After Seno Pia, another major glacier is to be found near Caleta Olla, a good secure mooring bay on the northern coast of the Beagle.
Caleta Olla and Holanda
Many glaciers drain down from the Fuegan ice-cap and feed the Beagle. Not all have secure anchorages nearby.
Some mini-glaciers don’t quite make it to sealevel, sending waterfalls of meltwater cascading down the cliff-sides.
Caleta Olla is a small anchorage formed by the shaped moraine of some ancient glacier, now receded into the interior.
This bay is popular with the local fishermen, who stop in here.
Within range of a small boat trip and a short hike is the Holanda glacier.
Walking around the foreshore, the glacier makes its first appearance through the half-dead trees which populate the extensive marshlands and moraine in front of the ice.
The landscape is a fantastic variety which lends itself to exploration.
Climbing the adjacent hills, the glacier is slowly revealed.
Finally, the glacier and its lake is visible from high on the ridge. The lake drains by way of a small river to the sea.
Looking in the other direction, the Beagle makes its way to the west, disappearing into approaching rain. Caleta Olla is the squarish bay to the right.
Departing Caleta Olla, the Holanda glacier gives way to the typical terrain of the channels.
The scale provides some perspective to the Chilean Armada.
Bandera trees, or flag trees, reveal the predominant wind direction in this area. For us they point the way back to Puerto Williams.
