First Glance of Antarctica

We first glanced Antarctica while crossing the Gerlache Strait, in the Lemaire Channel.

After having been traveling for so long we were all EXTREMELY excited to see land, and get a glance of Antarctica. Our first glance, was of a foggy, dreary frozen wilderness. I'd seen lots and lost of pictures of Antarctica, and I still didn't really know what to expect. I was amazed at the amounts of rock and snow, and that there was absolutely no vegetation anywhere. I knew that there wouldn't be any vegetation, but I was still surprised when I saw it. I'm so used to seeing the snow covered mountains that have at least a few bushes here and there, that seeing the amount of bare rock fascinated me.

Maybe it wasn't even the lack of vegetation, but the amount of visible rock. In my mind, Antarctica is almost one gigantic glacier, so the size and amount of rock was not what I was expecting.

Every single view was astonishing. I was going wild taking pictures. It is a photographers dream.

Seriously, doesn't that just look magical. I thought it was one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. I know that a lot of people hate snow, and so looking at this they think how cold and miserable it must be. Yet, I look at it, and it just seems calming and surreal.

The size and scale of everything was amazing.

With in an hour of seeing land we saw huge glaciers, penguins, and whales. It was insane! They were everywhere! Every direction you looked you would be amazed by the view, and by the amount of things to see. 

I loved watching the penguins swim, and guessing where they were going to jump out of the water.

We had a lot of time to sit and think on this trip, which left my mind to drift and imagine all of the different lines I could ski. There was so much untouched snow and wilderness. There were so many places I could travel and explore. I wanted to be one of the first explorers there; traveling on ski's to map out the area (I at least wanted to until the winds picked up and I could retreat back into my warm cabin).

I hadn't even touched land yet, and I already felt that the trip was worth it. All of the traveling didn't matter anymore. I had made it!