This morning found us nearing Pia Glacier. We stopped, we boarded the zodiacs, took a walk and shot some pictures. Like yesterday we heard informative lectures as we hiked, today telling us about the characteristics of the Pia glacier. The hike commenced across bare rock, much like what is found on the coast of Maine; Schoodic Point comes to mind. It was raining intermittently so the rocks were wet. But because glaciers had scraped the rocks like sandpaper they were well grooved and hence footing was not an issue for even the clumsiest hiker. Interestingly, this glacier is only 150 years old so it wasn’t here, for instance, when Darwin was here in the 1830s. It is not receding but it is becoming thinner so its days are probably numbered. Of course during the last ice age 12,000 years ago the glaciers are estimated to have been ten times the size of today’s.

After our extraction we went back on board for a bridge tour, briefing about the Garibaldi glacier and then lunch. By 3:30 PM we’d reached the Garibaldi glacier. The approach is through a fairly narrow fjord that twists several times. We sailed to within a couple of ship lengths of the face of Garibaldi where we could observe the glacier’s features and the surrounding mountains. The only shore excursion was a “challenge” hike up a nearby waterfall. None of us took the hike; we preferred the views from the comfort of the ship and a pisco sour or two. I spent quite a bit of time outside shooting pictures and shooting the breeze with Luis, our tour guide.

Judy and I have seen glaciers in Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, the U.S. Rockies, New Zealand and Norway – maybe some I’ve forgotten. All are awe-inspiring; all are beautiful and all are different in their own ways. Luis, a native Chilean, has a deep-seated love for Patagonia and especially the national parks and their glaciers. He maintains, correctly, that all glaciers are not the same. He also believes deeply that the glaciers of Chile are, for him, the greatest of the entire world. I enjoyed very much looking at these glaciers through his eyes. I agree with him: these glaciers are indeed unique and special.

The crew of our ship has announced that we’ll be sticking our nose out into the Pacific Ocean this evening before gaining the protection of a fjord as we proceed to tomorrow’s glaciers. Today the seas have been lake-like calm, nary a ripple. But tonight we’ll return to the turbulence we experienced at Cape Horn. They said we should place valuable objects on the floor so they won’t fall and be damaged. We just returned from dinner (at 10 PM) and already the ship is rocking a bit. Either that or I had too much wine with dinner that caused me to stagger from side to side as I walked down the passageway to our berth. Time for a Dramamine and lights out. Good plan, except that it’s still twilight and the islands and mountains are still drifting by our stateroom window.

I’ll quit typing and let the pictures fill in the details.