Big Ice Trek

Honestly, I was a bit nervous when we confirmed the Big Ice Trek. I thought there would be ice climbing, heaving myself up a cliff of slippery ice, and pictured myself sliding down a slope of ice into a glacial pit. Of course, that was not the case and Toby and I had a a blast. We were picked up in a big bus at El Galpon around 7:45 AM. This was a group pick up that started in El Calafate at 7:00 AM. It's a good thing that we were at El Galpon, because we were the last ones to be picked up. And the first to be dropped off! We had about an hour to get into the Los Glaciares National Park. We had a sweet guide who told us the history of the park and what to expect in both English and Spanish.

We arrived to the boardwalks and had an hour to gaze on the face of Perito Moreno. We saw it calve many times, one big one! Then, we headed to the boat that took us across the water to the point where we started our trek. The boat ride was very short, maybe 15 minutes. The guide met us as a group, indicated how important it was for all of us to wear gloves, and gave us an opportunity to use the restaurants. We began the 2.5-3 mile hike uphill to the dome where we donned our crampons and harnesses. They had a pretty fast pace and we didn't have much of an opportunity to stop and take photos. When we were given the crampons and harnesses, we made our way down another quarter mile to the place we first stepped on the ice.

We split into about 4 groups of 11 people. Two guides accompanied us - one leading and the second scouting the area, helping us down steep parts, and keeping us in line. Carlos was our lead guide. He was funny, and had lots of knowledge about the glacier. Pablo was quiet, helpful, and didn't speak much English. I could tell he had a sense of humor because he called one of our fellow trekkers, "Utah". We spent about 3 hours out on the ice and our guides led us to a point that made us feel like we were the only ones on the ice. They pointed out beautifully blue/purple caverns that led to the depths of the glacier. At one point, we stopped for lunch and filled up our water bottles with the freshest water on the planet. We wandered our way through the ice and the only times we ever used our harnesses was if we were peering over an edge.

Carlos or Pablo would hold on to us as we glanced over the edge. We meandered our way back to the edge of the ice to take off our crampons. We walked up to the camp to return the gear and then headed back to the boat. When we boarded, they had whiskey on glacial ice and chocolate to celebrate a pretty amazing day. It was an epic way to end our adventure in Patagonia. We were exhausted, but happy to have the experience.