Minitrekking 2: the longest version of the Perito Moreno ice hike

1) If you have selected the package with pick-up, at 8:30 a.m. you will be picked up at your accommodations or the pick-up point indicated. You’ll start the tour with an hour-long trip to Puerto Bajo Las Sombras, in Los Glaciares National Park. 2) If you have selected the package without transfers, you’ll go directly to the port. Once the group has gathered, your guides will assist you with the purchase of the entrance tickets before boarding the boat.

If you have booked a reservation without pick-up, you’ll meet the group directly at Puerto Bajo Las Sombras at 10:45 a.m. After the group is together, we’ll board the ship to take a 10-minute boat ride on Lake Rico, along the south wall of the Perito Moreno. Upon arrival, the mountain guides will be waiting for the group to begin the walk along the shore that leads into the glacier's moraine. The moraine is a rocky terrain next to the glacier itself, so from this point onwards, you’ll be walking adjacent to the ice. Finally, you’ll reach the starting point of the ice walk where tour guides will help you strap on your crampons.

For the next 3 miles (5km) you’ll walk on the glacier and see formations inaccessible from the walkways: deep crevasses, water sinkholes, turquoise lagoons, and even seracs (dangerous blocks of ice formed by crevasses). The route over the ice does not follow a fixed journey due to the ever-changing nature of a living glacier. This allows your guide to modify the itinerary each day for the group. Finally, after treading across the glacier, we’ll return to the glacier walk’s starting point to give back the crampons and continue the adventure.

We’ll make our way back to the beach to the site of our disembarkation. On the route back to the boat, we’ll visit a waterfall and Puma Bay Beach, where the boat will be waiting to take us back to the port. 1) At this point, the activity ends for travelers who booked the package without transfers. 2) For the travelers who booked transfers, you’ll visit the Perito Moreno Footbridges before heading back to town.

Travelers who’ve booked the package with transfers will continue the tour with a one-hour visit to the famous Perito Moreno footbridges. Upon arrival, the guide will explain the different routes and you’ll have time to explore them on your own for about an hour. After, you’ll go to the meeting point to take the shuttle bus to El Calafate.