David's Images of the Day Photoblog
A long day on the road as we traveled from Argentina to Chile. On the way we stopped at a sheep ranch (Estancia). After going through customs/immigration at the Chilean border we traveled to Lazo Estancia right next to Paine National Park.
Today we traveled back to Calafate. We had the afternoon and evening off to visit the city and find a local restaurant for dinner. I used most of the time to catch up on images. This was the first place I had reasonable internet access, so used the time to start filling in the missing days in this Photoblog. Tomorrow we leave Argentina and travel to Chile. We will be spending the rest of the trip in Paine National Park (Lago Verde, Torre Mountains, Paine massif, Lago Grey) before returning from Punta Arenas (on the shores of the Strait of Magellan).
This morning we took a boat across to the Perito Moreno Glacier. There after some history of the glacier by the local guides we hiked to the glacier where we were fitted with ice crampons. These were a relatively old style crampon that fit any boots. The guide then took us for an 1.5 hour hike on the glacier. This was a great photo opportunity to see the deep blue ice and all of the features on the glacier up close. At the end of the hike, we had a drink with glacial ice. Even though I only took one DLSR and one lens, I got many great images on this hike. During the afternoon, I started working on some images from the early part of the trip.
This was a travel day. But first, one last chance to view Fitzroy at dawn. Unfortunately, it was hidden behind some spectacular orange clouds. Also, on more image of lupine wildflowers. After checking out and loading the bus, we drove to Calafate. The group stopped for lunch (big hamburgers with eggs and ham, French fries with eggs), and Thom found a dentist to repair a crown.
We then drove along Lago Argentino on the Magallanes Peninsula back into Glaciers National park to the high-end Los Notros resort. Every one of our rooms had a large bay window looking across to the Perito Moreno Glacier. After checking in, our first stop was to the boardwalk overlooking the Perito Moreno Glacier and the Canal de los Tempanos (iceberg channel). The Perito Moreno Glacier is in relative equilibrium. Periodically, the iceberg closes the channel which results in the lake on the south side increasing in height until it breaks through again. Right now there is a narrow open channel through an ice bridge. The ice bridge looks like it is ready to collapse soon. Indeed we heard and saw several ice calving events while on the boardwalk. Once back in the hotel, I set my camera up on a tripod to do time-lapsed images of the glacier and night sky.
There were definitely more clouds this morning, and I am glad that I did the night sky images the previous day. The goal for the day was to hike to Laguna de Los Tres. This is a glacial lake at the base of Fitzroy. Both Thom and Tony were under the weather, so did not attempt this hike. The hike starts right in front of the Hosteria, and goes through some really nice wooded areas. Since it was overcast, this made for some great photo attractions but had to keep the time we stopped short to make the entire hike. There were several views of glaciers along the trail, and we heard the boom from several ice falls. As we got to the Poincenot campground we could see that the remaining part of the trail was a series of very steep switchbacks. I decided to stay around the campsite, have lunch and wait for the rest of the group to come back. Rob figured that they would be back in 2.5-3 hours. After 2 hours I could see the group through a telephoto lens still going up the hill, which was now in full sunlight. It took the group an extra 1.5 hours to do the round trip to Lago des Los Tres. As soon as the group got back to the campground, it clouded over again with wind and some light rain. The group hightailed it back to the Hosteria. Soon after we got back, the sun peaked though to give us a bit of a rainbow. I went to the back deck to try to photograph the rainbow. As soon as I did a couple of horses came into the back courtyard.
