The Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentinian Patagonia is an absolute must-see.
Go to a map and track the Andres as far south through South America as you can go and you’ll find the gigantic southern Patagonian Ice Field that covers the southernmost part of the Patagonia Andes.
Separating Southern Chile from Argentina, the ice field is truly astounding and encapsulates Patagonia beautifully with its grandeur. The sheer size is almost unfathomable, and the scars the ice has left from receding after the last ice age are unmissable. Glacial valleys are so big you could fit cities in them, the mountain sides have been hacked away butchered and bruised  from the relentless and untameable advance and retreat of the ice. This landscape is one that has seemingly been built for giants.
Coming this far south, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the ice field up close and arguably the best place to do this is at the monumental Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. The glacier is one of forty-eight fed by the ice field, but the nature of the Perito Moreno glacier makes is particularly special.
It is one of only a handful of glaciers in the world that are advancing, and doing so very quickly up to two metres per day. As such when standing in front of it, you hear huge groans from deep within the glacier as the ice splits and shifts and every so often a deafening crack and as a car-sized piece of ice sheers off the leading edge.
The glacier feeds Lago Argentino, a lake that stretches both north-west and south from the glacier’s leading edge. As the glacier moves forwards, it slowly collides with the land on the opposite bank and Lago Argentino is dammed, separating the southern side of the lake from the main lake to the north. This causes huge disparities in water levels as the southern side of the lake is continually fed with glacial water. The difference in water level can reach as much as thirty meters and once the buildup gets too great, the water ruptures the ice-dam and pours into the main body of the lake, a phenomenon that happens only once every few years.
The fact that Perito Moreno glacier is advancing means you’re able to get an up-close view from the maze of walkways that have been built on the hill on the opposite side of the lake to the glacier. The sheer size of the glacier is nothing short of breathtaking. The first thing you notice as you approach is the height of the leading edge, taller than thirteen houses put on top of each other, the front of the glacier towers above you at 74m high (240ft). The numbers are staggering, the entire glacier is 30km long, 5k wide as its front edge and incredibly you could fit both Manchester and Liverpool into the area occupied by the glacier with space to spare.
Needless to say, a trip to the Perito Moreno glacier is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
