David's Images of the Day Photoblog
They Are Rising Out of the Glacier in Skaftafell National Park, Iceland. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec).
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.
We started the day riding horses on a trail to an alpine lake. Most of the group chose to ride the horses, even though many of us had not been on a horse for many years. The horses brought us to a point near the end of the trail which we needed to complete on foot. Our gaucho took an image of me riding the trail with my Leica V-Lux 20 point & shoot camera. One thing that all of us on the horses learned was the need to apply sunscreen to the tops of our hands, which were all sun-burned by the end of the trip. That afternoon after getting back to Helsingfors, we checked out and took the bus to Hosteria El Pilar just outside of El Chalten. This location is much closer to Fitzroy. So far the weather on the trip has been unusually clear for Patagonia. Note that I don’t like the color profile for these out-of-the-camera jpg images.
