Aquila Glacier, Patagonia, Friday, March 11, 2016

Spectacular view from the glacier looking back at our boat, which is anchored just beyond the two island points in the foreground.  

Good morning world!  Jacqueline isn't feeling very chipper this morning, so I brought her a plate of bacon from the breakfast buffet.  Bacon can cure just about anything.  Even if one has to catch it - successfully - just before it hits the floor after a particularly large wave blasted the ship.  It's a rough ride this morning.   At one point, the boat was listing starboard for over a minute while I was trying to dry my hair.  That unnerving motion made for an interesting reflection in the mirror!! 

Of course I had to take over the ship while visiting the bridge.  It's what I do.

While underway this morning toward Aguila Glacier, the captain invited us for a tour of the bridge.  We'd been in the a torrential rain storm all morning where winds were sustained at 30 - 35 knots,  gusting up to 85 mph.  (That' what caused the list to the starboard side.)   The winds need to be below 30 knots for the Zodiac landing at the glacier.  So it wasn't looking good.  But the captain said he would do everything possible to get us up close and person to the glacier ... safely.

After the bridge tour, I attended another lecture by NatGeo expert, Kitty Coley about tectonic plates and the formation of our planet.  Again, Kitty captivated everyone's attention.  We could almost feel the plates moving across the oceans forming continents.  Very interesting stuff.  I'd like to learn more about it.

Aguila Glacier

Around 3:00, we arrived at Aguila Glacier.  The winds slowed.  The anchor dropped.  We geared up with layers and layers of clothes, hats, gloves and everything waterproof that I owned.  The captain had found a safe location to disembark and motor over to the glacier.  We loaded the Zodiacs and believe it or not ... the rain stopped. 
 

Our NatGeo group hiking to the glacier.  Looks cold?  Yup!

As we were making our way to land, the clouds began to dissipate and the sun would tease us, lighting up the glacier and surrounding mountains as if a giant spotlight was being turned on and off.   The weather has been uncanny, constantly threatening to prevent an activity, yet always coming through  in the end. We have been incredibly lucky.  Hope the luck holds as we still have another six days of adventure.

Still about a mile away from the glacier at this point.  Such a beautiful destination hike!

Aguila Glacier has receded to the point that it no longer rests in the water.  Our guide explained that he has not seen this glacier calf in his lifetime, yet, just as we arrived, an edge of the glacier began to crumble away.  He was so excited I thought he was having some kind of out of body experience.  He studies glaciers and in fact is traveling to the US for a lecturing tour next month.  So he was quite anxious to document the occurrence and study it further. 

Hiking around the lake to check out Aguila Glacier.

We walked around the lagoon at the base of the glacier finally arriving at the base.  From a distance, it's hard to realize the vastness of the ice. The nearer we came to the base of the glacier, the color of each aqua blue crevice deepened dramatically.  

Notice the aqua ice.  This photo gives a little perspective to the size of this glacier.  See the folks on the right side of this photo?  They are at the base of the glacier.  

Miss Kitty, our geologist explained the reason for the color.  The sun shines into the ice absorbing all colors except for blue.

These berries taste just like apples.  And they were everywhere!  Jac wanted to take some back to the ship and make a pie.  

While hiking to the glacier, we found the lake surrounded by beautiful fruit laden shrubs.  The tiny berries look and taste like apples.  We ate our way to the glacier. 

Hot chocolate and whiskey.  Always the perfect way to end a hike.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the glacier and headed back to the ship.  Imagine our surprise when a bar was set up on shore serving more hot chocolate and whiskey.  Sweet!! 

Waiting for the Zodiac ride back to the ship.  This was before we discovered the hot chocolate and whiskey bar!!

I forget how long the summer days are here.  By the time we returned to the ship, it was 8:00 p.m.  Dinner time, as we set sale toward Magdalena Island, where a wonderful surprise awaits Jacqueline tomorrow morning. 

Everywhere we look, the scenery is breathtaking!