The Upsala Glacier

The Upsala Glacier is a large valley glacier in Argentina´s Los Glaciares National Park. It flows out from the Southern Patagonia Icefield which also feeds the nearby Perito Moreno Glacier. The terminus of the glacier is at Lago Argentino. The Upsala Glacier is well known for its rapid retreat, which many see as evidence for global warming or earth geological cicles.
The name comes from Uppsala University, which sponsored the first glaciological studies in the area.

For more info you can visit www.thepatagoniablog.com, an excellent site about patagonia.

see about this glacier www.greenpeace.com

The Perito Moreno Glacier

The Perito Moreno Glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentine Patagonia.The 250 km² ice formation, of 30 km in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This icefield is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating. Periodically the glacier advances over the L-shaped "Lago Argentino" ("Argentine Lake") forming a natural dam which separates the two halves of the lake when it reaches the opposite shore. With no escape route, the water-level on the Brazo Rico side of the lake can rise by up to 30 meters above the level of the main lake. The enormous pressure produced by this mass of waters finally breaks the ice barrier holding it back, in a spectacular rupture event. This dam/rupture cycle is not regular and it naturally recurs at any frequency between once a year to less than once a decade.The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 km wide, with an average height of 60 meters above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 meters. It advances at a speed of up to 2 m per day (around 700 m per year), although it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years. At its deepest part, the glacier has a depth of approximately 700 m.The glacier first ruptured in 1917, taking with it an ancient forest of arrayán (Luma apiculata) trees. The last rupture occurred in March 2006, and previously in 2004, 1988, 1984, 1980, 1977, 1975, 1972, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1960, 1956, 1953, 1952, 1947, 1940, 1934 and 1917. It ruptures, on average, about every four to five years, but the next rupture will be in march-april of 2008 (see the external links to see it live).The Perito Moreno glacier, located 78 km from El Calafate, was named after the explorer Francisco Moreno, a pioneer who studied the region in the 19th century and played a major role in defending the territory of Argentina in the conflict surrounding the international border dispute with Chile.

El Chaltén

El Chaltén is a town west of the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. In the south of the Andes, in the extreme suoeste of Patagonia at the foot of Mount Fitz Roy - or Chaltén - and on the shores of the Rio de las vueltas is the population of El Chaltén. A small tourist village founded in the middle of Los Glaciares National Park. El Chaltén generates atraccíón of tourists interested in sports as mountain trekking, Mountaineering, rafting, horseback riding, hiking and stakeholders in its flora or fishing. Among the various natural attractions that are located on the outskirts of this small mountain town included, Besides the hill Chaltén (or Fitz Roy), the Argentinean Lake and Lake Desert, the Laguna Capri, the Piedras Blancas Glacier, Lake of Three and the Leaping Chorrillo.

Distances from El Chaltén: Commander Luis Piedrabuena 344 km El Calafate 216 km Gobernador Gregores 297 km San Julian 470 km Rio Gallegos 458 km Puerto Natales 514 km Porvenir 600 km Punta Arenas 745 km Rio Grande 823 km Ushuaia 1060 km

El Chalten Demographics: Population in 1991: 41 people. Population in 2001: 371 people, Of

whom 40.2% are women and 59.8% are men.

For more info you can visit www.thepatagoniablog.com, an excellent site about patagonia.

this photo is from Cabezas Enrique

The National Park

The National Park Los Glaciares in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, covers an area of 7,240 sq. km. It was founded in 1937 and is the second largest park in Argentina. Their names refers to its glaciers (the giants in the world outside Antarctica). Of the 47 major Andean glaciers, 13 flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Elsewhere in the world, Glaciers are at least at a height of 2,500 meters above sea level, but because of its huge size, They are located 1,500 m, gliding up to 200 meters. Its limits to the west remain at all times the dividing line Chilean-Argentine international Between latitudes 49 ° 15 'and 50 ° 50'Sur (from the Cerro Fitz Roy to the Cerro Stokes) covering part of the Hielos continental glaciers and all of them descended to the eastern side. Vista del Cerro Torre (left) and Mount Fitz Roy. In this National Park is located on Lake Argentino, In whose arms are the glaciers. The best known is the Perito Moreno glacier. In addition, there are others like the glacier Spegazzini, Upsala glacier, the glacier Onelli, etc.. In its fauna highlights the condor, puma, huemul, guanaco, rhea, the culpeo and wild bulls. The main copies of its flora are trees of the genus Nothofagus as lenga, ñire, coihue; and conifers as lahuán is important the presence of a bush flavorful fruits called calafate. The eastern sector of the Park corresponds to the steppe where the predominate neneo, coirón, llareta and jara. This national park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

History of El Calafate

As it was standard practice at the time (early 20th century) traces Patagonian roads were inns every three miles, average distance for a day in bullock cart. It separate in two in the Rio Santa Cruz. The ramp on the right continued northward in search of the ford on the Rio La Leona, then heading toward the Viedma, while the left followed the valley of the lake towards the forest of Lengas, whose edge was a little earlier Cerro Buenos Aires. In this branch had other fords on the River Boat, El Calafate and The Sentinel, the road names were being forced shutdowns in its path.

The name of El Calafate, is due to the fact that the plain grew a thick grove called caulk, and close to the ford had a more corpulent that soon distinguished place with its generic name: Mata Grande or simply El Calafate, then name was assigned to the place spontaneously.

To see more of these wonderful photos http://www.instantespatagonicos.com/

El Calafate Main Street - Video

El Calafate city

Located at the foot of the hill and namesake shores of Lake Argentino, 185 msn / m.
El Calafate is 315 km. Rio Gallegos capital of the province of Santa Cruz.
This burgeoning city of nearly 17,000 residents still maintains some picturesque features in its architecture, such as houses with roofs of two water districts and similar constructions.
They make this place more beautiful colors of green vegetation, which consists of flowers of various kinds, among which are roses, in addition to the amount of trees and pine trees that adorn the heart of this Villa Turística.
Worthy of special mention is the sense of solidarity and communicative of its people, signs of vital importance to the traveler.