Part 3 of 3: Fast paced hike on a glacial hunk of ice

Part 3 of 3: Fast paced hike on a glacial hunk of ice

On Saturday morning we woke up well before the crack of dawn to embark on the Big Ice tour. Driving to Parque Nacional Los Glaciales was quite entertaining. Through the bus’s front window, I could see the mountains ahead. What I didn’t realize is that they were so far away. But, slowly by slowly, as we sped toward them, they grew to be quite enormous.

The geography of southern Argentina (Patagonia) is quite interesting. The closer to the Andes, the more the climate is likely to rainy. The winds come from the Pacific Ocean, the west. Once the rain hits the mountains, it pretty much fizzles out and not much makes it over the top. The drive from Calafate (east) to the park showed this diverse landscape. It was flat and dry in town, but inside the park the forests are lush and the glaciers reign supreme between the mountains.

I know this primarily because that’s exactly what my midterm in History of the Argentine Environment was on. Then, every tour guide on this trip has reiterated it, sometimes in 2 or more languages.

The mountains themselves reminded me first of huge brownie chunks drizzled with oily white chocolate. A more apt description (yes, I thought about this all day to perfect the baking reference) is that the mountains resembled chocolate chunk coffee cake dusted carelessly in powdered sugar.

Regardless of the pastries I was then and still am craving, we paid the entrance fee to the park. (What would have been 100 pesos had it not have been for my awesome laminated small paper that serves as my IES id card. It actually serves no other purpose, but like a diligent student, I’ve been carrying it all over Argentina to find some use. Honestly, I’m not quite sure if it was the card that got me an 85 peso discount as my Spanish skills are still not very strong, but my residence visa, student id, or winning smile did the trick. Ps, my card says that my home university is Amherst. Go, IES).

Visiting first the balconies showing the view of the north side of the Moreno Glacier, we took many pictures which I encourage you to look through on Picasa. Then, we took a boat ride to the other shore of the lake (which is gray in color due to the sediment). There, we met up with our hiking guides who gave us a rundown of our time with them that started with a 1 hour hike on the mountain to the Cramp-on point.

It seemed like the whole way was uphill, but we finally made it to our sweat lodge looking destination. Our guides measured our feet with the metal spikey shoe enhancements and put us in harnesses. We were not tied together throughout our time on the glacier, it was just in case of emergencies.

We walked back toward the glacier and made use of the Cramp-ons as soon as we stepped foot on the ice. It was quite intimidating, this huge glacier I hiked on. Apparently, all of Buenos Aires and then some could fit on the surface. And, that’s not just a guess like the Heinz ketchup pack story Sarah made up; the numbers actually add up.

Moving on ice was at first difficult, but the more we climbing up and down the crevices, the more we go the hang of it. We walked for about an hour and a half before we stopped in the middle of the glacial to eat lunch by a huge pool of water that was frozen on the surface. After getting some great shots, we headed back home and de-Cramp-on-ed. It was a long way back, but apparently, I was right on the way there. It had been all uphill. The way home was much less cardio and more muscle. On the boat ride back, the crew cracked open a bottle of whisky and served us up with an alfahor (of course) and using ice chipped from the glacier itself. An awesome touch.

Zonked from a long day, we went into town to return our rented equipment and grab dinner, where I ordered ravioli and a Quilmes.

On Birthday Eve, we decided to make the 3 hour bus trip to El Chaltén, the teeny tiny town nestled in the valley surrounded by huge mountain ranges in every direction. I actually walked the entire length of the town in 20 minutes.

We chose our hike based on the park ranger’s recommendation at the info center. He said it was a 3 hour roundtrip easy hike with a great view of Fitz Roy. Knowing that we only had 6 hours before our bus back to Calafate, we decided to air on the safe side and stick with the shorter hike option.

Immediately the trail skyrocketed and was relentless for the first hour. Incredibly annoyed that I had agreed to 2 consecutive days of hiking, I took my time and photographed the scenery along the way. It was among the best I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t aware that earth tones are actually so colorful. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t capable of relaying the images in their full capacity. Please embellish with your imagination! There were brilliant shades of greens in the trees, the milky sapphire of the river, and the browns of the dust and trails.

Continuing our trek, we spotted red mosses, trees with buds, and a grand total of 2 beetles - no other wildlife. We filled our bottles from the babbling creeks and ate lunch at the top view point. The lookout point would have been perfect, but Fitz Roy was stuck in some heavy fog. We took a picture anyway.

Going back down was pretty much all downhill, and just about the time I thought my knees were going to give out, we reached the trailhead.

Recognizing that the other girls wanted to checkout the condor and eagle watchpoints, I opted to stay back by myself and sit in a cafe in town. Our friend at the info center described it as directly behind the info center building, so I figured it was at least another half hour uphill. According to my friends accounts, I guessed correctly.

My cafe experience was rocky at first because I walked in on 4 guys drinking Quilmes after Quilmes, but I ordered coffee and sat in the corner to read. Maybe an hour later, one of the guys from the kitchen came over and asked if I wanted anything to eat. I wasn’t sure what was on the menu because I couldn’t read the permanent marker on cardboard scribbles on the wall across the room. So, I asked what he suggested. He asked me if I liked dulce de leche and ice cream. I said, but of course. He came back 5 minutes later with DDL and ice cream filled crepe (or pancake, as it is here). It was sublime. Then, we got to talking (in English because he realized I can’t actually speak Spanish) about - well, a lot. He lived in Michigan for a while and is from Chile. He was visiting his friend, Ruby - the owner of the cafe - for a couple of days. He, Juan, told me about how difficult it is to find work in Chile and Columbia (Ruby’s home country), and that Argentina doesn’t know how good they have it.

Ruby, an older woman with milk chocolate skin and tired eyes, told me that when she visits Juan in Chile she is often mistaken for Serena Williams. I enjoyed her company as they sat to eat dinner with me, but I saw the modesty in their movements and being. Ruby moved about the kitchen slowly, almost as if every step was a great effort. Juan was sharper and friendlier, but had a worn air about him. Their hospitality and grace was so striking to me that I didn’t realize that I was late meeting my friends. I left with a new taste of Argentina, one that displays AR as an opportunity. Of course, the aftertaste was that of the caramel sweetness of the dulce de leche.

Birthday Eve was then celebrated by hitting the artisan fair by the bus station, dancing to Spanish love songs in the street with a stray dog, and a trip to the grocery store before heading back to the hostel. My friends surprised me after our makeshift meal of cereal for dinner with a tub of dulce de leche and chocolate ice cream and singing Happy Birthday to me. I was pleasantly surprised and thanked them for thinking of me. And, the ice cream was delicious!

I’m writing this last leg of this entry on the plane ride back to BA - the alternative to a 40 hour bus ride. Because they were pretty much the same price, we opted for the 3 hours in a plane. Being entertained by Canadian reality shows and eating alfahors is not a bad way to celebrate 21 years of life.

Good trip. =]