The green water of Ultima Esperanza Sound hints that there are glaciers ahead. The walls of the sound exhibit marvelous structures developed in the Cenozoic fold-thrust belt.

Numerous waterfalls cascade down the sides of the fjord, emanating from hanging valleys high above.

At the north end of the sound we disembarked and took a short walk though the woods, suddenly coming to a small pond with numerous icebergs floating on it.  The Serrano Glacier descends a steep slope from a cirque above the lake.  The glacier exposes the contact between the intrusive rocks and the black shale.  We spent about 40 minutes in front of the ice and then returned to the boat.
 

Small icebergs calve into a pond below the Serrano Glacier. A low recessional moraine isolates the pond from the main fjord.

The boat made a brief stop to stand in front of the Balmaceda Glacier that has retreated from the sea up the slope to about 150 m above sea level in the last 15  years.  Once again we could see the contact between the intrusive rocks and the folded sedimentary strata.
 

The Balmaceda Glacier flowed directly into the fjord as recently as 1985. Its front has retreated about 150 m up the slope since then.

The crew served pisco and that started the party.  We supplemented it with beer but very little food, a combination which probably enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. The tailwind and bright sun enticed Greg, Sally, and me out on to the bow.  Most others eventually joined us.  Don Hagen did his “I’m the king of the world!” from “Titanic.” We enjoyed warm sunlight for the remainder of the trip, returning to port at 4:30.  I went to an Internet café and responded to more than a dozen people.  Then, I went back to the hotel and slept for an hour and a half after taking a shower.

Don Hagen needed something to do with the large basket of food and wine that he won in the raffle on New Year’s Eve so he threw a cocktail party in the hotel restaurant from 8:00-9:00.  I think everyone was there and all of us had a great time. I’m not sure why it took us so long to figure out that this was a good way to spend that hour or two before the start of the traditionally late dinner.

We stumbled down to the restaurant where we had an excellent shellfish casserole.  Sally, Greg, and I were joined by Bob O. for a large bottle of wine I had purchased for $2.50 a couple of days earlier.  We talked until almost 2:00 before adjourning for the evening.
 

                           Ecology    Environmental Studies    Mathematics