17 January -- Two glaciers and a lake

No rain today, and the sky seemed to turn blue just as we arrived at our destinations today. We started off by going through all those hairpin curves again to get back to t he village of Franz Josef where we found the trail to view the glacier. All the rock reminded me of Mordor except that it was more ice than fire. The trail was pretty flat, but all gravel and rock. For safety reasons, we could not get that close to the glacier, but I took some great close-ups.

Mountain carved by ice and water

The lookout point for Franz Josef.

More rock carved by the glacier

One of many mountain waterfalls. I am at the bottom.

Franz Josef.

The hike to Franz Josef was 90 minutes round trip, but it was fairly flat and easy. After a quick stop in the village, we returned to the village of Fox Glacier. First we hiked the Matheson Lake, but the conditions weren't ripe for reflecting the mountains.

Then we drove to the beginning of the Fox Glacier hike. This was the toughest one, with a fairly steep incline to the lookout. Because of the topography, we were able to get much closer to this glacier. It seemed to have much more dirt/gravel on it, but it was also majestic.

On the way back down, we saw a family that had picked up a large piece of ice they found en route. I borrowed it for a photo op.

Taking a drink from a clear mountain stream

Walking some glacial ice over the stones.

Mount Cook

Mount Cook