Hiking the Franz Josef Glacier

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CRAZY hike today. After getting all our gear on (raincoat, boots, pack, "over trousers", crampons), we left the base at around 9:45am and took a bus to the park. After a ten minute walk through the rainforest, and a 45 minute walk across a valley and some streams, we made it to the bottom of Franz Josef Glacier and put the crampons on our feet to help grip the ice. It rained most of the day, so we were soaked by the end of our intense 5 hours walking up the glacier. Definitely one of the craziest things we've ever done! We trudged through slippery rock, climbed up ice steps, squeezed in tiny crevasses, and even had the chance to check out a couple glacier caves. We got back to base at about 5:45, dripping wet and tuckered out. All around a great time, and well worth the sore muscles. Tomorrow, we're off to Queenstown, with a couple hikes on the way.

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Photos

Ice Cave
One of the wilder parts of the hike...creeping through a narrow crevasse, and pulling ourselves up a rope through a person-sized, slippery cave. Super fun.