Destination Patigonia - Continued from 12/6/2014

Destination  Patagonia - Continued from 12/6/2014

The next day brought some answers to my queries.  After breakfast, we had a conversation with the proprietor of Lo de Tomy.  She shared with us photos of ranch life. The ranch hands have a very busy life caring for the livestock, land and structures. Those working inside the house have a busy life, too, caring for the ranch hands and the home and family. Folks living on the land all looked to be strong and healthy, and many of the gauchos are very attractive!  Perhaps everyone is too busy to dwell on the roaring, moaning and battering of the wind here.

Referring to Darwin when mentioning the trekkers and hikers, it turned out to be appropriate. Mt. FitzRoy, it turns out, was named for Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the HMS Beagle, Darwin's ship.  He sailed the Beagle up a river near the mountain which today bears his name.  

Since our arrival in El Chalten, the mountains had been shrouded in clouds. On our last day in town, the wind blew the clouds away to reveal a very stunning sight.    Mt. FitzRoy and all of the other peaks in the range became visible in all their rugged, jagged glory.  It was worth waiting to feast our eyes on this gorgeous vista.  Although hundreds of people ascend Mt. Everest every year, only maybe one person is able to ascend FitzRoy.  It is one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb, due to its sheer verticality.  

Our next destination was El Calafate.  The town arises from an arid area just adjacent to Lake Argentino.  The brilliant turquoise of this glacial lake is in stark contrast to the myriad shades of browns, tans, and taupes of the landscape.  El Calafate is the anchor point for excursions to the numerous glaciers that are found here.  While driving through the wetlands near the lake, we observed several different species of water birds.  The most colorful among them were flocks of flamingoes.  There were also ducks, geese and swans.

Off to a fresh start the next morning, we drove out to Perito Moreno Glacier, part of Glacier National Park.  We've both visited glaciers before, but the vastness of this one was incomparable. The Park service has done an admirable job here of building viewing boardwalks on several different levels.

At times, one would hear something resembling a gun shot. It was ice breaking off the glacier and falling into the water below.  We plied the different levels of the boardwalks, gazing at the glacier.  As the light changed from sunny to the shade of a passing cloud, the colors changed too. In areas where the ice was more compacted, the whites turned to blues--from aquamarine to an intense sapphire.  Other areas showed evidence that the glacier grabbed soil and rocks as it scraped along, showing stripes of dark gray.  The ice was a virtual wall with the turquoise lake in front and many kilometers of glacier behind it.

The next day we braved a cold wind to take a cruise on Lake Argentino to view the Uppsala and Spegazzini Glaciers. The farther along we went, the more icebergs came into view. They had broken off the Uppsala Glacier. The shapes sometimes reminded one of animate objects and were magnificent myriad shades of blue.  We cruised to within about 2 kilometers of the glacier. Even at that far away range, it was impossible to view the full width of the glacier in the wide angle lens.

A while later we turned into the lake arm that dead ended at Spegazzini Glacier. While we were there, the Andes mountain behind the glacier came into view from behind the clouds. What a sight!  And it started snowing even though it's summer here.  For the most part, words don't seem adequate to describe much of what we are witnessing here.  There are only so many superlatives.

Tomorrow we are transferring to Chile for another Patagonian adventure at a resort in the Torres Del Paine National Park.  More to follow later.