Day 4 on the W Trail: Yo, I Just Saw the Second Biggest Glacier Ever (And It Was Epic!)
Alright, alright, alright! So I'm basically right there at the viewpoint for the Grey Glacier. Epic doesn't even begin to describe it. This ginormous wall of ice is like, whoa, dudes and dudettes, reminding you of Patagonia's whole icy backstory. SECOND LARGEST GLACIER on the entire planet, people! The view? Forget about it. Panoramic perfection of the glacier, the lake, the mountains – the whole shebang. This is the kind of scenery that gets burned into your brain forever. Like a real-life Patagonia postcard, but way more awesome. Speaking of the lake (Grey Lake, FYI), that thing is crazy deep – over 500 meters (that's like 1,640 feet, for all you non-metric folks). Plus, it's fed straight from the glacier, so the water's this cool, milky gray. Perfect for kayaking or canoeing, if you're feeling adventurous (which I wasn't, after that first super-steep descent through a stream. Let's just say my ankles are still recovering). But hey, a little wetness is a small price to pay for witnessing this icy giant, right? The Grey Glacier's a part of this massive ice field, the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, the second biggest in the whole world. Super important for the environment and all that jazz. Plus, it's just plain beautiful and exciting. So yeah, definitely worth the trip if you're ever down in Patagonia. (Side note: Super bummed to see how much the glacier's receded lately. Climate change is a real bummer, man.) (On a brighter note, guess where I'm headed after the W Trail? Yep, the famous Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina! Same ice field, different adventure!) *** It's definitely worth zooming in on the map and zooming out several times to get a sense of the scale of the ice field. You'll see that what I'm showing you is just a small tip of the iceberg.