Day 2: a visit to Perito Moreno Glacier and Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. We woke up bright & early and had a scenic two-hour bus ride through foothills and pastures and lakes, out from El Calafate to get to the park.

There’s an impressive series of boardwalks and platforms from which to admire the front edge of the glacier, watch little icebergs calving off from the icy mass and crashing into the lake below.

this ice is 400 years old! These spires of ice began as humid air moving east over the Pacific ocean and over Chile they condensed to clouds and then over the Andes they became snowflakes which fell on the Patagonian continental ice field and slowly made their way down to Argentina a few hundred years later. This is one of the only glaciers in the world that’s not receding. Between the melting and the giant icebergs constantly crumbling off the front end, it’s not really advancing either, but it’s more or less holding its own and neither advancing nor retreating.

After an hour or two of admiring the glacial action, we went to the tourist center and had a hot chocolate, then headed out for our hike across the glacier! We took a boat across the lake, then hiked along the lakeshore and up alongside the edge of the glacier.

Our herd of tourists split into smaller groups and we all strapped on crampons over our boots and gingerly marched, single-file, up onto the side of the glacier. From across the lake you see how massively wide it is, but from this vantage you realize how tall it is, like a giant ice mountain and all of the climbers are little tiny ants on its side.

The ice was all pebbly, just like crushed ice. Every now and then we came across crevasses where you could see deep into the ice, and it glows bright blue inside. The sun was surprisingly warm and there were rivers and lakes of melted glacier-water running all over the place.

Our guide told us to fill up our water bottles and drink from the puddles, it’s the purest water in the world! With the crampons it was really easy to climb up and down the ice. We had sweet views of the lake and mountains from atop the glacier. After clambering around for a while, we arrived at a little wooden chest nestled inbetween two great ice-drifts. Inside: a pile of hand-made chocolates, a bottle of whiskey and a dozen glasses; the guide scooped up glasses full of glacier ice and we each had a whiskey on the rocks and a tasty chocolate.

We were sleepy on the bus ride back to El Calafate but I was glad I stayed awake because it was the best colored sunset I have ever seen.

Day 3: bus ride to El Chalten and an afternoon hike to Laguna Capri brings us face-to-face with the mighty Cerro Fitz Roy.

Day 4: Blustery buckets of rain. Stayed inside the hostel knitting a scarf and cooked a pot of pea soup.

Day 5: hiked the Laguna Torre trail, a long but easy trail through amazingly bright fall foliage, and at the end a spectacular view of the laguna, Glaciar Torre, and the cloud-covered Cerro Torre. Snow flurry at the summit.

Day 6: bus back to El Calafate, had a few hours to relax in Calafate and then flew back home to Buenos Aires.

here are more pictures!!!

tomorrow!! gotta go pack now.

2. rented a car and drove to Villa La Angostura and stayed in a little cabin in the woods.

3. wednesday morning took a ferry ride from Villa La Angostura to the end of the Quetrihué Peninsula.

4. visited the Bosque de los Arayénes, a very special forest which grows at the end of this peninsula.

5. hiked back up the peninsula, 12 km, back to Villa La Angostura. Mike and Mat and Jan jumped in a lake for an icy swim! We hiked through magical forests and met horses and cows in grassy clearings under the trees.

We got lost in the woods on a very steep mountain. We enjoyed breathtaking views from the top of the mountain.

We made it to the end of the trail, hot and tired and hungry.

6. Thursday we drove the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (that’s the Route of Seven Lakes) which actually passes nine lakes and winds between the mountains

from Villa La Angostura to San Martin de los Andes. It turned out to be a rough dirt road, sometimes one lane; it was a little scary but an amazing day of picture-postcard views.

7. Friday morning we went back to Bariloche and met our cabalgata guide, Carol Jones, and four other gringos and saddled up for our two-day horseback expedition!

This was one of the most amazing experiences EVER.

Also it was one of the most painful, because apparently my butt is not made like other peoples’ and I am too bony to ride a horse without excruciating pain. We rode mostly through fields, across creeks, up and down foothills, with the Andes all around us, and camped at around 1200 meters elevation. Carol served us steak from her own cows, cooked over the campfire, and it was delicious.

After the second day of riding, Carol drove us in her 1968 Land Rover over treacherous dry(ish) creek beds and dirt “roads” for at least an hour until we got back to the paved road to Bariloche. We collapsed into our hostel, took long, hot showers and slept a lot. Flew back to Buenos Aires first thing in the morning.