This is what we went to see...the last three pictures is what we saw. We actually did get a glimpse at the Fitz Roy for a few minutes in the evening just as the sun was going down, the clouds finally cleared. This is the Fitz Roy peak close to the town of El Chalten (pop. 250). It is the Argentine equivalent of Chile's Torres del Paine. The other pictures are on my hike on the way to the Fitz Roy lookout. (Fitz Roy was named after Captain Fitz Roy in Darwin's Beagle, although he never actually saw F.R. he navigated a river not 30 km away.) The picture below is the light of sunrise on the rocks.

Patagonia cont'd

The first two pictures are of flamingos. The following two are examples of the brilliant turquoise color of the water in the area. It takes on that color as a result of the glacier receding and sort of polishing the rocks. The fine dust that this creates is called til which is so light it does not sift down and remains on top of the water giving it the green. In the fourth photo you can see the contrast of water with til and the dark blue water in front of it without.

Statement of the obvious: I'm still working on figuring out captions. Because that may take millennia I'll just go ahead and sum up what's in these pictures...a glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier. The second picture is of the obelisk in Buenos Aires that is its most recognizable monument. Any given point on this glacier dwarfs the obelisk that is 60m tall.

MORE glacier

1)National Glacier Park
Perito Moreno Glacier
2)Examples of the terrain entering the park
3)I'm not sure how evident it is in this picture, however, the mountains are sculpted in a strange manner. There is a plateau about half-way up from the glacier receding over millions of years. The Perito Moreno is no longer receding. It is now in 'stable condition'.
4)Starting out on the glacier after a two hour hike in through the forest. Ten trekkers, four guides
5)The guides making stairs for us
6)This is where we had lunch. I filled up my water bottle with the best tasting water I've ever had in my life.
7)Glacier blue. Literally.
8)A view from the forest on the hike down
9)Moi
10)This is what the top of each of the peaks look like...
Whatever. I started with these in order, but blogger proves to be quite capricious. Hopefully it at least gives you an idea.


The Big Ice Adventure

Ahhhh!!!! I'm in Houston..."until further notice".

"Oh Denver? Dats cancelled. Weer now confirmin the 25th."

So here I am. Like Tom Hanks in that movie The Terminal. I don't really have any news other than that I am not happy. Internet is .25/min and I checked my cell phone so I'll be in touch as soon as I can.

Patagonia-Peninsula Valdes

I received permission to leave work at noon on Friday and made it to the bus station to buy a ticket just as the double decker was pulling away. I rode 20 hours to Patagonia to see whales. Their breeding season ends in December so it was my last chance to catch a glimpse. And I did! I saw about a half a dozen Right Whales including a calf swimming over the top of its mother´s back. They are absolutely amazing. I was also hoping to see some Killer Whales ( or even Willy himself) and some were in fact spotted that morning, but we didn´t see any.




















town on Peninsula Valdes with a population of 450.

I ended up seeing a ton of wildlife. Sea lions, seals, elephant seals...

Magellanic peguins. In the nest below are two babies.

On the left are sheep, but mixed in are two ostriches. And in the other are guanacos, or llamas.

So apparently I¨m a terrible photographer, however unwilling to accept all of the blame. My camera is also a piece of shit. I figured out what I´m asking for for Christmas;)