Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares National Park - Argentina

Sunday, February 18th. After our exhausting journey through Parque Nacional Torres del Paine we were in the mood for a mindless tour, one in which they drive you around in a big comfortable bus and tell you when to get out and take pictures. This is exactly what we got at Perito Moreno, and it was terrific!!
Perito Moreno is also on the top 3 list of places to see in Patagonia along with Torres del Paine and Mount Fitz Roy (which we did not see).
Perito Moreno is a huge glacier that was actually growing in size until the 1980´s. It has now reached a state of equilibrium in which 2 meters fall off everyday but are replaced by massive amounts of snowfall at the top of the glacier.
Perito Moreno is famous for its ruptures. You can read more about this phenomenon at this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier I just don´t feel like explaining it.
During our tour we also took a one hour boat ride that took us right up to the glacier. All in all it was a fun and relaxing end to our journey in the Patagonia. The next day we headed back to Puerto Natales. And then on Tuesday we began our 30 hour bus ride from Punta Arenas to Osorno. Upon arrival in Osorno I purchased a bus ticket for Concepcion and parted ways with Jon and Lisa (they headed back to Valparaiso). I arrived in Concepcion early Thursday morning February 22nd after 37 hours in a bus. I moved in with my family, and will begin classes late next week.

Day 5: Sunrise on the Torres del Paine

We woke up at 5am on Saturday, February 17th in order to make the one hour climb (in the dark) to the mirador to view the sunrise on the Torres del Paine. After stumbling through the dark, and then nearly getting blown off the top of the mountain(the winds were even stronger this day, I would guess gusts were up to 50+ mph, meaning at times I had to crouch down to avoid getting blown away), we got a spectacular view of the sunrise hitting the Torres del Paine. (granite pillars that rise to 2800m).

This was quite the finish to our awesome camping trip in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

After viewing the sunrise we returned to camp, packed up and then hiked half the day down the mountain to the bus stop.

Day 4: Long hike to the Torres del Paine

This picture was taken towards the beginning of our day 4 hike, near the shore of Lago Nordenskjold.

Day 4 was definitely our hardest day of hiking. We woke up early to hike 16.6 kilometers before starting the 3 hour climb up to the base of Torres del Paine. (Towers of Pain as I like to call them). The climb to the campsite near the Torres was incredibly hard. It was very steep and their was a 30 - 40 mph wind blowing in our face the whole time, threatening to blow us off of the mountain. But we made it to the campsite and would be rewarded the next morning with one of the special treats that the park had to offer. A sunrise on the Torres del Paine.

Day 3: French Valley (without our packs!!)

On day 3 we were able to leave our tent and hiking packs at Campo Italiano and just do a day hike up into the French Valley. This was a nice break from lugging our packs everywhere, although we still covered a lot of ground this day.

This picture was taken on the way up to the French Valley. Pictures just don´t do the French Valley justice, the beauty of the French Valley is that it is almost entirely surrounded by granite towers and mountain peaks.

Once we got to the mirador (lookout) at French Valley. We decided to continue climbing to see what was over the next pass. After about an hour of hiking and climbing up rocks we were rewarded with a rare view of the back of the Torres del Paine. I say rare view because their was no path, and hardly any other people near us.

Day 2

I do not know the name of this mountain, but after hiking 21.6 kilometers on day 2 (Valentines Day) we set up camp at the base of this spectacular mountain.
Throughout the night we could hear the sound of what seemed to be thunder from the tent, but we found out that this noise was actually avalanches falling from the glacier capped mountain. Such a powerful mountain!!!

I also forgot to mention that Jon, Lisa, and I were also traveling with a German guy named Fredd. Fredd is 20 years old and is in Santiago for a year, fulfilling his German service requirement. We met Fredd at a Hostel in Punta Arenas and he was looking for people to camp with in Torres del Paine.

Day 1: Glacier Grey

We arrived at Torres del Paine at about 1:30 on Tuesday, February 13th. We then had to hike 14km (you can do the conversion). We hiked past Lago Grey (Lake Grey) and set up camp just above the magnificent Glacier Grey (seen in this photo).

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine

Lisa, Jon, and I flew down to Punta Arenas from Santiago on Sunday, February 11. Punta Arenas is the city located on the Straight of Magellan on the southernmost part of the American Continent. From Punta Arenas we took a bus 3 hours north to Puerto Natales, a smaller town which is the staging point for camping trips to Torres del Paine National Park. In Puerto Natales we rented all the gear that we would need for our 5 day 4 night camping and hiking trip at Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
We woke up early on Tuesday morning, February 13th and took a bus from Puerto Natales to the park entrance. We first took a half hour Catamaran ride that took us past the Cuernos which you can see in this picture.