5:00 am, the alarm clock rings. Out of question to stay in the warm sleeping bag because we have an appointment at 5:30 with German friends, and as we all know, Germans are punctual!
Under the first dawn light, we leave El Calafate to the west. Imposing icebergs float on the lago Argentino while the landscape exhibits deep pink and yellow colours. The road is deserted, the wind seems calm. We feel a little guilty to reach the glacier by car and by bike, but we we did not have much choice. Indeed, we learnt that it is impossible now to camp in the national park. We therefore enjoy comfortably the 80 km that separate us from our goal of the day: the Perito Moreno glacier.
Around 6:30 am, we get into the park. Just after a curve, we see a large white mass flowing into the lake. Finally, we end up face to face with thie monster of ice. The famous glacier, a few dozen meters from us, proudly exhibits its 60 meters high in the morning light. We are almost alone, the cars of tourists arriving after 9.30 am only. Birds start singing and the clouds of mist play with the sun, forming a few timid rainbows.
Suddenly, the silence is broken by a huge crack like a gunshot which detonated in the sky. Nothing moves, the bluish glacier tries to impress us. Massive fractures affect the ice and give the feeling that the blocks are really unstable. A new rumbling resonates! This time, we see ice blocks collapsing in the lake. Yes, he is alive the Perito Moreno glacier: it growls, it roars, it moves! Its creeps is a few dozens of centimeters per day and is much more important at the centre than on the edges.
During several hours, we walked on the bridge to observe it from all sides, fascinated by its mass and its motion.
Another roar is heard but it is closer, it is our stomach! We prepare our breakfast and eat just in front of the glacier. This is the last moments of quiet before the parade of touristic buses starts. We then return to El Calafate to prepare the Christmas Eve with our new cyclists friends, while keeping in memory this exceptional glacier.