We went to Hosteria Pampa Linda for lunch. It is a gorgeous place. I and Sarah had a table next to the window, with an open view to the Cerro Tronador.
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| From http://www.hosteriapampalinda.com.ar/english/servicios-pampa-linda.html#restaurante |
The lunch was authentic pumpkin soup, my favourite. I felt much better after a home-make lunch, and recovered from the fatigue and all the restless days. Sarah was staying here for a couple of days to hike around. The guide came here to drop her, and the rest of us continued the afternoon to see the relic Black Glacier. The Black Glacier name is Ventisquero Negro.
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| Ventisquero Negro, Nahuel Huapi National Park Argentina, Apr 2010. |
Feeding by the ice
from the summit of Cerro Tronador, the Black Glacier becomes a huge mass of ice
dragging every sediment and mineral along the way sliding down the peak, making
it one of the biggest icer tounges around. The process of melting and
freezing is making its composition possible through crystallization of mineral
and ice.
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| Ventisquero Negro, Nahuel Huapi National Park Argentina, Apr 2010. |
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| Ventisquero Negro, Nahuel Huapi National Park Argentina, Apr 2010. |
The layers in the ice represents the years of crystallization. Thus, the age of the icer tounge is told by the line in the ice. Similar to the way we look at the age of a tree, the circular line in the log of a lumber is the age of the tree. In the case below, a very icer tounge had broken off.
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| Ventisquero Negro, Nahuel Huapi National Park Argentina, Apr 2010. |
As much as we would not want it to happen, the sign of global warming is clearly seen here. The glacier becomes smaller when its icer tounge broke off and flowed away.
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| Ventisquero Negro, Nahuel Huapi National Park Argentina, Apr 2010. |
The guide was right! It did take a rainy day without sun to see something as unique as the Black Glacier.
I was tired without word when I was back to the hostal. Thus, I demanded, for the first time in the journey, to have a room changed and the heater turn on. I slept straight through the night till late morning the next day.
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