Big Ice - Perito Moreno glacier

Another early morning had us putting the last bits into our backpacks, scarfing down some breakfast, and waiting for the shuttle pickup. This was the big day.

Weather: perfecto! Bright blue skies and sun. Perfect to see the mountains.
Total hiking time: 6.5 hrs

We were picked up on comfortable buses and slowly made our way the Glacier National Park. So far so good.

Arriving at the park we went on a mini-hike to get a good frontal view of the glacier. Up and down stairs with many different lookout areas, the only reason that it took so long was for everyone to stop and take photos. No problemo.

The best part of viewing the glacier from a far is watching the ice calf off the glacier. Huge rumbles of the ice cracking and creaking, it is truly an amazing sight.

The Glacier
The perito moreno glacier is one of the few (only?) glaciers that is maintaining its size. The theory is that its collection field makes up the majority of the glacier so it is able to maintain its size. As well, the area gets ridiculous amounts of precipitation.

What is also neat is that the glacier is fast moving, with the centre section moving about 1.5 metres per day. That would explain all the calving.

The Big Ice
After the hike we took a quick trip to the boat, which would pass by the glacier (basically the same as all the boat tours except faster and not as close) and drop us of across the lake so that we could hike to our destination.

Once docked, we hopped off to get the details of our trek. First was to make sure we had gloves - mandatory wear in case of a fall due to the sharp ice. Check.

Surveying the crowd, my worries of not being able to keep up quickly melted. My competition? At least half a dozen wearing jeans, another half wearing runners. Some didn't even have backpacks. And I was worried my injured-self wouldn't be able to keep up?

So we were on our way, with 1 hr to hike on land.
Second stop: getting fitted for crampons.
Then more hiking along the glacier.

Almost there: getting fitted for harnesses, just in case.
Then it was just a few more minutes hiking until we were at the base, having our crampons put on (they were really old fashioned and involved intricate lacing) and getting a lesson on how to walk on the ice.

Nothing I could write would be able to describe how awesome an experience it was. (Photos will hopefully do it more justice) If you ever get a chance, do it. Pure awesomeness.

Injuries: Tiffany - a matching blister on the other food (probably compensating) and a red neck. No, not the Albertan red neck at the back, but at the front. WTF?
Mike - two red spots by his ears that got missed with the coating of sunscreen.

Who needs a beach when you've got a glacier? :)

The Bottleneck
In all my travels I cannot recall running into anyone from Israel. So I had no bias, and the only information I had was a story that a coworker told me (which was actually verified by my story below).

I also believe in every guided tour that there is one "Nanook", or some idiot who is the weak link of the group.

The two happened to be from Israel, and wow.
The one guy was larger and huffing and puffing a storm. Comments were "why are we hiking so long" and the like. Apparently he hadn't read the details of the trip? I mean, what did he expect?

The one girl, wearing white sweat-like pants carried not only a backpack, but a little purse AND this paper shopping bag. (The latter of which she left at the first stop.) Any downhill step or crossing was met with apprehension. At one point one of the tour guides said to her "what, are you afraid?!", obviously frustrated.

I should also point out that this tour has a, poorly chosen, age restriction of 45. From what I've read, if you can prove you're fit they'll let you on the tour. I'm sorry, but I know of several people beyond that age who would fair much better than these two. New restrictions are a definite need.

Asado
Our great hostel had this all you can eat asado. For about $20ish you get:
- all you can eat meat: steak and this incredible sausage. Plus there was some sort of red spicy sauce that went on top.
- all you can eat veggies: grilled eggplant, grilled squash (my favourites), corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and probably more I'm forgetting.
- 1 litre of beer or some wine

By the end we were chatting it up with some German travelers until some wee hours of the morning. Good times had by all, and thankfully we were able to sleep in the next morning.