Patagonia’s Forces of Nature – Weekly Photo Challenge
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
BLUE ICE
This week, Brie Anne has asked us to demonstrate a “Force of Nature”. I was all set to use a group of new photos from earlier in the week but I simply couldn’t resist drawing from my archives on this one. Several years ago I was fortunate to visit Patagonia, traversing Chile and Argentina in an amazing experience as close to the forces of nature as one can possibly be. Above, an example of the incredible pressure of ice and snow as it forms the blue ice that peppers the water throughout the region.
GEOLOGY AT PLAY
“I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
Vincent van Gogh
A second manifestation of the pressure that nature exhibits in creating its wonders – the amazingly colorful striations present in some of the rocks surrounding the area. Geology at play indeed.
UNDER PRESSURE
“We can never have enough of nature.”
Henry David Thoreau
Nothing quite illustrates the force of nature as well as a waterfall. While it looks powerful enough in a static shot, its force is only truly felt as one stands on (OK, maybe just NEAR) the edge of the waterfall and experiences the roar of the water as it thunders over the ledge.
WIND CLOUDS
“Let us give Nature a chance; she knows her business better than we do.”
Michel de Montaigne
Prior to our Patagonia adventure, I’d never heard of “wind clouds”, which are shown in the photo above. These flying-saucerish clouds are the direct result of the fierce winds that surround the beautiful peaks of Fitz Roy in Los Glacieres National Park.
FITZROY GLORY
“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
I could not close without a shot of the peaks themselves, a testament to nature’s power as she pushes her plates from deep beneath the surface to create incredible beauty. Above, the peaks are surrounded by clouds and deep snow, offering further evidence of nature’s mighty forces.
How appropriate that this week we give a nod to Mother Nature, as we also give thanks or take a moment to remember our own mothers and their importance in our lives. Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms out there in the blogosphere,. To experience more of Mother Nature’s forces, click here.
Travels and Trifles 
Stunning shots, Tina. Those clouds look out of this world!
Really spectacular shots, very impressive.
The wind clouds are amazing. How fortunate you were in the right place at the right time, Tina.
Thanks Jane – truth is, I think any place/time is the right place/time in Patagonia! It’s gloriously beautiful and these bizarre clouds are quite common there!
Beautiful pics, how lucky you are to have made this journey. A trip to Patagonia has been on my bucket list since reading Darwin’s descriptions of it in his Voyage of the Beagle, and then not long after, stumbling across a postcard of mountains in the background, natural rounded green hedges along waterways in the foreground.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get there but in the meantime, pics & stories from bloggers like you are the next best thing. The ice is such a wonderful colour & I love the green waterfall – uncontaminated by silt, straight from the mountains I guess.
Thanks very much Maamej – it’s a glorious place, well worth the horrific effort it takes to get there!!
Wow Tina, what spectacular sights! Not only powerful but so fascinating!
Very much so Susan – an arduous journey to get there but well worth the extra effort. Nature at its most undisturbed. We encountered a violent windstorm in the middle of a treacherous hike that literally knocked us over – only to be rewarded by a spectacular view at the top. Quite a few amazing memories from this one!
So jealous. Wish I could go there too. Great Photos.
Thanks MR, it’s an amazing place. Put it on your bucket list for sure!
Will do. ;0)
Phyllis
Tremendous forces of nature you share with us this week Tina. The multi coloured cliffs are amazing, I have never seen any thing like them, they look as though some one has daubed them with a giant paint brush
Thanks PP – yes the minerals there were incredible. As was the rest of our Patagonia adventure. So different from the world we normally inhabit and really fascinating and beautiful.
Patagonia sounds so romantic and far away, the stuff of dreams…
Wonderful images.
Thanks rabirius!
Incredible images!
Thanks Cynthia – hard to miss in a place like Patagonia!
great series for challenge tina.
Thanks Robert!
amazing images. the colored stones look like a painting done by nature. and so good about the shared quote – thanks for pointing it out! Have a beautiful week~
Thanks Dorothee, glad you enjoyed. Yes the minerals in the rocks were incredible – just like a nature painting.