Rain it did. We woke up to pitter patter in the morning and we didn’t see sun for the next 24 hours. We weren’t happy about the precipitation but Franz Josef Glacier Guides gave us socks, boots, pants, hat, gloves, raincoat, and we were off – off on a 1.5 hour steep difficult hike. We were divided into three groups for fast athletic people, medium pace and slow. Hendrik and I chose to go into the slow group but soon realized that we were the fastest group. Since we were the last group to head out we had to cover the same ground as the rest of the groups in the same amount of time, so I pretty much had to jog to keep up with my short legs. We hiked trough the woods all the while the rain pelted down. At one point the terrain was so steep there were ropes tied to the trees so there was something we could grab on to. The rain had made it a muddy slide so it was one thing going down but I feared going back up the rest of the day. I was exhausted after the hike, and we had just made it to the base of the glacier. I wish they would have forewarned us about the hike because I had no idea it was going to be so tough.
I was pretending to enjoy the hike
There we put on spikes called crampons onto our shoes and we were off hiking up the glacier. The first part of the glacier wasn’t too nice since the ice is mixed with lots of mud and rocks so it hardly looks like a glacier. The higher we hiked the prettier it got, even in the rain. Some of the ice was so incredibly blue that I’ve never seen ice like that in real life only in pictures. In some parts, it was pretty magnificent and stunning but I’m still not sure the effort was worth it. I would definitely splurge on a helicopter if I had to do it again. Being cold and wet while hiking strenuously was not my idea of a good time. They also offered a ½ day tour which is useless because you don’t even get to the pretty part of the glacier but just stay on the muddy part, and a ¾ day which we wanted to do but it wasn’t being offered this day.
We did not stop for lunch and had to eat while hiking. Even though it was raining, I would have appreciated a break. Our guide was very nice and cheery, and I had no idea how she managed to do this every single day. She not only had to hike the route every day but carve paths out for us in the ice with a giant pick. She didn’t even mind the rain and said that it rains two out of every three days so statistically we had a good chance of rain. The guide found nooks and crevices for us to take pictures in which were extremely claustrophobic but also surreal, to be completely surrounded by huge walls of ice. The whole time Hendrik was worried about his camera since he had a new EOS camera and it wasn’t waterproof. We did our best to keep it covered, but there was only so much we could do in the pouring rain especially since we wanted to take pictures. I told him that it survived acid rain so it should survive regular rain.
Posing with the pick
There were a few scary points along the way. Occasionally there were holes in the ice and if you would fall in there would be no help. It would be almost impossible to rescue someone because of the flowing water and shifting ice. We saw how quickly something can disappear when the other guide who was being trained accidentally dropped his pick, which is really huge, into one of those holes. It vanished instantly though he poked and scoped the hole for a while with no success. This is why it was necessary to go with a guide because if you are not familiar with the glacier and its patterns it is very dangerous. On the way back Hendrik and I were a bit behind the group, only about 20 paces, but since we didn’t know the path the group had taken we didn’t know how to catch up because to us there did not seem like there was a path. I slipped and fell down a short wall. At least there weren’t any holes at the bottom, and I wasn’t hurt, but it was just scary to feel so out of the element. Our guide immediately came and helped us to the rest of the group, and I stayed at the front for the rest of the time.
Us in a crevice
That night, it was wonderful that our campsite had a spa since I was in pain. Spas seemed to be really popular in New Zealand and almost every single campsite had a spa. I debated which visit to the glacier I had enjoyed more and couldn’t decide but what I did know is that I was in less pain after tequila night.
View from the glacier
