50d 29m 08.8s S, 73d 02m 44.0s W (WP024)

Celebrating Robert’s 40th birthday by visiting a most amazing river of ice, the Perito Moreno Glacier, located in the Los Glaciares National Park. The specifications for this amazing natural beauty really boggle the mind: a 250 km^2 ice formation, 5 kilometers across, stretching over 30 km along the river, with heights of 60-80m above the water line, with an equivalent depth of ice below, or ~140 m ice height, half hidden from view. It was just mind-boggling to get a sense of scale. Unlike other glaciers in the area (fed from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field), which are retreating, Perito Moreno has basically kept its same volume over the last century. I just love things which are locked in time!

We were fortunate to enjoy catching some times when the glacier ‘calves’ or falls into the lake that it abuts against. Throughout the afternoon, on the boat trip and also just walking the balconies where you got some amazing views, we would hear the sounds of the glacier.

Or you would see waves being created by a recent ice fall.

For a tease of scale, we marvelled at small specks crossing the glacier. We would be one of those specs in a few days time when we’d put on crampons and walk on water (see Feb 13 entry)