Monday, 9 March 2020

Stella Australis - Day 3:Guilcher Glacier, Glacier Pia and along Glacier Alley

March 09, 2020 0 Comment

Monday 9 March 2020

Overnight we had sailed around the western end of Tierra del Fuego through the very narrow Gabrial channel , Magdelena channel and briefly entered Canal Cockburn and open sea at Brecknock peninsular then turned eastwards into calmer Beagle channel North Arm.

In the morning we had a special treat, the captain sailed the ship up the passage to the Guilcher Glacier and we spent aalmost an hour in the still protected waters before continuing.

Normally the passage is blocked by icebergs and not navigable for tourist shipping.

Happy travellers

Back we go

Pia Glacier is the longest Glacier in the Southern Hemisphere (outside of Antarctica) and is a major part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field which has Upsula, Viedma, Perito Moreno in Argentina and Pia, O'Higgins, Grey and Tyndall glaciers in Chile.

That afternoon we boarded the zodiacs for a Pia Glacier tour

We then climbed along a path following the lateral moraine of the old Pia Glacier

The Stella Australis is in the distance

Our guide, Sebastian explained how vegetation came after the glacier receded and rocks are covered with lichen then shrubs.

A possible explanation of the name Pia Glacier is that it was named for Princess Maria Pai of savoy (1847-1911), daughter of the Italian King.

Back to the ship

We sailed east along Glacier Alley - a route that Charles Darwin travelled in 1833.

Glacier Alley:

WE sailed east along the Beagle Chanel along an area named Glacier Alley. The passage showcases a number of impressive tidewater glaciers flowing down from the Darwin mountains and Darwin Ice sheet on the north shore; most have names of European countries - France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Holland.