and liqueur - but that's another story). As soon as arrived we quickly signed up for a glacier tour and trek.

First view of Perito Moreno

A glacier is a complex geological structure -- but basically can be defined as a place where the accumulation, over a long period of time, of snow and ice is greater than the amount that melts and sublimates. For those of you left in Montreal, no - the sidewalks of NDG are not scientifically considered glaciers yet.

The first step in touring the Perito Moreno Glacier is a visit to a network of decks perched just in front of the glacier's edge, feeding Argentina's massive Lago Argentino. At this point, the glacier's edge towers over 50 meters high and several kilometers wide.

The ice field extends back through high peaks far into the horizon, and there it is in a constant cacophonous state of groaning, crackling and exploding as the ice field drifts to its demise into the lake. It moves at an incredible rate of two meters a day so pieces are continually breaking off in front of the galleries.

Crampons on

We spent a few hours running along the galleries trying to catch the glacier in action. We then bussed down to a boat that ferried us along the glacier's edge to the other side where we began our glacier trek. We donned crampons and were led away to the actual glacier.
First we walked on moraine which is the 'garbage' of rocks, sand and tree trunks left behind by retreating glaciers. Arriving at the glacier, we were not prepared for the surreal landscape of its surfaces. Deep crevasses, high peaks, cracks, blue water streams, rolling hills - the glaciers continuous shifting and rupturing create an ever-changing dreamscape of colours and topology.

 We spent almost every minute of the the
1.5 hour walk being astonished by the new variety of ice and landscape. Our guides ended our trek with a glass of 8-year aged whiskey, cooled with well chosen 400-year aged ice. We could strongly recommend the ice (see below)

From El Calafate we continue our adventure to an even more southern destination, Puerto Natales in Patagonian Chile, approaching the tip of South America. We are set to start our 5 day trek in Torres del Paine National Park. The entire town is flooded with serious backpackers as the park treks are for the serious (or seriously foolish) hikers. The winds howl unabated across thousands of miles of cold Pacific water. We are steeling ourselves for one of our major challenges.

We will be completely unwired until next Monday or so, until then, ciao.

On the main street of El Calafate

One more things before we go off-line: remember the question in the last blog? Well, here is another one in the same spirit:  what are the most important cities in the world, according to El Calafate residents? The answer is in the picture, so no prize for guessing right.