An unforgettable day walking on the Perito Moreno Glacier with the kids

Located in the South Patagonian ice field, Argentina’s Glacier Perito Moreno is one of the world’s most impressive, and fortunately for us reasonably accessible, glaciers in the world. It is some 30km long and around 5km wide at the foot which stands on the bed of Lake Argentino (South America’s fourth largest lake, fact fans)

We spent an unforgettable day getting as much glacier action as we could possibly cram in. We make no apologies – this post is heavy on glacier video and photos. And be assured, there are still plenty more that we left out!

It was an early start but absolutely worth the alarm call to be collected by a bus which took around an hour to arrive at the Los Glaciares national park. The first glimpse of the glacier’s south face came a few kilometres into the park at the Mirador de los suspiros. Even at a distance we could begin to see the scale of this incredible mass of ice. After a quick look, we were on our way to partake in several different glacial experiences – viewing from the balconies, up close by boat and on foot, and walking on the glacier itself. This short video tells the epic, picturesque story:

Walking on the glacier itself – the stuff of dreams

To look upon, let alone touch or walk on a glacier is a pretty special experience. Previously on this trip we have gazed at the New Zealand’s Franz Josef glacier in the distance. More recently we hiked high up to be very close to the Glacier Martial cirque glacier down in the far south of Patagonia near Ushuaia – and drunk its gloriously pure runoff water. But given ours and in particular Rafe’s quest to actually walk on a glacier, there would be few better opportunities in the world to do this than the Perito Moreno in the Southern Patagonian ice field.

A short boat ride took us close to the foot of the glacier and impressed upon us just how tall it is, reaching around 70 metres above the surface of the water. In fact, the glacier has its base on the hard bed of the lake, an additional 100 metres below. We disembarked onto the shore, met up with our guide and small group of fellow adventurers and were on our way. Before we could set foot on the glacier itself we needed to be fitted with crampons and helmet – surely signs of a proper adventure. Another sign of intrepid icy times was that the guide felt the need to wield a large ice axe, which Rafe was very pleased to see.

Suitably kitted out and excited, we had a quick lesson in how best to use our new spiky crampons on the ice, and were on our way. Rafe stuck close to the lead guide and asked plenty of questions along the way, while a second guide often skirted forward and higher up in order to spot any unexpected crevasses in our path. The roughly hour and a half circuit took us on a route between the seracs near the foot of the glacier and around or over several crevasses. All these features served to open windows deeper in to the blue depths of the glacier – the deeper the blue the more compacted the snow pack.

On this occasion the photos do go some way to doing justice to the experience, aided by the sunlight on this remarkably clear day setting off the contrasts of icy whites and luminescent blues. All of these photos are unfiltered.

Towards the end of a remarkable time there was only one thing for it – to toast it with some whiskey on ice hewn straight from the glacier itself.

Epic views from the balcony lookouts

High on the bank of Lake Argentino the parks authority have constructed a series of wooden balconies that provide the most remarkable wide angle views of the foot of the glacier. These walkways are very easy to access and offer three coloured routes which circle around to different, equally impressive viewpoints. From here we were able to get a sense of the sheer scale of the ice – both the width at the foot (5km), to how far it then reaches back up and into the wider Southern Patagonian ice field beyond.

The Perito Merino glacier is in equilibrium, neither growing nor receding. It’s also incredibly fast moving, flowing down valley at around 2 metres a day. As a result, huge chunks of the glacier calve off into the lake every ten minutes or so. When walking around the balconies, the thunder of the cracking and breaking of the ice wall can be heard echoing around regularly, reminding you just how active the ice is. With light travelling faster than sound, it’s less common to actually see the ice break off into the water.

Occasionally (and there is no strict pattern, around every 4 to 5 years historically) the glacier in winter extends to contact the shore of the Magallanes Peninsula below the balconies. By doing so the glacier creates a dam, restricting the drainage of the smaller Lake Rico into Lake Argentino. With nowhere to drain, the level of Lake Rico rises. The difference can be up to 30 metres on either side of the dam. Over time, the pressure of the water undermines the ice dam, first creating a small tunnel which becomes a bridge connecting the ice to the land. Eventually, the bridge breaks and collapses into the lake, ready for the cycle to begin again. The live rupture of the ice bridge can become an international TV event, as long as it can be captured. The last one inconsiderately collapsed at night in 2018 in the dark, when the park was shut.

Up close to the wall of the glacier

Another way to experience the beauty of the blue icy giant is with a boat ride across Lake Rico. The trip takes around half an hour, getting up close to the towering south face of the glacier and some huge blue icebergs bobbing in the water. On the other side of the lake, we disembarked for a tour to walk closer to the ice. Our boat was split into two groups, one with a Spanish language guide, and a smaller group of a range of nationalities with the tour in English. We first walked through a section of woodland learning about native species of plants and animals and watching woodpeckers and group of condors swoop above us. We then crossed the gravel of a series of glacier moraines, past some huge erratic boulders dropped by the glacier in the past and reaching the wall of ice itself with a series of deep blue caves. In winter, as snowfall increases, the glacier grows out into the lake, and recedes in summer. Although the ice is officially in equilibrium, our guide mentioned that in the last two years it has retreated further than he’d ever seen and not grown as far back with reduced snowfall in the last two winters. More than two years evidence is required to update the state of the glacier, but perhaps with accelerated climate change, this glacier too will start to follow the receding pattern of most glaciers throughout the world.

While taking pictures close to the south wall of the glacier we were lucky enough to finally capture a huge chunk of ice calving off into the lake (which can be seen at the end of the above youtube video) Happy with our lot, we returned to the boat for one last view of the ice from the water below and enjoyed local chocolates washed down with liqueur made with the berries of the legendary Patagonian calafate plant, in glasses containing the customary glacier ice of course.

Tired, but happy, we made our way back to town on the bus on which many members of the family had a little snooze.

How we did it – children walking on the glacier

Ultimately a single operator holds the sole concession to run small group walks onto the glacier itself – Helio y Aventura. It is entirely possible to book directly with them including transfers, boat trip to the face, balconies and the ‘mini-trek’ onto the glacier – and plenty do take this option. We had a slightly more complicated itinerary as Odessa was below the government mandated minimum age (8 at time of writing) for children to walk on the glacier. So we needed to interweave two slightly different itineraries into the day. After a lot of research, we went with a smaller operator, Patagonia Chic, who were able to make that work really well and handed us off seamlessly to Helio y Aventura for the ice-based part of the day.

On top of booking the tours, everyone entering the Los Glaciares national park has to purchase an entrance ticket – in February 2023 this cost 5500 AR$ per foreign adult and 750 AR$ for kids aged 6-12, about £52 at the official exchange rate for our family of four. With the current rate of inflation in Argentina this information is likely to be outdated quickly. We booked online in advance and exchanged the email confirmation for paper tickets, while everyone else on our bus paid in cash on arrival at the national park office.

To visit the glacier, even on a sunny summers day you’ll need lots of layers. We started off in the chilly morning wearing most of the clothes we own. For walking on the glacier; gloves, sunglasses and sturdy walking shoes are required. There is one snack bar at the balconies, but you’ll be too busy staring out at the incredible views to waste your time on overpriced tourist food, so a packed lunch is the best option.