Thursday we set our alarm (for the first time I believe) to meet our 8:45 appointment for a guided tour on the Franz Joseph Glacier. We knew that this was going to be a "real" hike (4 hours we were told) but I do not think we quite knew the extent. We walked in the door and they suited us up with two layers of wool socks, waterproof boots, trousers and jackets, wool hats, mittens and yes, crampons, before we were shuffled onto a bus with about 10 other unsuspecting tourists. It was only then that we realized, "shit, I guess we are really going tramping on a glacier." To top it off it was raining fairly hard, which our guide infor
med us, "happens all the f**ing time." I am happy to report that both Alan and yes, I, successfully scaled the glacier and, even in the rain, it was spectacular. The glacier was massive and pictures in no way convey its magnitude. The ice is striking blue in areas that are not melting. This glacier has retreated several kilometers since the 1980's but has been advancing for the past few years due to higher than normal levels of snowfall. We were completely soaked to the bone after 4 hours of hiking in the rain (which included 2 on the glacier) but it was awesome! - Kell
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Thursday we set our alarm (for the first time I believe) to meet our 8:45 appointment for a guided tour on the Franz Joseph Glacier. We knew that this was going to be a "real" hike (4 hours we were told) but I do not think we quite knew the extent. We walked in the door and they suited us up with two layers of wool socks, waterproof boots, trousers and jackets, wool hats, mittens and yes, crampons, before we were shuffled onto a bus with about 10 other unsuspecting tourists. It was only then that we realized, "shit, I guess we are really going tramping on a glacier." To top it off it was raining fairly hard, which our guide infor
med us, "happens all the f**ing time." I am happy to report that both Alan and yes, I, successfully scaled the glacier and, even in the rain, it was spectacular. The glacier was massive and pictures in no way convey its magnitude. The ice is striking blue in areas that are not melting. This glacier has retreated several kilometers since the 1980's but has been advancing for the past few years due to higher than normal levels of snowfall. We were completely soaked to the bone after 4 hours of hiking in the rain (which included 2 on the glacier) but it was awesome! - Kell
y
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