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Where to hike a kingdom of ice
Along the turquoise shores of Lake Argentino, the town of El Calafate gets its name from the thorny plant whose berries infuse cocktails and regional beers. However, its proximity to Los Glaciares National Park has placed the town on the tourist map as the gateway to the kingdom of ice in southern Argentine Patagonia.
There, near the border with Chile, the 1,722-square-mile park encompasses subantarctic forests that preserve habitats for species such as the guemal, puma, rhea, condor, guanaco, and the calafate plant. But the park’s main draws are the nearly 300 glaciers that cover almost half of the park surface. The most popular and accessible, three-mile-wide Perito Moreno glacier, stands almost 200 feet above the surface of Lake Argentino. Huge masses of ice spectacularly calve from its face with thunderous roars. It’s possible to hike with crampons on the glacier to find swaths of electric-blue color among waterfalls, crevices, ice caves, underground rivers, and extravagant ice formations.
This frozen desert is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest expanse of continental ice in the world, after Antarctica and Greenland. After exploring the frigid ends of the Earth, visitors return to a boat waiting on the lake to celebrate their adventures with a shot of whiskey and...
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Los Glaciares Ulusal Parkı, Arjantin'in Patagonya bölgesinde Santa Cruz Eyaleti'nde bulunan ulusal parktır. 726.927 hektar bir alanı kaplamaktadır. Arjantin'in ikinci büyük ulusal parkıdır. Vikipedi
Los Glaciares National Park was created to preserve an extensive area of continental ice and glaciers, of the southern Andean-Patagonian forest, and samples of the Patagonian steppe. In other regions of the world, glaciers are, at least, at an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level, but due to their location, the prevailing winds of the Pacific and especially the Cordillera de los Andes are located at 1,500 meters, sliding to 200 meters. msnm. This protected area was created as such in 1937. In 1971, through Law No. 19.292, the current limits and the zoning of the National Park and National Reserve were established. It extends over an area of 724,000 hectares (7,240 km²) located in the southwest of the Province of Santa Cruz. Its western limits always follow the Argentine-Chilean international dividing line between parallels 49º 15 'and 50º 50' South (from Cerro Fitz Roy to Cerro Stokes) covering part of the Continental Ice and almost all glaciers which of them descend towards the eastern side. The Park belongs to the eco-regions of Patagonian forest and steppe...
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The Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina is a 250 square kilometer ice formation that feeds into Largo Argentino and is a major tourist attraction in Patagonia. El Calafate, Argentina was again one of the huge markers for my trip. After setting off from Gobernador Gregores at first light, I got on my way for a pretty tough riding day on Ruta 40.
I left El Calafate in the early morning for the 50-mile journey to the Perito Moreno Glacier. There are a couple of stops along the way with great views. You can ride right into the park and the entry fee is $25 USD to the Los Glaciares National Park.
Only buses and disabled cars are allowed up into the top park area with the best views although I pretended to not know so I could get some photos, pleading ignorance is a great excuse for tourists in many situations in foreign lands!
I also got the ferry out to the face of Perito Moreno Glacier (an additional $100 USD) prices vary at different times of the year. The ride goes for about 45 minutes and is a great way to get a bunch of photos. Unfortunately, no icefalls from the face occurred during my trip. You can hear really loud claps from the glacier as it slowly moves...
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