The Bum Dawgs . . .

The name was Evan's idea and received a derisive reception. Robin favored "Robin and his Merry Men" - too long. Matt is his enthusiasm for the Spanish language wanted a literal translation of "bum dogs" but that makes us sound like dog's asses . . . Then Robin said it in his best gangster Scottish, and it stuck. So on our last full day together the Bum Dawgs rented a car to go see the Perito Moreno Glacier and perhaps fish. Lucky for us the glacier is only 70km away so our crack of 2pm start, after seeing the sunrise before going to bed, was not an issue. Besides the novelty of effortlessly cruising into a headwind at 70kph we saved a bundle of money on transportation.I admit to be a little jaded about seeing yet another glacier - been there done that, climbed them but I was wanted to hit Lago Roca to go fishing on the way back so I was down. I have seen a few sublime natural wonders - the Cordillera Blanca in Peru, the Grand Canyon, Iguassu Falls, the Northern Lights, and now I can say Perito Moreno Glacier. Driving into the park we rounded a bend and all of us said wow! After traveling for well over a year you tend to fancy yourself as something other than a tourist but all of us fell into snap happy tourist mode taking individual photos in front of the glacier then group shots. The series of walkways crisscrossing the cypress forested hillside facing the glacier offered perfect views. Tourists were strangely subdued watching the creeping immensity of the glacier watching without speaking.The glacier is 5km across with an average height of 74 meters high where it meets the waters of Lago Argentino and a total depth of 170 meters - the tour boats on the water offer a little perspective. Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world that is growing as well as being the third largest reserve of fresh water in the world.Driving out of the park I took a little cat nap in the back seat while we headed for Lago Roca on a rough dirt road for 30km - so nice to be driving over washboard versus pedaling! We piled out at the lake in a spot that looked good for fishing . . . the wind was wailing, it was cold, an not a soul in sight. Perfect fishing weather but we hesitated on the bluff commenting on the chilly wind - then I went to the trunk for my rod. We scrambled off the bluff to the shores of Lago Roca to stand on a small point on the beach. Theoretically the wind should be driving bait fish down the lake where they should gather around the point . . . within 10 minutes Matt had a fish on and lost it. His second tease of the day but that is another story. I walked down the beach to get a wind break for casting when I heard Matt and Evan hooting and hollering. Matt landed a nice 32 inch Lake Trout - dinner! We continued fishing until sunset but Matt was the only one of us to land a fish . . . Robin wandered the beach collecting bits of flotsam though he usually enthusiastically joins us to read a book but it was too windy.
We drove back hungry and euphoric with our day contemplating eating one of the numerous suicidal hares dashing in front of the car if we happened to hit one - a little Patagonian surf n turf.