Post by Grubb.
Churning our way up Lake Argentino on a catamaran cruise boat, we cruised by an iceberg.
Then we swung to the right heading towards a cliff of ice spanning the gap between two sloping snow slicked hills. Hello Spegazzini Glacier!
I thought of what was going through Carlos Spegazzini’s mind when he first sailed up to it at the turn of the last century. An earlier explorer might have wondered whether this was where the world came to an end. A sheer crystal blue curtain of ice rising a hundred meters above the mirroring lake, a frozen dam holding back a seemingly endless cascade of white water stilled in mid flow. Terrifying yet magisterial. Perhaps Carlos was struck by the beautiful finality, that if he was to meet his end at that moment he would be swallowed up by a supernaturally calm magnificence.
Snapping off selfies on a tour boat doesn’t quite capture the Carlos Moment, but it beats Disneyland! Head towards that icy fortress wall, but no one’s going to ride this one out. To be human is to be diminished just looking at it.
Although the sun is out, the breeze off the lake quickly numbs my cell phone tapping fingers and a more detached reality invades my romantic outlook. Now I am fascinated at how the ripples, cracks, and angles of the glacier refract the blue spectrum while the smooth unmarred surfaces are ghostly white. It is overwhelming, but it all makes sense.
Wow! How much is this one shrinking ?
As of 2010, it was in a stable state. Now it is shrinking but I don’t know by how much.
Whereas the Spegazzini Glacier lost.07% in forty years, the Perito Moreno Glacier is actually growing
Looks like a truly amazing place to be!
Wondering if you could hear any sounds coming from them?
Yes. You can can hear pops and creaking. And noises that sound kind of like gun shots.
Very cool & beautiful to see. Great photos that capture the glaciers well! H
They are fascinating. In places you can see deep turquoise streaks. When we have better internet we will post a few more pics.