Perito Moreno Glacier Kayaking & Walking

Both El Chalten (where we left yesterday) and El Califate, where we are today, are within Los Glaciars National Park. El Chalten is known for the dramatic spires of the Fitz Roys and its colorful glacial lakes and rivers (as we’ve seen!). El Califate, while it does have some other interests, is most visited for its proximity to the Perito Moreno glacier.

The Perito Moreno glacier is part of the Patagonian ice field, which is fourth in the world in size behind the ice fields of Alaska, Greenland and Antarctica of course.

When we arrived at the National Park, we got suited up in special thermal “onesies,” dry suits and booties to go out on a kayak paddle in front of the glacier. We discovered that “in front of the glacier” is a subjective description. Although the photos of the activity showed kayakers paddling among floating ice near the glacier’s terminus, we were quite a ways back from the glacier. With the slightly windy and increasingly choppy water, it was the prudent thing to do, we suppose. It was still exhilarating (and slightly exhausting) to be out there on the blue-green water in front of that massive ice shelf. Every now and then a chunk would calve off into the lake.

We did have a front row seat for one unexpected experience as we returned to shore—a large piece of an iceberg almost next to us calved off and the iceberg began to tilt. So impressive!

After squirming out of all of our layers, we had lots of time to walk along the catwalks (called balconies here), to see the glacier from multiple perspectives and to read the informative signs.

The glacier’s leading edge is 3 miles wide, with a height of around 230 feet above the surface of Lago Argentino. On average, the glacier advances 6 feet per day. What’s interesting is that the glacier is in a steady state. The loss of ice we watched from the viewing areas is compensated by the ice building up from behind.

The popping and cracking preceding a rupture is as eerily exciting as the thundering fall of one-ton sized ice blocks. There were many calvings during our visit, which was an amazing experience!Read more