Franz Josef

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Feb. 19, 2011 - Franz Josef Glacier
Today we got up and going quickly. We had arrived in a DoC campsite and pitched the tents in the previous evening. The previous day began with a drive to see the Pancake Rocks. These are a strange phenomenon on the west coast, where some rocks look like thin giant pancakes stacked atop of one another. Very interesting, if somewhat bizarre, to see.
We left, having decided to drive somewhere to camp, and headed back south along the coast. On the way Chad spots on the side of the road our German friend Mariana, who we met on Stewart Island. It truly is a small world among New Zealand's tramping community. We stop and chat with her for a while. We told her we were going to check out Franz Josef Glacier.
After stowing our extra bags this morning, we arrived at the busy car lot. This glacier is a big tourist attraction. Our aim was to reach a hut located a short tramp off the massive ice sheet. This glacier is indeed massive. Bigger and steeper then Brewster, the Franz Josef sits at the end of a wide and mostly flat valley. A river flows off the glacier, which extends up towards the top of the surrounding mountains. Several waterfalls can be seen as we hike towards the ice, pouring down the steep valley walls, and enjoining the glacier stream in little flowing tributaries.
To get to the hut we would have to walk up the glacier about two kilometers or so. Walking on a giant and ancient sheet of ice is a surreal experience. We don our crampons, and start up. It's fairly easy walking overall, and our boot spikes have no trouble digging into the blue-white ice. The way is made easier by following the paths of the several guided tour groups that abound the glacier on any given day (much to the chagrin of some of the guides).
Walking on ice takes on another dimension then normal tramping. Your brain immediately shifts gears, and your mission in life becomes one of balance. So often when tramping through forest and over rock, you are constantly using your hands - grabbing a tree limb here, using a rock for support there - but on the ice that is no longer an option. You need to stay upright, and on your feet. This is especially so in mine and Andrew's case, as we are without ice axes (which we should have had). Falling on the ice would likely mean slipping, without any way to stop, and sliding somewhere we didn't want to go (like say, to our deaths for example).
We keep our footing and soon spot the gully on the right that leads up to the hut, and we're off the ice. We break briefly for lunch and then begin the final leg of today's tramp. It's not a marked path, and the way up is steep and rocky. The hut makes the loose and slippery scree well worth the effort. It's called Castle Rock Hut.
We are surrounded by large walls of tall vales and distant peaks. The hut sits atop a small flat area on a ridge. The view afforded of the Franz Josef Glacier and lowe valley is epic. Several towering waterfalls can be spotted, and the white-blue ice sheet rests below, like a great tongue in the vale beneath us. From Castle Rock we sat a throne and surveyed with great satisfaction our vast realm below us, and all was right in the world.
This is an old hut, and despite the relative ease of access, it is seldom used. The original hut log book is still here, which dates back to the early 70s. Sitting up here in this majestic place, where so few come, offers a great feeling of accomplishment and a strange connectedness to those names in the log book who have come before us. We will stay up here tomorrow and enjoy it. Today life is good.

Feb. 20, 2011 - Castle Rock Hut
A very relaxing rest day, in a very secluded hut. I don't reckon that I moved more than 30 feet from my bunk all day. It was beautiful.

Feb. 21, 2011 - Ice Canyons
It rained off and on all night, sometimes a relaxing sprinkle, other times a heavy down pour. We wanted to get moving fairly quickly, as reports had indicated that the rain would be intensifying throughout the day. We have breakfast, and pack up. By 9:30 we're headed down.
It's misting lightly, so the descent is wet. Our clothing is quickly saturated with water, but it wasn't too cold. The way down was easier then going up, but still is very steep. I slip and fall a few times on the loose scree, which is can be difficult to negotiate under dry conditions. But we press on, and before long have made our way back down the rocky gully. When we reach the glacier we again put our spikes on. Then we begin the journey down. In just one day, the rain had distorted the ice. However, after coming down a ways, we find the guide trails. Rain has eroded it a bit, but we can still use it.
A little further down we spot a welcome sight: tour guides! They are cutting a fresh path for several tour groups coming up from below. They say we can use their paths (which we intended to do any ways), as long as we don't linger near the tours. We eagerly agree to these conditions and continue down.
Glacier walking can be dangerous, even with proper gear and expertise, both of which we lacked in sufficient quantities. I found the added sense of danger to be rather enjoyable. We were more tense, as you must constantly be alert and ever watchful of every foot placement. However, at no time did we ever feel our lives were in precarious danger.
We made our way down the icescape, passing the guided tour groups as we went. At one point we got to walk through some canyons of ice. The walls were tall on either side of the narrow gorges, which couldn't have been more then two feet wide and perhaps more then 30 feet high. This was a very cool experience, literally in this case as several times your shoulders would scrape the sides of the tight corridor of ice.
It took about five hours to get back to the car. We eat a late lunch, and hit the road. We're bound for a small town called Hokitika. There we'll be met by some friends from Christchurch. They will join us for our next tramp. It will be fun to hike with them again, and I look forward to showing off my new stamina.
I must say, I was very leery at the prospect of glacier walking going into the trip. It sounded dangerous, to say nothing of my complete lack of knowledge, gear, and experience doing it. However, I found the glacier to be one of my favorite things to have done so far. It was thrilling and fun. Definitely a high point of the trip, and hopefully something I'll get to do more of on future adventures.

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Comments

[Linda]

Ice!
Sounds wonderful. Like another planet and yet so beautifully Earth.

[anonymous]

I would not want to be that stick figure!