Friday January 19th 2024
Stromness & Grytviken
South Georgia
Expedition Morning
05:45 Wake-up call
7:00 Hikers will be called down to the mudroom to start their hike
Expedition Afternoon
This afternoon we will welcome some of the team from South Georgia Heritage Trust on board for a short presentation – listen out for announcements after lunch and join us in the Expedition Lounge
After the talk, depending on wind and weather conditions, we plan to have a landing at Grytviken.
16:00 Grytviken Church – Please join us at the church for a special performance from our very own musicians Jeff & Jacinthe.
Today we are going to tackle the famous Shackleton hike and follow the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley. For those who don’t know, Shackleton and his men were among the first OG passengers to take a cruise to Antartica on board the Endurance. If you thought getting Norovirus or Covid-19 will ruin your trip, you should read about what Shackleton and his men went through. In the gifted eloquence of our former president, it was bad — really, really bad. In a last ditch effort to rescue his crew from Elephant Island, Shackleton’s group crossed South Georgia in search for help. Ok, we were technically doing the last 6km (~3.7 miles) from Fortuna Bay to Stromness Whaling Station but that still counts, right?
The plan was to drop off the hikers at Fortuna Bay. The ship would continue to Stromness with the remaining passengers, where the hikers would later meet the ship. It was a one-way hike, meaning no turning back, no ship waiting for us. The night before, Jonathan cautioned us that the hike was no joke. He threw around words like “strenuous”, “steep vertical climb” and “loose scree” making for a potentially challenging hike. If someone quits, the entire group goes back, and the ship has to turn around to pick us all up, wrecking everyone’s morning. Yikes, how’s that for pressure?
Ha, that didn’t scare us off, though. We were after bragging rights, after all. Seventy-two of us signed up for the hike, though a few among us seemed to have overestimated their mobility mastery. Next morning, Jonathan, taking the necessary precaution, once again, reiterated his warning from the night before. This time he used words like “treacherous” “slippery,” and “steep descent”. He might as well have said the abominable snowman was waiting to devour anyone who chickened out. Did it work? Well, sorta. Thirteen people dropped out, but the remaining 59 of us were ready to conquer the last 6km of Shackleton’s hike.
One Way Trip To Stromness
Jonathan wasn’t kidding. The hike started out with a steep vertical uphill climb through dense tussock grass which made for slippery conditions. We slowly made our way up, scrambling over rocks while feisty Fur Seals lunged at us defending their hillside home. Once past the tussock grass, the terrain changed from lush green to desolate rocky landscape. After more rocky climbing, we finally stopped. Huffing and puffing away, we thought we reached the summit. Turns out, we’d only gone half a mile. No turning back now!
Peering down Fortuna Bay, we half-expected the ship to be a dot on the horizon, but there it was, anchored, tempting us. Meanwhile, a zodiac was zipping back and forth on the shore, taunting us, waiting to see if anyone would chicken out after the initial ascent. But nope, everyone just pressed on.
The fog hung out, denying us a view of the mountain tops and the glaciated area where Shackleton, Crean and Worsley straddled together toboggan-style and slid down 2000 feet. We passed Crean Lake, named after Crean, who fell into the lake when the ice broke under him. At the summit, we gathered around the symbolic rock where Shackleton’s group first heard the distant whistle of Stromness Whaling Station. Instead of a whistle, our ship blasted its horn to commemorate the historic moment. Sarah read a passage from the book “Let Heroes Speak” about the final walk down to the whaling station. The descent was as described – steep and slippery covered with scree. We passed Shackleton’s Fall and crossed paths with the non-hikers who were coming from the ship, making their way to the falls.
A Short Feature
Watch as we make our way to the summit and listen to Sarah read a passage from “Let Heroes Speak”
On the way to the beach, we passed inquisitive Fur Seal pups, a sprawling blubber of Elephant Seals and a congregation of molting Kings who were holding court in a stream to cool off. Gus was even charged by a momma seal trying to protect its pup.
A Haunting Past & A Toast to Shackleton (The Boss)
The afternoon was relatively easy – we landed at Grytviken, another abandoned whaling station. Grytviken, operational until 1965, slaughtered 175,000 whales for their blubber, a major source of fuel. The remnants of abandoned machinery and rusted steel vats served as stark reminders of humanity’s destructive past.
But, there’s hope. The decline in demand for whale products led to the demise of the whaling station, and now, whales are slowly making a comeback. Fur seals, once on the brink of extinction, have returned in greater numbers. Now the old settlement houses several museums, a gift shop and post office. A small museum exhibits a replica of the James Caird, the lifeboat which Shackleton and his men sailed from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Keeping with tradition, Gus raised a glass of whiskey in Shackleton’s honor and toasted the Boss. We had to view Shackleton’s grave from the zodiac since Avian Flu concerns had the cemetery on lockdown. A church visit included musical performances by our resident musicians, Jeff and Jacinthe.
Recommended Reading:
Endurance
Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing
It's Opener There 
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