Description: The Moreno Glacier is one of the great natural wonders of South America. It is the world's largest glacier in a temperate climate which means it is the largest a typical tourist could see anywhere in the world. Our first glimspe of the glacier came from our bus and the sight was breathtaking! Undulating down from high in the mountains across Lago Argentina, the glacier appears as a heavy coating of heavy foam spread unevenly across the distant valley.
Our bus stopped at a scenic viewpoint where we could all take pictures. From this distance, the glacier looks deceptively small. In fact, the face of the glacier stretches a few kilometers across the shore of Lago Argentina and runs many miles back into the mountains. After the photo sessions the bus took us to a spot to the side of main viewing area where we could enjoy views of a different face of the glacier. The shore was lined with hundreds of small wind-carved white-blue ice sculptures which blown across the lake from the glacier's face. A short hike along the shore brought to the main viewing areas where a interconnected zig-zag of catwalks and observation decks allowed us close views of the face.
The size of the glacier was hard to comprehend. The massive blue-white wall of ice is stunning and beautiful. From a distance, the ice looked smooth but up close we could see that gravity and wind had fissured the surface and thrust huge icy spires into the air. It runs for miles and miles back into the mountains, its origins obscured by the clouds. Throughout our visit, great chunks of ice were breaking off the glacier and crashing with a thunderous roar into the lake below. Even small chunks of ice broke free with an explosive crack! It was a enjoyable diversion to try to predict which precariously leaning sheet of ice would next break loose. A bigger challenge was trying to get a photo as one splashed into the water. At some points, the face of the glacier couldn't have been more than 100 feet or so from the viewing area.
Most tourists visit the glacier on bus tours from El Calafate, the nearest town. The tours are about $30/ person with an option to take a boat tour of the glacier for an additional $14 or so. The boat tour was short but offered a sense of adventure as we neared the glacier face and the ever-present and fierce Patagonian wind churned the water around us.
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