Walking in the steps of Shackleton

The day started early as all Shackleton hikers had to go ashore at Fortuna Bay before starting the walk mid morning. The bay has a huge colony of King penguins. We were also terrorised by the fur seal pups again but this time there were some rather large mummies there too, I started to not be fussed by seal pups and focus more on the mummies running towards us. I stood and watched the king penguins and the seal swimming in the surf. 

Back on the boat for a quick turnaround before the hike started. We were dropped at the other side of the glacier thank goodness. As soon as we got off, we saw a huge elephant seal in front of us. Gosh they are huge compared to the fur seals. The Shackleton Trail we followed is the last stage of the walk Shackleton did over South Georgia and as we climbed, all I could think of was that I’m doing this in boots, wind proof clothing and have water and food. They did this after months living on ice, then in lifeboats to Elephant Island, then another lifeboat to South Georgia, then over a mountain, then across the glacier….

It was a very gradual hike uphill, stopping to take pictures and look at the snowy peaks. We got to Crean lake where we had a pit stop, I watched the Chinese video the monk with Happy Buddha. It’s such a gloriously sunny day. We walked further on for our group photo and our first glimpse at the finish point, Stomness, where Shackleton knew there was safety and a chance to rescue his men. The expedition team emphasised that the descent was steep but oh my gosh, it was. It was loose scree so we slipped most of the way, crossing rivers on route. The knees were feeling it. 

We walked past Shackleton falls, where they lowered themselves over the frozen waterfall. Then we waded through the braided rivers, through moss, through bog and then we were at Stomness. 5.5km but most of that was downhill. I’m so pleased I did it, I was shattered at the end from the descent but I really wanted to walk in Shackleton’s footsteps and now I have.