Frank and I just returned from a few days at Pampa Linda (translates roughly to “Beautiful Valley”) just south of Bariloche. Boxing day was spent boxed into the van, waiting for a storm to pass. While we sipped tea, we watched horizontal rain turn to hail and snow and the trees sway violently in the wind. Once the storm passed we were able to stretch our legs for several walks in the area, including a trek up to the base of Monte Tronador where there is a cozy and well-stocked refugio.
Also in the area is the Ventisquero Negro, a huge glacial outflow extanding from the slopes of Monte Tronador. At first glance, the glacier appears to be a moraine, cliffs of rock and soil spilling into a silty lake. But beneath all the gravel is ice, a longe tongue of permafrost churning up the valley as it squeezes through a gorge and progresses to a form a deep valley filled with meltwater. Icebergs float by, slowly melting, breaking the reflections of surrounding cliffs. Nearby, waterfalls cascade over cliffs like veils of tulle, wandering to the rhythms of the gusting winds. The steady ssusshhhh… ssushh of the warefalls are interrputed by the cracking, thumping, and rumbling of glacial activity. A dramatic and humbling place.
