Photo Series #57: Lake Torre & Glaciar Grande (El Chaltén, Argentina) | Would you swim there?
Hello dear readers! Entry to #waterwednesday by @naturecontest. Would you swim here?
Fighting against the roaring winds and the cold; getting to Laguna Torre (Torre Lake) felt like a punch to the face.
The trail leaves the comfort and protection of the forest to go uphill following a rocky path. For the majority of the time you can't feel the full force of the winds coming from the mountains, until the last step to discover the lake.
- What the heck! I can't move... - I thought when I got to the lake level.
The simple act of standing still had became a challenge, no special clothes could resist those cold gusts, letting a freezing air enter through all the small spaces to cool the body. My nose became a popsicle, my fingers lost its sensibility. Taking pictures without shaking and wetting the camera was almost impossible, no tripod would be able to handle such force.
To our left a lady lost her balance, she was giving her best to walk without flying all over, after the fall she gave up.
- It's too strong!!! - She shouted.
But there I was, with my friend Cyril, thinking that we could have a bottle of Wiskey to drink with all that fine ice.
I was also thinking if someone would be nuts enough to go for a swim. Would you?
Glaciar Grande, El Chaltén, Argentina
Click to enlargeMy friend Cyril and I giving our best to stand still!
Click to enlargeOi! Bring the Whiskey, I've got the ice.
Click to enlargeI hope you've enjoyed this small story and photo series. If you liked it, consider giving your upvote for a hot coffee.
~ Love ya all, Arthur.
Thanks to all those who upvote and participate. My shout out to @naturecontests and @shadalene for hosting such amazing contest ideas, you and @juliank of @photocontests are really encouraging me to look for my travel folders and bring the photos to public.
I'm Arthur. I blog about Brazil, Adventure Stories, Travel, Camping & Life Experiences.
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wow , great photos of the wild nature
Thank you for the comment @brookecharlie
I'm glad you like it, this place is indeed incredibly beautiful.
You take amazing photos, you're a great storyteller and you're a really funny guy in the best sense of the word.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, Arthur! I'm following your adventures now :-)
Wow, awesome, man! Did you know that people like you are the reason why I keep on working?
Thank you so much for the lovely comment @lakesnmountains, it means a lot! The best wishes for you.
I don't know what to answer other than I feel honored that you take your time to reply to these comments and that you're even following me now. Thanks to you.
I will upvote and resteem your last blog post free to my 35,000+ followers if you reply with the word, "free".
Super!
I once found myself all alone at the Chandra Tal lake, which is filled with water from a melting glacier!
I had the stupid idea of going skinny dipping, since there was no one else around. I almost froze in there and died. Fortunately there was no breeze and the sun was shining bright, so i survived with just a bad case of the shivers!
Thank you for the comment @twowheeledmonkey
Omg, the award Balls of Steel goes to you my friend hahahahaha! I just can't imagine how freezing it was.
But seriously, it can be quite dangerous. The founder of The North Face died of hypothermia when he fell from his Kayak in Patagonia.
Have you ever seen those crazy traditions in northern europe, where they jump into frozen lakes? Brrrrrr
It was more like balls of ice after acts of stupidity!
Yes. I realised that later. Fortunately, i just went for a dip in the shallow part, since i don't actually know how to swim!
I have heard of them. Most of these crazy things happen in developed countries, where people are bored of normal life!
In developing countries, even regular life has enough adventures to ensure that you are always surviving!
Balls of ice! hahahahahaha dude you are a legend, you entered a freezing lake without knowing how to swim! I should not laugh about that, I'm glad you got out of that to tell the story.
Welcome to Brazil hahahhaaOh my god... no one around???? I love jumping into water for the thrill but only with other people. ps whats the female version of balls of steel???
Âmmm I guess you women could be called "everything of steel", for everything you guys have to endure everyday!
if it's to be especific, I don't want to sound rude, but could we call it 'Boobies of steel' HAhahhaa?
Hahaha - #titsofsteel --- plus, you win so many points for saying we should be called 'everything of steel' - xx as if i didn't love you already!!!
Ohhhh don't embarrass me hahahahaha
I respect women a lot, maybe that's why I've been single for 8 years now hahahahah
Oh whaaaaat... how could anyone resist your humour, intelligence, charm and sense of adventure!!!!
Good question HHAHAHHA
Going by science. The ovaries are the biological homologues of testicles. So if you want to be technically correct it should read 'ovaries of steel'! But that doesn't sound cool :D
Normally when i want to say the same to a female friend, it would be 'Girl you have balls of titanium'. Not quite accurate, but at least titanium is lighter, stronger and more modern than steel :D
And i agree with Arthur, most women are 'women of steel' for all that they have to fight against, which we guys take for granted.
And for the first half of your comment. I wouldn't go anywhere close to water with my friends around. They all know i can't swim and i am shit scared of water. And they would happily dunk me in if they got half a chance!
hehe - ovaries of steel, yeeeessss. And omg, I'd be throwing you in, because that's the kinda of woman I am (not really). Are you scared of water BECAUSE you can't swim? Or is there another reason? I can't imagine a life without swimming. xx
The other way round. I could never go for swimming classes because of the fear of water. And heights.
And then i see these cool Red Bull videos and my palms are wet with sweat while i sit in front of my laptop.
No ma'am, my friends consider me a boring octogenarian for good reason!
Do you ever want to smash those phobias, though???
I wouldn't go so far as to call them phobias. Because i have seen people with actual phobias.
I keep fighting it, by doing stupid things like jumping in a freezing lake or going for treks with 100 feet drops and a few inches to place your feet and a crevice to stuff your fingers in. I have even been for that pseudo rock climbing thingy. I have cycled through some really high mountain passes. But i always go solo or with strangers. Never with friends!
The result on every occasion is my legs turning to jelly and stomach churning. And i still haven't gotten over my fear!
wow that's amazing. Jamie does that too - terrified of heights and sharks, but he still climbs hills for the view and goes surfing.
Thats something interesting to know @twowheeledmonkey. That only happens when with friends? I don't see the relation.
Isn't it, maybe, because I think they'll do something mean, and then it triggers your fear?
Nope, I wouldn't swim there. LOL But I would enjoy that view! Thanks!!
Thank you for the comment @paddlingnature
And how about the kayak? xD
well....I'd love to get in there.....as long as I could cut a path. LOL!!
Hey @paddlingnature, have you ever heard of Packraft?
That would be possible to bring up there, imagine.
Packraft? That sounds interesting.
Uhum, they are light weight and portable. Great for taking to difficult places.
LOL!!! Then I'm good to go! Same bird, different name.
Oh my, so beautiful. Definitely no swimming--I don't even want to hold up that chunk of ice you've got there--but so lovely.
Thank you @ginnyannette your comment means a lot!
I friend of mine once told me that he could feel cold just by looking at the picture hahahaha
What an insanely beautiful and insanely harsh place! You wouldn't know it was so windy by just looking at the pictures. Now, the ice man (Wim Hof, do you know this crazy, amazing human?), he would definitely plunge in there!
Thank you Flo for the comment!
I believe I've seen him on Discovery channel a long time ago, he would definetely swim there =o
Check out this picture of when the wind was at its peak, the water was making those nice spashes and stanting still became a serious business. After the wind calmed down Cyril and I did a quite dangerous trail though a rocky path going up the hill on the right, just to get closer do the Glaciar.
I haven't posted that part because I forgot to check my camera lens and they were full of water droplets, so the pics are going to need some work.
It felt like being inside the freezer when we open it and that cold fog comes out, you know?
Oh yeah, I can def see the wind now. Looks cool but very brutal!
You will need a really big bottle of whisky for all of that ice. Haha.
In the region I live in they do a thing called the "Polar Dip (aka Polar Bear Plunge)" as an event to try and raise money for charity. It is where a bunch of people will go out in the winter time and jump into freezing lakes. I am not sure how it caught on. There is even a wikipedia article about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear_plunge
Thank you for passing by @veckinon!
Better have a truck load of whiskey and pour directly into the lake , getting the truck up there is another story hhahahahaha
Wow, the idea of raising money for charity is amazing, but man! If I do that, with the best of the intentions I would just get a serious cold becoming the one in need for help hahahaha
Have you ever done the Polar Dip?
Oh hell no. Haha. It sounds terrible. I would rather just give money to the people who are willing to do it.
If you ever get around to reading about Shackleton, there are some polar dips in that book. Not intentional though. Hehe. By the way, thanks again for another great post.
You are welcome my friend, I do them for you guys!
Now... if you tell me one more thing about the book!!! AHAHHAHAAH
Do you believe I went there to buy it, but aparently the publishing company is not printing anymore.
id swim if you did.
Do you mean sensitivity? But thats poetic too.. hehe xxx
Dang it, I had 50% chance of writing the right one! Btw I don't quite know the difference hihi
As for the lake: Nooooo way my dear friend hahahahahaha, I'd just freeze my soul in there.
Do you like to jump into freezing water?!? For real?
Yeeeeeeaaah!!!!! It feels so good when you get out!!! I jumped in the mountain streams on my last holiday... it was freezing and Jamie was like.. YOU are a crazy nutbag .. but it looked so good and once the idea was in my head I couldnt NOT do it...!! It was so cold i couldnt scream as it sucked the air from my lungs! Not as cold as the polar dip above lol. Talks about ovaries of titanium! But i would do it for sure. You only live once!
Yaaaaaaaa we only live once, but if I jump in there I would be shortening my life by quite some years HAaaaaah
Sensibility is more like conciousness. Like.. thinking. Sensitivity is more nerves and feeling. 💙 now you know.. sorry if you think im being a word nazi x
Absolutely not a word nazi, knowledge is never enough!