Patagonian Adventure 2022: The Sights (and Sounds) of Patagonia

Wed, 26 Oct 2022

I had already grown accustomed to some of the wild weather changes we'd been experiencing, as well as the relative inaccuracy of the local forecasts, so I was especially pleased to pull back the curtain this morning and see bright, clear, blue skies. We were to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier and Los Glaciares National Park today. Veni had told us to be sure to dress in multiple layers and to bring our cold-weather gear. I was tempted to ignore this guidance when I looked out the window, and even opened the window and waived my arms outside, but thank goodness I did not. We both dressed in layers and had rain and cold gear, along with ski hats and gloves. I felt a little ridiculous loading all of this onto the bus, especially as it was warm and beautiful morning, but I threw the extra clothes into the overhead compartment and assumed they'd go untouched.

As we left town, we drove alongside Lago Argentina, the largest freshwater lake in the country. It is more than 500 square miles, fed by multiple glaciers. The lake is a haven for birds, to include large flocks of flamingos who season there. The drive there was through the scrubby baren land we'd encountered the previous day, but as we moved westward, we changed climates. Within a few hundred yards, we went from cacti to deciduous forests and tall pine trees. We also left clear skies to dense clouds and rain. Looking up, you could see a sharp cloudline in the sky, seeing the winds were keeping the cold, wet weather on the windward side of the mountains. By the time we formally entered the parks' visitor gate, it was raining, and we could see on a large thermometer display at the front of the bus that the temperatures had dropped into the high 40's. It had easily been in the high 50's, low 60's when we left town. We were to be visiting Perito Moreno glacier, within the southern Patagonian ice field -- which in turn represents the third largest freshwater reserve in the world. We caught sight of the glacier from several miles away, which made it hard to appreciate the scale and until we were much, much closer. The glacier itself is more than three miles wide at its face and averages 250 feet tall. It sits on Lago Argentina, but in a very unique location. Directly across a narrow channel from the glacier sits a peninsula. Lago Argentina surrounds the peninsula. Unlike every other glacier we had or would see, Perito Moreno (named after the Argentine national who finalized the agreement with Chile on how to draw the international border through Patagonia) is in a state of equilibrium, meaning that it is not receding. In fact, while it advances and loses an average of six feet of surface every day, there is sufficient snowfall at the higher elevations, that it grows by that much daily. Because it is so active, we were to see (and hear) a lot of calving activity.

Leaving El Calafate (and Sun) on Way to Perito Moreno Glacier

Approaching the Park (You Can See the Line of Weather Awaiting Us)

Just Inside the Park, on the Western Side of Lago Argentina

Due to how it sits across from the spit of land, the glacier routinely advances across the narrow channel separating ice from land, and forms an ice dam. As this dam builds, the water level on the western side rises, as there is no outlet on that side. Water levels have known to rise by as much as 100 feet on the western side, putting incredibly pressure on the ice dam. In most cases, water eventually forces a tunnel under the ice, which grows and relieves some of the pressure. At other times, and on an almost annual basis, the dam ruptures suddenly, releasing a torrent of water and ice rushing toward the east, and creating flooding downstream. The channel was clear when we visited, but it was still narrow, and you could see the force of the water flowing past the face of the glacier.

Our First View of Perito Moreno -- From Around Three Miles Away

Rain was pretty steady when the bus dropped us off at the Visitors' Center. Our new local guide had joined us, and she was good at filling us in during the drive over. The hotel had sent boxed lunches with us, which we brought with us, to eat after exploring the glacier itself. Extremely happy to have listened and brought along all our cold-weather gear, we suited up and headed out. They have done an outstanding job building several miles-worth of elevated boardwalks on the peninsula side, directly across from the glacier. The boardwalk has dozens of built-in viewing platforms, and runs up and down the hillside, allowing for views to the glacier from every perceivable angle and elevation. We could hear the glacier as soon as we began the walk, even though trees initially shielded the view. As I wrote, it is an incredibly active glacier, and there are calving events every five to 10 minutes. Given the width of the glacier, we were more often than not in a place where we heard the calving, rather than seeing it, but we did get to witness several spectacular instances with our eyes and ears. The winds coming off the glacier, however, were fierce, and coupled with the rain, it made for a very cold and wet experience. Unforgettable, certainly, but not for the faint-hearted among us. Though we appeared quite close to the glacier, we did note that we had to watch the glacier face, as we would see pieces break off before the sound reached us, so if we turned our head in response to hearing something, it was usually too late to see much, other than the residual movement in the water.

Preparing To Leave the Visitors' Center To Begin the Hike

We walked several miles along the boardwalks and really took it all in. It was easily the closest we have been to a glacier in our lives, and we will not forget it. Once back up behind the trees, protected from the winds, and within a shelter (blocking the rain) we wolfed down our boxed lunches. Looking at us all, you would have thought we hadn't eaten in days. We were all, therefore, quite happy to finally retreat back into the Visitors' Center to warm up and wait for our bus to pull back up.

It Was Cold, WINDY, and Wet

Katherine and Barbara Bundled Up

As if we again crossed an invisible border, as soon as we left the park proper, the clouds and rain were gone, and we were in full sunshine long before we got back to El Calafate. In fact, we witnessed a double rainbow along the way. It was, without compare, the most stable rainbow I have ever seen. We were even able to pull over and photograph it, and it remained in place for several miles once we continued down the road.

Looking for something different for dinner this evening, we were also told that the pizza in Argentina is quite good. This was attributed to a very large influx of Italian immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Along with the Rieckhoffs and the two ladies from Chicago, we decided to try out a recommended Italian restaurant not too far from the hotel. We all took some time to dry off, warm up and change before dinner, which was welcome. Katherine and I even treated ourselves to some wine before we headed out. The pizza, unfortunately, did not live up to our expectations. It was certainly unique (one of ours had a heaping serving of French fries on top), but luckily we'd learned our lesson the previous night about serving portions, so Katherine and I split a small pizza and salad, and it was the perfect size to get us through the evening.