A deeply cut valley filled with wildlife surrounded by tall majestic rugged mountains is what you see upon entering Fortuna Bay on the north coast. When we landed at Fortuna Bay we were met by scattered territorial male Fur Seals each rigorously guarding their small territorial plot of sand or grass along with some Elephant Seals and small groups of King Penguins wandering back and forth to the seas as their colony was set inland about a mile. Unlike many of South Georgia’s other bays beyond the beach at Fortuna Bay is a large wet spongy grassy outwash plain that leads one back to the steep mountains and glaciers set inland. To reach the Penguin Colony it’s an easy hike inland over the relatively flat soft, spongy tundra which was covered in a layer of molted Penguin feathers. It is also here where hikers can experience the last leg of Shackleton's trek back to safety as he climbed over the mountain and glaciers to Stromness Harbor. It is described as 4 mile hike with 1,000 of elevation gain over a variety of surfaces such as tussock grass, gravel beds, boulders, snow and creeks over a glacier.


https://billklipp.zenfolio.com/blog/2018/2/Antarctica-Wanderings-IV--South-Georgia-Island-2

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