…and into the French Passage we went

Side note: to be quite honest I lost track of our passage through Lemaire and the French Passage and all time seemed to merge during this amazing afternoon.  Based on the mountain formations and names I may very well be mixing up the times, names and exact locations during our passage, but either way it was the most spectacular afternoon that I shared with new friends as we cruised into the sunset.

When we emerged on the other side of the Lemaire Channel and into the French Passage I nearly lost my breath as we entered a strange and almost alien world of seemingly sandy water mixed with ultra clear patches reflecting giant icebergs, glaciers and mountains.  I couldn't help be reminded of the 'primordial soup' we learned about during early biology classes.  I was rendered speechless by these passes of ice and mountains; in particular the stretch of mountains marked by Una Peaks (see below for their photo & infamous naming) as they were touched by the strange orange glow of the setting sun.

The sun was setting somewhere around 8 I believe; at least that's when we lost the last bit of our light.  I'll post the last bit of our passage through the sunset in a later post.  

One of the beautiful sunset-lit seascapes filled with icy waters and snowy icebergs as we traveled through the French Passage.  Note again the strange blue-green tinge to some patches of ice.  I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of icebergs and blue ice throughout the trip.  

Another other-worldly scene of ice, water and snow in the French Passage.

The colors, reflections and shadows were completely magical and for a moment it almost seemed like we had entered a world that could be one of those desert planets in Star Wars.  (I was so happy to find out later in the trip that I wasn't the only one who had made this association!)  Aside from making the Star Wars association, nearly all of us referenced the show Lost at one point or another; we were on a ship named for a quantum physicist and hoping to visit the Vernadsky station which was formerly known as the Faraday station.  If you haven't seen Lost this might not have any meaning, but in short we all felt as though we had been transported to an alternate universe via some strange act of quantum physics and electromagneticly induced time travel.  If a polar bear had shown up we might never have returned! (Side note that polar bears are indigenous to the Arctic/North Pole and do not exist in the Antarctic/South Pole.)

And when the mountains appeared from across the distant horizon…..

An amazing mountain covered with snow and accented by the orange glow of the sun.  This photo is unfiltered and about as close to what we actually saw as it gets - this photo and the next few really bring me back to this magical afternoon.  

My new dear friend Vicky took this photo and the ones below.  I was so thankful as most of my photos from this day sank to the bottom of W.Bay with the whales! (story to follow I promise)

Somewhere between Lemaire Channel and the French Passage, with the help of some delicious hot beverages, I began friendships with some of the most interesting and amazing people I've ever met.  I will not disappoint with regards to the stories about the people I've met along the way - I will write a separate post about the amazing thing that happens when you set aside internet and television for 10 days!! 

We admired the beautiful views for what seemed like hours and hours as the sun shifted and eventually set while we were watching.  (Live GoPro footage to be posted!)

Another view of the mountain including a particularly notable double peak to the far left. As referenced at the beginning of this post, I may have confused portions of the Lemaire with the French Passage, though they are quite close in relative terms and we passed both within the same 6 hours.  The formation to the far left is known is Una Peaks - see Wikipedia for their otherwise infamous reputation : )

I've left out the majestic icebergs we encountered during out passage through Lemaire & the French Passage.  As I mentioned above I obviously was not paying full attention in our nautical class involving our geographical location as I have a suspicion I've confused our time in the Lemaire & FP.  Either way, does it really matter? They were mind-blowing displays of natural wonders and I'm so thankful to have had the experience.