Landing at Bernal Glacier

Our time in Patagonia revealed surprise after surprise. In the time there, I think our most colorful hike was at the Bernal Glacier. February 2nd would be our last day at sea. In order to make our scheduled landing in Puerto Natales that evening, it would be a 7am excursion for a short ride to shore and a hike to Bernal Glacier.

Beth focusing on what lies ahead in our last day at sea.

Relative to our other landing spots, the Resolution was able to get very close to the shore at Bernal, making it easy to shuttle all passengers to and from the beach for the hike.

All passengers were in for this final Zodiac shuttle of the expedition.

Immediately from our landing, we realized that this spot was different from the rest we had seen. We had plenty of experience with rafting to glaciers situated along channels or even in the oceans. This was the first time we would hike to a glacier. The combinations of color between the ice, mountains, and the forests would make this excursion stand out from the rest.

There is just not enough server space in the world to hold enough photos to do justice for the scenery. Lush vegetation, pools of crystal-clear glacial water, mountains, and the moody Patagonian sky. We did our best to take it all in. Once we were unloaded and got into the brush, we would hike through a section of forest and over a thin land bridge between two ponds of glacial water before gaining a closer view of the glacier.

Below is a hyper-lapse clip of the hike and approach to the glacier through the forest.

As we navigated the landing, we discovered that this spot gave us the most diverse and brilliant color combinations of our voyage. Seemingly every color imaginable revealed themselves to us during this short hike.

A view of a group of hikers edging toward the glacier.

I love the contrast of this image with the near orange of the moss against the bright blue of the glacier.

And finally, we had arrived at the spot for our close-up view of the Bernal glacier. An absolutely incredible scene, and a beautiful place for our last sea-based excursion.

This shot gives an idea of the relative scale of the scene against how small we are.

And, sharing a moment to absorb the full surroundings...

Taking a 360-degree view of the scene. Complete with the rain ;).

Soon it came time to head back to the ship.

After weeks of seeing the ancient densely packed glaciers in both Antarctica and Patagonia, the brilliant blue just didn't get old. In this area, the melt and perpetual rain bring a lush green as a complement.

The return trek from the glacier. As this was the last excursion while we were at sea, everyone was soaking in the scene.

We hope you enjoyed this one. We always knew Antarctica would challenge us and offer so many different experiences. Patagonia just added so much more, with all of its landscapes, evolving wildlife, and explosion of color. Before this experience, a place like Bernal Glacier I would have thought only existed in science fiction. What an awe-inspiring and constantly surprising place our natural world is.