March 11 Agostini Glacier

Mornings were soft pastel grey - so beautiful

A bit of a trek along the beach to get us to the inlet to the Agostini glacier

Today we walked a few Km to try to reach the face of the Agostini Glacier in Cordillera Darwin; named after the Italian missionary and explorer Alberto Maria De Agostini. We had a long walk along the beach before turning onto a narrow track skirting a lagoon, the melt waters from the glacier.  The shores of the lake were lined with dense vegetation – daisies, mountain berries, Sea Thrift, many different grasses, Devil’s Strawberries and other plants that I couldn’t identify. The trees were host to a variety of mistletoe, lichens and mosses.  It was quite beautiful. 

On the edge of this huge mountain range, the valleys that are not filled by sea are occupied by glaciers which we could also see capping the high plateau.  We had hoped to get right up to the face of the glacier but in the end we weren't able to. Nevertheless it was a glorious walk surrounded by stunning vistas, tranquility and silence. 

Lindsay was tracking a couple of Steamer Ducks swimming in the melt water lake

There was a huge hole between glacier and rock which we wanted to explore but it was a no go.

All too soon it was time to head back to the zodiacs

As much as we wanted to stay exploring it was good to get back to the mothership.