La Paloma Glacier

The Glacier of La Paloma is located at the summit of the homonymous hill, about 30 km northeast of Santiago de Chile, its highest altitude being 4,910 masl. It is one of the largest that presents the Central Andes of Chile.

Like the great majority of Andean glaciers, it formed in the last ice age; the coldest prevailing climatic conditions favored the accumulation and subsequent compaction of the snow, engendering this glacier. Formerly covered much of what is now the Yerba Loca Valley; today this giant is retired and confined to the top of the mountain.

The marked retreat of the glacier (marking the trend of the other Andean glaciers) has become very evident in recent years, especially in those with low precipitation in the central zone.

Where the glacier is at a lower altitude, about 3,500 meters above sea level, in one of the farellones of the hill, descends by the rock, where the ice tongues give the impression to the observer at the foot of the hill of which the glacier literally hung. Its soft blue color differs from the whitish snow that accompanies it.

The glacier runoff meanders the Carvajal Stone Valley for about 2 km, before joining the Chorrillos del Plomo river, which descends from the beautiful sulfate cascade, giving rise to the Yerba Loca Estuary.

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