It was only a 20 minute ride across the Brazo Rico to the start of our hike up the lateral moraine of the Perito Moreno glacier.

We had a good view from the boat of the area of last year’s rupture of the ice bridge that I described in my prior post.

Once on shore, we took a look back along the south wall…

…before starting our hike up, passing through forest…

…before starting the climb.

We briefly came upon ice…

…where we stopped to take a look back down to where we had crossed the lake…

…and to pose for a moment with the ice…

…before making our final push to the base camp for our excursion out onto the ice, around that point…

…where I took this last photo back toward the lake, which was no longer visible.

Down on the ice, we were fitted with harnesses and then crampons (metal spikes that are strapped to the bottoms of hiking boots).

Without crampons, we would just slip and slide on the ice; in fact, it would be impossible to walk on the glacier without crampons on.

All set! Ready for adventure!