Hiking a glacier! Tales of Ice in Patagonia

Around the holidays Christie and I took a trip to Patagonia. We landed in El Calafate (about 3 hours by plane from Buenos Aires) on Christmas eve and the day after Christmas we did a once in a lifetime excursion - hiking a glacier!

With the scare of global warming, the glaciers won't be around forever. Whether you're a fan of Al Gore and climate change or not, there is measurable evidence of the glaciers vastly receding and taking up much less space than before. It's an excursion our children and grandchildren might not have the opportunity to try. We wanted to take advantage of it while we could. Our age was also a key factor, as the tour required you to be between 21 and 50 years of age to participate.

We were picked up around 7am in a van, woken up by a bright shiny sun, in fact the sun rose by 4am that morning (and set around 11pm). This was to be about a 10-12 hour total excursion with travel time.

After some more pickups and traversing into the national park entrance, we paid our entrance fee and then took a boat, which crossed the glacier when it was melted water across to the other side. This is when we had our first glimpse up close of Perito Mereno glacier. It was breathtaking. It was also enormous, and you could hear the loud thundering sound as parts of ice would break off.

Once on the other side, we hiked for 20 minutes and met the rest of the guides, in order to get fitted for crampons.

Crampons were pretty heavy and enabled us to get a strong footing and grip into the ice. Many parts were wet or flimsy so the crampons were required. You would take a step, get a hold, and then take a another step.

We then hiked another 30 minutes up the trail to where we would enter the ice. It was a strenuous hike, considering the weight of the crampons. I carried both Christie and mine, so by the time we got to the top of the hill, I was drenched in sweat. We were both wearing warm clothes, jackets, fleeces, gloves, hats, snowpants, etc... which we would need when we got to the ice, but until then, our body temperature was hot. It would soon be cooled rapidly once we stepped onto the glacier.

The wind of Patagonia is famously strong, with little barriers to block it and it powered across the ice. I was barely able to keep my hat on! Also, the sun reflected strong off the ice, making sunscreen and sunglasses a requirement.

The below picture is another of the groups hiking across the glacier. Moments later, we would follow in their footsteps.

We were on the ice for about 4 hours, and the hiking back and forth and everything else made for a long day. It was difficult, exciting, fun, and one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities we've ever done together. One girl sprained her ankle and had to be supported for most of the 2nd half. Christie and I both reached parts of the ice, which was difficult to know where to step, or risk falling deep into the cold glacier water.

One of the highlights for me was drinking fresh glacier water as it flowed from the stream of melting water. Freshest water I've ever had or maybe ever will have.

The below picture is one of my favorites, holding the guide's pickax near the end. We made it!