I WALKED ON WATER!

Yup, I did. Some of it frozen, other times there was water on top of ice, and I walked on it. It was definitely one of the most awesome days of my life.

Wednesday was a great day. I signed up for Helios y Aventura's "Big Ice" trek. It's about a 7-8 day of hiking, half on Perito Moreno Glacier, and half on terra firma. I found the later to be more difficult than strapping on some crampons and climbing on ice, although that did present some challenges as well. We started out the day in Calafate and drove the 90 minutes to the glacier. We walked along much of the same path I walked on Monday, taking a look at the northern wall of the glacier. I'm glad I spent a full day there though, because that enabled me to watch the calving, and really enjoy it. This was just a quick walk through the balconies, with a short stop or two for photographs. I did, however, have the chance to see three condors (3 days of the condor?).

After visiting the glacier and walking along the path, we headed for the dock to catch a boat along the eastern/southern face of the glacier, across a lake, to get to the land so we could hike up alongside. There were some crazy pieces of ice in the water.

We started hiking through a forest trail that brought us right up close with where the glacier begins.

We climbed the side of the glacier, probably a 300 to 400m gain in elevation, in a bit under 90 minutes. Nothing too crazy, but there were some very steep parts. We stopped along the say to pick up our crampons and then to get into our harnesses. We were not attached to one another, but it was so that if we fell into some crevasse, we could be lifted out easily (that is if we didn't drown or freeze first, I was a bit pessimistic about the utility of these harnesses, but I wasn't about to go without one).

We reached the ice roughly 90 minutes into our trek and stopped to put on our crampons. Then I got a mini-lesson in how to walk uphill, downhill, and traverse. And then it was off the races. I was in a group of 10 English speakers and we spent the next 4 hours together on top of Perito Moreno.

We went in and out of ice tunnels,

checked out deep crevasses (this one filled with water and extremely deep),

rivers full of water,

explored ice caves (that's my guide cutting out a tunnel to crawl underneath and then lift ourselves into the cave using a pick),

with a shade of blue I've never seen before (the inside of this cave was the most marvelous thing I have ever seen),
and saw one enormous sink hole (video to be posted separately).

The four hours on top of the glacier were incredible. It was just me and glacier (and a few other people), but total solitude and isolation. It was windy, but we had decent weather, with the sun shining on occasion. I had lunch on top of the glacier with the best view ever and some very fresh, very cold glacier water. Take that evian. You have to wear gloves on the glacier, because the ice is as sharp as glass and if you put your hands on it, you will get cut and bleed. Because of the large amount of water on the surface of this glacier, there are numerous sink holes, which carry the water to the bottom of the glacier. All the water on the bottom is what's responsible for the glacier moving approximately 2-3 meters daily...which causes the glacier to calv. The glacier formation from the top is unique. It's like there are strips of river/glacier that sort of connect to one another, but there are often gaps in between. (If you saw Maya Lin's Systematic Landscapes exhibit at the Corcoran in 2009, you may have an idea of what I'm talking about). In any case, it was topographically and geographically fascinating and I have tons of good pictures. I was tired after my four hours on top and from wearing crampons, but I didn't want to go.

Eventually we made our way from the center of the glacier (where it's less craggy and has smoother hills - in fact, you can see this part of the glacier in some of the previous pictures I've posted) back to the edge. There we crampoffed (not a word, I just invented it now) and made our way back down the mountain. We hung around watching the glacier calv some more, and I got to see a pretty big chunk fall into the lake and some decent size waves flow out.

The boat picked us up to bring us back to our bus so we could return to Calafate. They had a very nice surprise for us...whiskey on the rocks...that is glacier ice!

The Camel, The Kook, and the Glacier

Before I even get started, I think this is my favorite picture of the day:

Greetings from El Calafate! Today I visited one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen in my life, the Perito Moreno Glacier. It's located about an hour and a half outside of El Calafate, which essentially makes it located in the middle of nowhere. The glacier is enormous, over 7k long, about a mile and a half deep, and really really wide. I took 177 pictures. I think that speaks for itself. I'll post some here, but the rest to Snapfish or something like that. And then I'll post the link. The glacier is one of the few in the world that is advancing - and this one moves about 2m every day. Because it is moving and growing, you can hear it moving, and better yet, you can see it moving, as it calves and just falls into the lake. I took a couple videos of this, which I'll post separately, as soon as Blogger lets me. For the first time in my life I a) understand why a glacier is an ice river and what it actually is, since I've never really seen one in action and b) how when I go places and they tell me the valley was created by a glacier, how that actually happened. Here is a massive chunk of ice, which is "flowing" by being pushed by more ice through the landscape, and it pushes everything in its path out of the way. Amazing.

On a random note before I get to the glacier, I have had a perpetual cold since before leaving for Argentina. Today it finally bugged me enough to go to a pharmacy. I walked in and went straight back to the pharmacist. I asked him if he spoke English. The standard answer is "a little bit," but this guy didn't even say that. So I demonstrate breathing through my nose, or the lack thereof, and he recognizes that I am congested. He pulls some spray off the shelf, puts it in a brown paper bag, and sends me to the cashier. I then ask him for Pseudoephedrine, but he doesn't understand what I'm saying. So I got the cashier and I ask him for Pseudoephedrine. After back and forth where I say the word and he repeats it, he exclaims "oh, pseudoephedrina!" I should have known to add an a. My bad. So he goes to the pharmacist, and you can see them having an animated conversation regarding the dumb gringo who didn't know that sudafed was called pseudeophedrina, and returns with my sudafed with ibuprofen. I asked if they had just straight up sudafed and they didn't. But apparently, if you walk into an Argentine pharmacy and demonstrate symptoms (real or otherwise) you get drugs. And sudafed does not appear to be a heavily regulated drug here...if you can figure out how to ask for it.

And since I don't want to keep you waiting any further for incredible pictures of Perito Moreno Glacier, here are a few. The first is a view of the face of the glacier, which is about 20m to 40m above water at different points. It's almost a straight face of ice, because if it isn't straight, then it calves and comes crashing into the water. I spent hours today just waiting around for various calves, and it was def worthwhile. The second picture is of an area of the glacier that as particularly active today. If you are able to enlarge the picture, the part that is closest in just lost a huge chunk, and you can see the blue ice more clearly. The third picture is taken from a higher vantage point, which allows you to see how long the glacier is, and how spiky it is on top. On Wednesday, I'm going on a 7 hour ice trek to the center of the glacier.

I started my day by heading to the Calafate bus station to grab a tour bus to the national park. I had the great misfortune to sit next to a guy who looked like an Argentine version of Tom Selleck, but made many camel noises throughout the 90 minute bus ride. I seriously thought I was sitting next to a camel (he kept on fluttering his lips and then spitting...strange). I prayed I didn't have to sit next to him on the way back. The Camel. As for the kook, while I was up on one of the balconies/observation points overlooking the glacier I met this Canadian who was on my tour bus. He seemed nice enough at first, but he kept on talking my ear off. At first it was fine, we were talking about sites nearby like Chalten and Fitz Roy mountain on the other end of the park. But then somehow we got to the topic of avocados. I mentioned I was allergic. He asked me "who are you allergic to?" I said, not who, but what, avocados. He told me he does holistic medicine and that people are not allergic to things, but to other people. So I need to figure out to whom I am allergic, because after that I'll be all cured. I guess I was born allergic to certain people since I never like bananas either. This was my first indication that he was kooky. But it got better, he told me about a book he's written about a diet consisting of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. He told me he cured a guy of leukemia in 10 days on this diet. The pity is that in between all these kooky things, he actually had some decent points. But then I was brought back to reality when he told me that lower back pain is 100% caused by financial stress. He can lift 75lbs boxes all day and not get hurt, but if he talks about money, he hurts his lower back. The kook. I think his name is Tom Woloshyn.

But I digress. I took an hour long boat ride to the face of the glacier and met lots of cool travelers. After the boat docked, I did this walk along this path that runs probably 2km alongside the glacier, going up and down....lots of steps. I befriended an Israeli couple that were very un-Israeli. They were super nice and friendly. I ended up hiking with them on and off throughout the day. After I reached some of the better vantage points along the path, I just stayed in each one to watch the glacier break apart.

Close up of the glacier wall:

Glacier wall from the boat:

A cave. I like to call this my ice palace. The White Witch (aka Queen of Narnia may live here):

Another closer-in shot:

And a great shot of the crags, peaks, valleys, etc on top of the glacier: