Sunday, February 28, 2010

Torres Del Paine, Chile

A crooked pic of me in front of the Torres Del Paine...damn internet here!
A 7:00 am photo of the mountains in the Parque Nacionale Torres Del Paine




The gas station that charged me an arm and one leg only for gas




The Torres Del Paine from about 60 km away.



I left the town of El Chalten and headed to Calafate to view one of the wonders of the world. Just 90 km from the town of Calafate the Moreno Glacier awaits the thirsty tourist and entertains with calving glaciers and thunderous explosions as the bergs dive into the glacial lake. Before I entered the park I had to stop for some food and drink and happened to meet a great fellow from Miami Florida named Jose who bought me lunch and set me on my way to the park.
The road into the glacier park was a twisty and windy road that had epic views of the lake and of the glacier. Apparently the fact that the glacier flows into a deep lake contributes to the calving effect. The deeper the water the more the rapidly the glacier can progress into the water. As the boyancy causes an upward pressure the glacier,this causes the glacier to calvs and creates the bergs that everyone loves. I was lucky enough to see one of the bergs calve off and create the thunder crash and bob up and down in the viscous liquid we call water.

I headed out of the park toward a camp ground that was located 30 km down a dirt road. The views kept getting better and better and the sun was setting fast. I saw a hill and a perfect spot to pitch a tent so I pulled a U-turn and drove up a steep grassy hill to the summit some 20 meters above the dirt road. The wind was calm and the night air was still and quiet which made for a great nights sleep for free in the Chilean Andies. In the distance under a clear sky I could see the mountains and the moreno glacier and I drifted off thinking of my ride to the Torres Del Payne in the morning.

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