Big Blue

Calafate, Argentina

We get up early this morning and pile onto a bus to go out to the Perito Moreno glacier. It’s a giant blue

Neil and Martin in front of the glacier

glacier that has giant chunks of ice that constantly are calving off of it. It’s one of my favorite things to see. On the way out to the glacier, our local guide Veronica tells us about how glaciers work and different flora and fauna that we might see along the way. Nobody can understand her accent, but for some reason I find it endearing.

When I woke up it looked to be fairly sunny. My dad had brought me nice Merrell hiking shoes for my Christmas present, but unfortunately, I managed to lose them in Torres del Paine, so now I was forced to decide to wear my flip flops or dress shoes. I opt for the flops, but immediately regret my decision as the wind and clouds close in on our way out there. By the time we get to the park it’s freezing, there’s occasional rain and lots of wind. All day I have to deal with people staring at my feet in wonderment.

The glacier rests on a lake that has a narrow peninsula that reaches right out to it and creates two different faces of it. On the peninsula they have boardwalks so you can see it at different angles. Occasionally the glacier will reach out and touch the peninsula, bisecting the lake into two, until one of the side’s water levels will rise up sometimes 15 feet. Eventually the resulting pressure will melt through the ice creating an enormous ice bridge which in turn will collapse from the pressure of the glacier. The face that we visit is about 150 feet tall and maybe 2 kilometers long. The very outside of the glacier is white, but in the cracks and crevices it’s a deep blue.

We take a boat out near the face and it runs us up and down the length of it. Our hope is to get a good video or picture of a massive chunk of ice calving off making a big splash and triumphant roar. On the boat nothing much happens, but on a little hike out on the peninsula, a huge chunk actually calves off under water and rises up from the water. Once the ice hit the warmer air, the whole thing actually shattered and pretty much made everybody’s day. I was able to get it on video, though from fairly far away. Damon I think got the best video.

That evening when we got back, we celebrated Rachel’s birthday at a pretty cool Irish bar and pizza place. Afterwards, we tried to find somewhere to hang out, but ended up back at the hostel went to bed fairly early.