Today is the day we will be taking an adventure tour on the glacier. We will be picked up at 10:30 so we have a relaxing start to the day. However, when we stepped out of the van we were looking at clouds, low clouds. It did not feel like rain but we had hoped to have wonderful views from on the glacier. We hoped that by the time we headed out the clouds would lift but they did not.
We had to be prepared for sun or rain, warm or cold, wet or dry, so it was much like preparing for a hike in the spring time back home. Fortunately we have all the necessary gear except for the crampons. So we headed off to get things ready by putting on the sunscreen in hopes of sunshine. At the office before leaving we went through an assembly line where everyone was checked and supplied with any gear needed including boots, socks, waterproof pants and cortex jackets. We only needed to be outfitted with the crampons.
We were picked up right on schedule from the campsite and taken into town to the location of the Franz Josef Glacier Guides. Our group consisted of about 50 people and 4 guides. The apparent goal is to create 4 groups of about 12 to 13 hikers per group. We drove out to the glacier parking lot in a large bus that was full to capacity. This is a very popular hike. We learned that the license for this guiding company is 500 hikers per day but it is split between the ½ day hike (what we were on), full day hikes, helicopter hikers and ski plane hikers. As well there are lots of people walking up the trail to the foot of the glacier without a guide. However, they are not allowed to climb up on the glacier because of the potential hazards.
The glacier’s oldest ice is about 80 years old. It is fed from a huge basin where up to 40 meters of snow accumulate each winter. (Information from the net) The glacier is currently 12 km long and terminates 19 km from the Tasman Sea. Fed by a 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi) large snowfield at high altitude, it exhibits a cyclic pattern of advance and retreat, driven by differences between the volume of melt water at the foot of the glacier and volume of snowfall feeding the névé. Due to strong snowfall it is one of the few glaciers in New Zealand which is still growing as of 2007, while others, mostly on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, have been shrinking heavily, a process attributed to global warming.
Having retreated several kilometers between the 1940s and 1980s, the glacier entered an advancing phase in 1984 and at times has advanced at the phenomenal (by glacial standards) rate of 70 cm a day. The flow rate is about 10 times that of typical glaciers. Of course we really saw very little of the glacier and with the constant movement there is a lot of changes each day. The guides indicated that the trails they use are often changing because of the movement and new crevices forming. The most one could remember the glacier moving was 8 meters a day but the normal is closer to 2 meters per day. They are constantly checking and re-routing the paths taken for the tours.
At any rate, we arrived at the trailhead for the hike and had to walk across the flats towards the toe of the glacier. As you can imagine even though the glacier is not receding at this time, there is still a long distance walk (about 30 minutes) to get to the beginning of the climb. When we got to the toe, we started to climb up the face on the left side which is a moraine of ice with rocks covering. This also involved daily changes as the movement creates rock slides and cracks to be avoided.
At the top we stopped to put on our crampons which were interesting since they have to fit correctly. We also were given instructions on how to walk with crampons which was funny to listen but for those who have used snowshoes you will understand. I was in shorts so put on my gaiters at this point to protect myself against the potential poke from a crampon (never happened actually).
We started off again but we had to be slower than the group in front of us since there is only one path and no way to pass or be passed. Our first challenge was to walk on the ice steps and then we were marched over to a ‘ice tunnel’ where we dropped our packs and crawled through. This was very interesting and for those of us with no pant legs and no gloves, it was also cool.
We continued up through narrow cracks in the ice, up steps built into the edge holding onto a rope to ensure no one fell backwards creating a bit of pileup. Once we reached the first plateau of ice we had a chance to look around. Because the ice flow is considered rapid, it does cause large crevices to open up but because there is no snow, all cracks and openings are easy to see.
Our guide was very interesting and really wanted to talk to Wes and I a lot about Canada. He really was envious of us coming from Canada and especially the west. He was disappointed to hear that we do not hunt or fish but he was interested in talking about the possibilities of hikes and the mountains of BC.
As we stood at this plateau looking upward we realized that we were still only on the very tip and if we had signed up for the full day hike we would have been hiking much higher. As we looked (and see pictures) we could see the ‘ants’ of people well above us. Next time we will know better I suppose but I was really happy with the hike as it was.
The weather did not change at all and the clouds at first looked like they would lift off the top of the glacier, but that did not happen. In fact the clouds seemed to drop lower. By the time we got back to the tour bus to be taken back into town it started to spit on us. I was glad then that we had only taken a ½ day hike since the rain on the ice field would not be pleasant.
Part of the package for the tour was a free entrance to the Glacier Hot Pools. The pools are surrounded by native bush and fed with pure local glacier water. This means that they were heated and the three pools had temperatures of 36, 38 and 40 degrees. It was a great way to finish the day and both Wes and I felt relaxed and refreshed. As a point of interest we found that even the 100 meter climb up the face of the glacier was not a hardship for us and we barely broke a sweat. I would like to think we are in great shape, but it might have been that we went up so slowly we never got winded.
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