April 3,

Up at 0630 and out by 0730… before sunrise. Surprised how many people were out, but it is almost 0800. We watched the colors evolve in the sky and the moon was still up and full. Mountains have more snow and it’s getting lower elevation – covering more of the mountain.

We arrived at the dock and boat by 0820. We were going on an eight hour cruise of different glaciers. Our ship is a catamaran called Maria Turquesa(which means ‘Spirit of the Glacier’) with the Marpatag Cruise Line. We checked in with our park pass; boarded the boat; found a seat; and ate one of the sandwiches we made before we left our place – waiting for the boat to fill. 0853 we were underway.

Around 1040, we passed by Totalizar Glacier, an example of a hanging glacier – It does not come to the water’s edge. At 1100, we arrived at Spegazzini Glacier. This glacier is the tallest in The Glaciers National Park, towering around 135 m or 440 feet above the water–and 170 m or 558 feet below the water! The boat pulled very close(less than 300 feet) and we spent 30 minutes viewing it. Spectacular! It is considered a glacier in equilibrium, that is not retreating or advancing. The national park narrator said it is the tallest. The sheer size…amazing!

At 1140 we arrived at an old ranch site. This was considered our “forest” walk. The trees that were there were in different states of dying from the feral cows! Never ever heard of feral cows! A national park lady told us about the abandoned hut and explained the feral cows. They had been deserted, left here when the ranchers moved out. But instead of dying out, the cows thrived. There are over 5,000 in the park since they have adapted, and they cleared out the forest here. Interesting.

Once back on board we ate our other sandwich. Around 1300, we arrived at Upsala Glacier, with at least three others that descended into an arm of the lake. The boat is only allowed to go within approximately six miles of the face. In 2013, a massive section dislodged causing a huge tsunami! So the national park limits how close boats can get to these glaciers. The sun came out and it was incredible. There were many icebergs between us and the glacier. The Upsala Glacier itself is the third largest in South America, second largest in Argentina. It touts 765 square km (475 square miles) of surface area which is more than Buenos Aires land area!! We were too far away to see any calving or close details of it though.

Now we cruised to our next area, but it took some time to reach. So we sat back watching the snow-capped mountains along the way, all of which have some waterfalls running into the lake and trees changing colors. Fantastic scenery. But I did succumb to a quick nap, I must embarrassingly admit.

At 1500, we turned toward Perito Moreno Glacier. This was the same glacier we saw Tuesday. This glacier is so well known because of its accessibility to land. One does not have to take a boat to reach it. There were kayakers out on the lake with us. It’s a gorgeous day! The sun even shone on the glacier. We got very close and saw a nice calving, then we had to cross the strait to the other side. About a third of the ship disembarked. Then the Captain took the remainder of us back close to the glacier face. I saw another massive calving- three spires of ice crashed down into the water! Jeff was going to the other side of the boat and missed most of it. Finally, at 1610, we started our return back on Lake Argentina to the port.

At 1700, we pulled into the port, disembarked, loaded up into our car, and returned to town. We stopped at the grocery store. Back at our place we had pumpkin soup, bread & crackers with wine. What a blessed day