Glacier Country
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2009
1
25
196
Trip End
Jul 21, 2010
Where I stayed
Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, August 17, 2009
Another blockbuster day – we walked on and inside a glacier
today! And yes our legs and feet are sore! Today we went to Fox
Glacier. One of the coolest aspects of the hike was that to get to
the glacier we had to walk through a rainforest that led out to the
glacier wall. The weather was beautiful – we lucked out – our
guide Chris told us it has been raining there for the past 2 weeks so
a day like today was special. Our group on this trek was bigger
there were 11 of us and they of course gave us everything we needed,
including boots, but no ice axe. Up close the glacier is enormous –
as you can see by the pics -- people, rocks that are 10 meters high
are miniature in comparison. And all around you – you're surrounded
by these gigantic mountains. It makes you feel so miniscule. The
glacier from a distance looks a little dirty – kind of like snow in
DC after a couple of days. That's because the force of the water/ice
carries rocks and stone from the mountain so it mixes with the ice to
get that look. Higher up there is less rock – and the glacier looks
more blue.
That's what boggled us the most – how blue the ice was, the
pictures do not do it justice. Throughout the day we had chances to
walk through ice caves and crevices where the color was mind-blowing
(check out the video). Mother Nature is just simply amazing and
something to be respected – it can go from warm and sunny to windy,
rainy, and miserable in a matter of minutes. Another aspect that we
notice – how clean the air is. You always hear about pure mountain
air and you can even tell the difference in the States – but here
it seems as though it is on a whole other level. We also drank water
from the waterfalls today – cold and crisp – even better than the
Fiji bottled water!
When we stopped to eat lunch on the rocks next to the glacier we
got cold but since we were moving and grooving we stayed warm. Again,
since it's winter and we're in the mountains clouds rolled in the
afternoon and helicopters came to rescue some people who were higher
up on the glacier. But in an hour the clouds dissipated and the sky
was clear again. Our guide Chris was excellent – he said that it
takes about 2 years to become a glacier guide and most guides do
leave after 2 years to go to South America, Canada, or Europe. I
understand why – although extremely beautiful the town is very
small. Small as in no grocery store, no bank, no post office – you
get the picture. If you have a family, fine, but for Chris who is in
his 20s it must be hard at times.
Hiking on ice involves concentration so by the end of the day
again we're spent – especially Mike whose feet are really sore from
his rented boots and crampons (check out the “crampons in 'yo face”
pic) so we treated ourselves to a really good meal and now we're
crashing – time 9:40pm – not bad!
