|
Onward, northward. After making
arrangements for transit and getting
food and fuel, I set off for Torres del Paine. Torres del Paine is a
jewel of a national park. Within its 700 square miles there are
mountains, forests, glaciers, creeks and waterfalls and incredible
views. My plan was to do a 4 day backpacking trip exploring three
valleys, the "W" trek, so named for the shape of the route.
Travel into the park from
Natales is a half day enterprise involving buses, catamarans, and
finally, feet.
|
From the catamaran across Lago Pehoe. The glacial lakes all are in mind-bending shades of green, blue and aquamarine.
Heading upvalley, the peak of Paine Grande records a bit of precipitation.
In ready supply in case anyone needs to slow their heart down.
Lago Grey, and iceberglings. There is actually a very precise terminology for the classification, description and taxonomy of floating ice.
Pictured above are an assemblage of "growlers", "bergy bits" and a "small".
My first glimpse of Glacier Grey, a massive source of ice cubes that forms the southern end off the Southern Patagonian Ice field.
The Southern Pat, by the by, is the third largest continental ice field.: Antarctica, Greenland and SoPat.
Retreat? You betcha. The glacier used to almost surround La Isla o Nunatak, that larger scrap of land caught between ice and water in the above photo .
Murphy's Law of photography. I sat on a rocky outcrop for several hours, watching and listening to the glacier.
I ran through the various lenses I had with me. And wouldn't you know, the glacier decided to calve when I had the widest angle lens mounted.
So there, from afar, is some geophysics in action.
