Big Ice Leads to Wounded Knees.

Yesterday was our Big Ice Tour. El Calafate´s main claim to fame is its proximity to the Perito Moreno Glacier. One of the largest glaciers that comes off the Southern patagonia Ice Field and definitely the most easily accessible. It´s also one of the only glaciers in the world that isn´t receding. Of course, it hasn´t advanced any further since 1917 either.

Having been to Alaska several times and New Zealand, I´ve seen my fair share of glaciers but despite a few steps in my running shoes on the Matanuska up in Alaska I hadn´t really walked on one. So we booked ourselves a place in the Big Ice tour which boasted an hour and a half hike to and from the Glacier and 4 hours on the glacier itself.

From the moment the van picked us up blasting a remix mashup of Fat Boy Slim and Lenny Kravitz (see earlier post about Patagonia and the 90s), I had a feeling this would be a unique day. Surprisingly an overwhelming amount of people on our tour were native spanish speakers. Puerto Rico, Barcelona, Argentina-- out of the approximately 40 of us there were only 5 english speakers.

The perito moreno glacier is incredibly impressive--a jaggedy mass of blue set beautifully below the mountains behind. We lucked out with the weather again. Sunny with only a few clouds. It was gorgeous (although my nose and neck could have used less sun).

We took a half hour boat trip past the glacier to a beach near the south face and then hike a not so easy hour and a half along the moraine. There we were fitted with our crampons (the very old HEAVY metal kind) and harnesses. Then we were onto the ice. It was beautiful! The sun, the mountains, the ice, the streams and pools of blue--the deepest truest blue you´ve ever seen. We treked for about two hours to a nice snowfield near the center of the glacier where we had lunch, our guides, Julio, Juan, Leo, y Juan surprised us with an alfajore for dessert (our favorite argentine cookie with dulce de leche and a chocolate coating). Then we started back. This is where it got interesting because the sun had heated up the glacier enough that the streams were becoming less and less passible. This was not a trek for the clumsy, and those who know me well know that´s exactly what I am. One particularly daunting crossing I jumped and seemed to make it over with ease. I thought, mid air I was going to make it with ease, and then my left crampton caught my right pant leg and down I went. Glacier Ice is not soft. Especially not on a sunny day. It felt like falling on glass. My right knee started bleeding and the entire tour had to stop while I got iodined and bandaged. It was a bit embarassing, especially as Julio was joking that they would have to send for the helicopters. But I´m fine, its just bruises and a skinned knee. The beauty of the interior of a glacier is something I will not soon forget and so that makes it all worthwhile, well that and the scotch over glacier ice on the return boat trip.

By the way, today we had to say goodbye to trish, our threesome is now a duo. She´s been promising a blog post about her steak experience in BA so stay tuned she´s promised to post next week.