The spine of the Andes extends all the way down to the tip of South America squeezing out the moisture-laden Pacific air. The giant ice caps of the Andean crest form a boundary in Patagonia keeping this place a wilderness. The back side of the Andes forms a rain and snow shadow but the region is still fed, shaped, and carved by glaciers tumbling off the southern ice cap. It's a land of slowing rising steppe from the east punctuated by fantastically carved mountains of ice on its western edge. Patagonia winds can be ridiculous. Pictures don't do justice to the strong dry wind blowing down off the icecaps. In certain weather the mountains appear to be snarling at you, but when the weather clears, the views are even more incredible and a lonely picnic bench can for a moment be the best-placed picnic bench in the world.
© Carmen Photography
