Today’s activities included hiking Fox Glacier in the
morning and then soothing our glacier-climbing bodies in the Glacier Hot Pools
located in Franz Josef. We really earned
our keep this morning, as we needed to get on the road to Fox Glacier, 30min
south of Franz Josef, by 8am to keep our appointment with the Fox Glacier Guide
company.
Our guide today, Tom, was the most informative guide I’ve
had on the glaciers since I began coming to New Zealand: he was articulate,
knowledgeable, and very willing to address our questions along the trip. Tom was our personal guide on our adventure
on Fox Glacier, a luxury we have not had on past trips onto Franz Josef
glacier. Given our experience, I’m
almost glad that Franz Josef glacier is retreating so quickly that walking
hikes onto the terminal face of the glacier are no longer available!
Prior to leaving the Guide shop, we learned that we wouldn’t
be taking any rain gear with us, something that was completely unheard of
during my last two times on Franz Josef glacier: on our trip in 2012, it poured
rain and the wind howled during our entire hike on the glacier! We had the most glorious day on the glacier:
bright sun, 70F in the valley (about 40F on the glacier), and nearly no wind! During our hike, we learned about the
expansion and retreat of the Fox Glacier along the Fox River valley, how
quickly it has retreated during the last 80 years, and how quickly the glacier
melts daily (20cm!). Tom shared with us
the Maori story used to explain the presence of the ice mass, which included a
love story, a fallen loved one, and the tears of the surviving lover being
frozen at the top of the mountain. Tom was even generous enough to let anyone who
wanted to use his ice ax; very cool! Tom
shared with us his experiences as a guide and perhaps gave some of our students
something to think about for future plans!
Our 4-hour experience on the tour was good enough for our
group, as everyone was still recovering from our travel out of Abel Tasman
National Park and to Franz Josef. The
rest of the day was spent doing laundry in Franz Josef, visiting the Glacier
Hot Pools, and chatting with family. Dr.
Moran and I got dinner at a local restaurant and then called it an
evening. We have a slightly slower
morning tomorrow, a 9:30am start, but we need to be checked-out of the hostel
prior to our meeting with the Department of Conservation on the Rowi kiwi
project in the South westland region, so still lots to do in the morning!
David Hobbs (Business, 2016), Stephen Maccleod (Business, 2016), and Jack Capetola (Chemistry, 2016) on the trail to Fox Glacier (middle, background).
Our group scaling Fox Glacier on a beautiful summer's day!
Our group atop Fox Glacier's terminal face. We explored crevasses and looked into moulins as we crossed the ice.
Me and Dr. Moran inside 'Superman's cave', a compression cave created at the terminal face of Fox Glacier as the leading edge of the glacier gets driven into the ground by the force from the glacier pushing it from behind.
Chris Lorch (Nursing, 2019) wielding our glacier guide's ice ax!
Tom, our Fox Glacier guide, and Sean Harrison (Business, 2016).
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