Dec 10 - Dec 13
Of all of the sites we visited I think this was my favorite. This was a visit to the Alpine region of Patagonia. Most tourists just visit the easily accessible Perito Moreno Glacier, but we had the opportunity to climb up to view the Patagonia ice field (and the good fortune to actually see it).
Sweltering in the heat of Cartagena it was hard to remember while I brought all of the clothes I use at the Observatory in the Fall. I used virtually everything I brought.
Patagonia is the 3rd largest icefield in the world (after Antartica and Greenland). This trip was going to allow us to both view an easily accessible arm of the field as well as to look out over the field off toward the horizon.
Our all day trip today was to visit the Patagonia Ice Fields. These were accessed by boat that we caught at "2". The ride was quite rough as the boat was buffeted by winds coming down from the ice fields.
Our first stop was to try to see the ice field from the water. Unfortunately as we approached the visibility dropped so we could not go all the way up to the Fjord. We went as far as a large iceberg at {3}.
We then turned around and sailed to another fjord and the Estancia Cristina {4}. From here we boarded a 4 wheel drive bus for the climb up to the lookout {5}.
This is a tongue from the larger Patagonia ice field that extends down into a channel between Lago Argentina and Brazo Rico. The visitor's center is accessible by car from El Calafate. For that reason it is the typical "one day visit" destination. We would likely have traveled here in 2020. In this trip we had all day and were planning to return via a boat that we would catch at the the shoreline of the park. So we had time to savor the experience.
It was COLD today. I think I completely unloaded my pack ( did I mention it was cold?). There is a metal grate walkway that descends from the visitor center higher on the mountain and ends at the boat dock at water level. I chose to do a longer walk which required me to bundle up against the cold. Carrie did a much shorter walk. Fortunately I had brought the right equipment so it was a {mostly} comfortable walk and the views were spectacular.
The glacier is visible decending from the opposite side of the channel. We had great views the entire time and the only hard part was deciding which is the "best" view.
Our visit caught the attention of the local press. The article is in Spanish, but your browser will translate.