Los Glaciares - Fitzroy Treks (part 2) |
Glaciar Grande Walk (25km - 600m ascent - 600m descent) |
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View across the river flats of Rio Fitzroy |
Snow-capped Cerro Solo |
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By tiroleser across Rio Fitzroy |
Icebergs in Laguna Torre |
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Climbing the lateral morain of Laguna Torre |
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The face of Glaciar Grande |
Overlooking the lower part of Glaciar Grande |
Crossing on to the ice at the glacier edge |
It was time to put on the crampons and head off into the world of ice and what a curious world it was. An undulating landscape, crinkled by pressure and lined with thin cracks and crevasses. Many icy streams rushed down the glacier in narrow channels, some racing to the edge, others disappearing down large moulins to pass through the glacier and flow beneath it. Small lakes of azure blue or olive green had formed in the surface and we passed small caves, their interiors taking on intense shades of blue. Above, the line of seracs on the edge of the upper part of the glacier formed a deeply creased jumble. |
Looking up to the serac fields |
Glacier icescape |
Trekking party on Glaciar Grande |
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Climbing the ice cliff |
Waterfilled crevasse |
Heading back down |
Return across Rio Fitzroy |
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Rio Fitzroy below Laguna Torre |
Beech forests of Fitzroy |
The weather closes in over the Fitzroy Valley |
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Rio de las Vueltas (28km by bike, 5 km on foot) |
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Fitzroy from the north - with Cerro Torre peaking through a gap |
Valley of the Rio Electrico |
Rio de las Vueltas |
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A delicate orchid |
Patagonian thrush |
Female upland goose |
Pea flowers |
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Memorial to a 1960s border clash between Argentina and Chile |
Waterfall on the road to Lago del Desierto |
Cascade and rapids on the Rio del las Vueltas |
Rickety suspension bridge across the Rio de las Vueltas |
Bleak weather over Lago del Desierto |
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The long ride home |
Back at the lodge |
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Gourmet meal at the Fitzroy Expediciones lodge |
The parting view of the Fitzroy massif |
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