Fox Glacier & Franz Josef Glacier Journal & Photos - New Zealand - Lynx Travel

Fox Glacier Town Area (5 Photos)	Douglas Walk At Franz Josef Glacier (20 Photos)
Fox Glacier (24 Photos)	Franz Josef Glacier (80 Photos)

We went to 3 pubs in Fox Glacier. The first was the Fox Glacier Hotel Bar where I sent some emails to Erin and home. Dad had sent an email to me also telling me that Scott’s mom was calling about the truck and that the weather was still crazy back home going up and down. Our second stop was the Cook Saddle Cafe and Saloon. You've got to like Saloons. Scottie was just happy that he actually had someone come to his table for the first time and ask him what he wanted. This was the first time since he had left home that had happened. As the girl left the table he exasperatedly said, "Service Finally." We got some Ranch Wedges, real good potato wedges with bad ranch dressing, and some surprisingly good chicken wings. As we were talking to the waitress a four year old little boy came over to the table and Scott asked him if he had any ID. I guess that made the kid mad because he hit Scott as hard as he could in the arm. The bartender girl apologized saying his dad was in the back and drunk but she would make sure justice was served. I have been taking the bar sign pictures and at this point my 35-80 mm lens fogged up from being exposed to so much rain all day. On a trip to the bathroom I noticed they had a hand dryer. I used some good old American ingenuity and cleared up the fog problem by holding the lens under the hand dryer. The last bar was the bar in the Fox Glacier Backpackers Inn which was maybe 30 yard from out camper. A new Stumblin Inn. They had a local beer in bottles that I had, Glacier Nectar. I got one to bring home. We headed off to bed with the glaciers and more rain awaiting us in the morning.

We awoke to our usual downpours. Somehow I managed my shower to be timed so I walked in the clear both ways but Scott said he thinks it started hailing while I was in there. It was definitely loud. We headed off to Fox Glacier. It is very close to the road from the main viewpoint only a couple minutes. They had closed off the trail to the glacier face though. It is a magnificent sight even from our viewpoint to see the mass of ice coming down the mountain and ending up in the middle of a rainforest. You could make out the blue of the ice I had seen so often in pictures. The neatest part of this glacier was actually the drive up to the glacier itself. You were right at the valley walls at times and could see all the marks on the walls from the advancing glacier. Since it was raining we decided to drive to Franz Josef Glacier so Scott could get Redskins information on the internet. We first tried to go to Lake Matheson but when we got to the spot where the 50 minute walk started it was raining as hard as it had been on the whole trip.

Well I had just finished half a days worth of journal entries on the ferry to Wellington and the battery died and now I have to re-enter everything. Only about 30 minutes worth so it could have been worse. At least I was out on the deck of the ferry with Marlborough Sound all around me.

Back to October 9, we got to the village of Franz Josef Glacier and Scott found a place to check on the

Redskins on the internet. It was about 9:30 AM and we thought the game would be over but I guess Irving Fryar got hurt and the score was 14-14 with 2 minutes left. To get 2 minutes worth of information over the internet took forever. For anyone who has watched the Redskins with Scott knows how passionate he can be watching a game. He was tormented by having to keep track over the internet. In his own words "This is killing me." I knew it was going to take a while and I couldn't stand to watch him suffer so I checked out the village. I went to a helihike company and asked about taking a flight this afternoon and he was pretty sure they wouldn't be flying. This is the point where I realized how crazy the weather was. When I walked into the office the sky was blue and I told him things had just cleared up. He walked outside to check and it was dark, forbidding and raining again. I realized just how people can die on Mount Everest and mountain climbing in general. The weather was changing every minute. I went back and Scott was a happy man. The Redskins had beaten the Eagles 17-14 on a last second field goal. He wasn't happy that our new kicker had missed a couple of short kicks earlier. He also told me that the man who doesn't age, Darrell Green, had another interception. All was right in the universe so we headed to the glacier.

It was a short drive to Franz Josef Glacier and again the weather had cleared up, so I suggested lets go back down to Peter's Pool which gave us an incredible view of the glacier in it's reflection. The five minute walk to Peter's Pool turned into us doing the hour long Douglas Walk in about 45 minutes. It was a great walk which just amazed you as you are walking in a rainforest then you get a break in the vegetation and undergrowth and get a view of the glacier valley with the waterfalls and glacier at the end and just say to yourself this just is not right. Part of the walk was getting to cross the river formed by the glacier over our second swing bridge. I kept thinking crossing the bridge how great this trip has been as well as exciting and exhilarating. The Douglas Walk culminated about 800 meters from where we had parked the camper so we hiked back and headed on to Franz Josef Glacier itself. We got to the car park then hiked the fifteen minutes or so to the glacier viewpoint. The glacier is amazing. As I keep saying there just shouldn't be a glacier in a rainforest valley. Their is a huge riverbed that is a gravelly color along with the river itself from the glacier which is a milky color. There are waterfalls all over the valley. At the viewpoint there is a sign saying you should not go any farther without a guide, and that you should know what you are doing, and you must be physically fit to attempt the walk to the glacier. Luckily we do not heed warnings well. The walk was really treacherous. You are walking through a rock field and every once in a while there is a green and yellow stick to suggest a path. Of course their is so much water that most of the posts take you through impromptu steams.

Of we headed. At least I had my new boots which were the smartest thing purchased for this trip. Scott did this walk with an old pair of balding Rockport shoes. The first stream to cross came pretty quick and I did not worry much since it wasn't that deep if I walked in it some. Scott tried to pick a path over so higher rocks. I don't really remember how quickly he did it but soon into our journey his shoes were soaked and he really didn't worry as much about being careful with small streams. I almost made it the whole way without screwing up but about 2/3 the way back I miss stepped and went over ankle deep and was soaked for the last couple half hour or so We had been hiking for about ten minutes when let us say Scott jinxed the free throw shooter. He turns to me and says "I hope we can at least make it to the face of the glacier before it rains again. I swear to god, five seconds later at the most it starts to rain again. About half way to the glacier you are on the far right hand side of the riverbed which is right against the valley wall. This was obviously the only route up the riverbed because they had a sign posted that you could not stop for the next 400 meters due to falling rocks. It was a narrow path that I quite frankly was amazed I handled so well. I only almost fell into the river once taking a route suggested by Scott. All of our work paid off and we got the glacier. It is huge. The viewpoint does not do it justice. There was another sign at the glacier telling of impending danger and not to proceed. This did not deter Sir Edmund Hillary Fordyce who runs off to the point where the guides take groups up a chiseled stairwell. Not that I did not want to follow but he took a running start to get up the first bit that was just all rocks giving out under his feet. I knew I didn't have a prayer, so I just stayed at the bottom and became his documenter. He got to the top with the help of a pick that was left there by one of the groups. He disappeared from sight so I explored the face of the glacier. I had to use some fancy footwork to cross a pretty significant stream to see the north side of the glacier that was partially obstructed by a huge boulder. There was a huge cave formed at the bottom of the glacier where the river formed from. At one point I saw a part of the glacier fall off. A small part but I did see it happen. The weather started to get bad again and I started worrying about Scott. Well more about myself, since I let him start his climb with our camper keys. He falls in any glacier holes and I am stuck. I'm just kidding. It wasn't cold yet but it started to rain again. I saw some people show up off the top and then he finally showed up. Bald Rockport’s and all, he conquered the glacier. He had found some ski poles and was standing their in all his glory hands and poles raised. I then worried how he was going to get down which seemed like a tougher task in those shoes and with the rain. I thought it would be a shame if he died climbing off the glacier. He made it and told me how he did about 10% on top of the glacier on his hands and knees. A group showed up at the top and there was a huge difference in there preparation and Scotts. They all had all weather pants and tops. Aside from his North Face jacket he was wearing his trademark shorts. The group all had spiked boots and he had the bald Rockports. They had guides telling them what to do. Scott was winging it.

When he got down I started back since I had already seen the face and I knew Scott was going to be faster so I wanted a bit of a head start. I also wanted to follow the group since the guide would know the best route. We actually had picked out pretty much the same route as the group took. I was really taking my time and taking pictures and Scott caught me at the narrow path on the valley side. We both said almost simultaneously this might have actually been better than Milford Sound. We then agreed that it was probably because of the satisfaction of doing more than just ride a boat. Scott also told me he was impressed with me doing it and told me it was an A effort on my part. That made me feel pretty good since I've been a little worried about slowing him down. We got back to the car and I really didn't care that we didn't do the helihike trip. It was better to do it on our own. More of a sense of accomplishment. No one flew that day anyway since we never heard the whup-whup-whup of the helicopter blades in the valley that was described in all the guide books I have.