I wonder how many other major metropolitan regions allow you to think the night before, “Let´s trek to a glacier tomorrow.” And then the next day, you leave the city and in less than two hours, your lacing up your boots and heading up a mountain. Probably not a whole lot.

Well last weekend, Max and I had such a thought, and Sunday we took a 16-kilometer trek (round trip) to the San Francisco Glacier. We actually thought we were going to El Morado Glacier, but turns out that trail was to the right. We went to the left.

Nonetheless, it´s not every day you have the opportunity to see a glacier. In fact, this was my first; and I have to say, it´s pretty cool, figuratively that is. It´s summer here, and aside from a cool breeze, the sun was brilliant and warming.

I recently wrote an article for CiuSantiago about trekking, in which I mention this most recent journey. We were around 3,033 meters above sea level for the trek, and when you add that altitude with climbing, it really gets the heart pumping. It is an absolutely beautiful trek though, and the end result is well worth it. From the pictures I´ve seen, there are definitely more impressive glaciers out there, but how can you not be fascinated by arriving to a mountain of ice?

The only downfall to the trip, I forgot to put sunscreen on my ears, and as I write four days later, my right ear lobe is throbbing and starting to get crusty! Probably one of the biggest mistakes one can make in this life is forgetting to use sunscreen on their ears.

[album: http://www.kendalmontgomery.com/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/uploads/dm-albums/San Francisco Glacier/]