We got back to Buenos Aires from Patagonia on Tuesday. Perito Moreno glaciar was phenomenal and humbling.

You are only able to actually get on the glaciar with a guide, so we did the "Big Ice" trekking with Hielo y Aventura. You need crampons for the trek and I was concerned that our Converse All-Stars wouldnt play well with them, so I asked the lady we were booking through if our shoes would be alright. She just responded "perfecto!"

Once we took the bus to the national park, took the boat across Lago Argentino and hiked up to the cabins where we met our guides, they explained that our shoes would, in reality, not make the grade. Fortunately, they had a huge chest full of old hiking boots and we were able to find some that (mostly) fit.

We were, in general, pretty ill-prepared. I don't have any warm clothes with me, so we went to a local outfitter that has a location in Palermo Viejo and I bought a fleece and some warm socks before we headed south. Once we got hiking, I was more than warm enough to the point of sweating when the sun was beating down so I probably didn't even need that extra fleece (I also had on a thermal shirt and my old beat-up hoodie). What I really should've invested in was a nice waterproof/windproof shell. The guide expressed some concern that my cheapo plastic poncho from Peru might be 'ripped to shreds' if it got windy on the glacier so they let me borrow a huge yellow fisherman raincoat.

Despite our lack of proper gear, we had an amazing time and it's hard to describe the feeling of finally getting used to walking with your crampons, cresting a hill made completely of ice, and catching your first glimpse of a surprise glacial pond that is as brilliant a blue as it is cold and deep.