Ice Spectacle- Hooker Valley

Catch-up; It's been a busy couple of weeks, we've been chasing the snow and exploring the Canterbury high country. I have hundreds of stunning photos and lots to tell you about in due course. In the meantime this blog may seem a little out of place now, much of the MacKenzie Country is smothered in thick winter snow and especially the access road to Aoraki/Mt Cook and the National Park. 

On a clear, crisp and sunny morning I left David fishing for that elusive salmon at the canal and headed to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park to re-walk the Hooker Valley track. We've walked it before, back in early December, 2015 but it was overcast then (great for photos though). I wanted to walk the 10km return track again and see it in a different light. I stopped at Pete's Lookout to grab one of the iconic shots of Aoraki; looking up Lake Pukaki to New Zealand's tallest mountain at the top of the lake.

I parked beside the DOC White Horse Hill campground and near the trailhead, it was bitterly cold out of the sun but I could see it heading down Hooker Valley ahead of me as I set off at a brisk walk, being careful not to step on any icy puddles that would send me for a skate.

The first of the three swingbridges that cross the Hooker River which flows down from the Hooker Glacier Lake, then into and out of, the Mueller Glacier Lake. 

This is no gentle flowing stream, those boulders in the river below the bridge are the size of small cars. You can see a couple of people crossing the bridge in the photo above.

Mt Sefton towers high over the lake and in the stillness I can hear regular whooshing and booming sounds echoing around the valley. When I zoom in on the mountain I can see great clouds of snow and ice breaking off an ice shelf and tumbling down the face, from high up on a ridge near the peak. 

Each time I get to a swingbridge, I wait for others to finish their selfies before I can get a clean shot. 

Just before I reach the sun, Aoraki/Mt Cook comes into view at the head of the valley.

Which is just as well because as soon as I step into the sun (which instantly has a lovely warming effect), it's directly ahead of me and right in my face and the camera's! There's no getting away from the lens flare here, so I shoot as best I can by closing down the aperture (f/22) and cutting off most of the sun so I get a sunburst and although it's not a good one at least I can see Mt Cook underneath!

I now have to take my photos looking back down the track so the pesky sun doesn't gatecrash every shot. 

This is the last of the three bridges over the Hooker River(above), it's just below the moraine walls of the Hooker Glacier Lake and not far from the lake outlet.

A short track leads off the main path to a small tarn tucked in amongst the alpine vegetation. It's a surprise to see down the valley and off in the distance the Hermitage Hotel, back in the Mt Cook village. Of course it makes sense as Aoraki can be seen from all rooms at the Hermitage.

From the tarn it's just a gentle climb up over the top of the moraine wall to the lookout point complete with lovely large picnic table.....and a dozen or so people. I sit and have my lunch watching as people arrive over the top of the ridge, oohing and aahing as they take in the glacier lake and Mt Cook ahead of them. Unfortunately the sun is now sitting right above Mt Cook spoiling the view as they jostle amongst themselves to get the best selfies. 

I was hoping the lake might have been frozen or semi-freddo with lots of icebergs bobbing about. The icebergs break away from the Hooker Glacier at the head of the lake. Sadly it wasn't frozen and there was only one big dirty 'berg that look more like a rock sitting in the middle of the lake.

The real surprise was down at the lake's edge below us, numerous small icebergs had been sucked towards the river outlet on the far side of the lake. They'd become stuck in an icy embrace by the beautiful coloured frozen glacial water.

And to give you some perspective, here you can see people at the edge. In fact if you look closely at the photo above you can see two people sitting on the rocks in the centre of the photo and another couple standing over by the outlet (click to enlarge the photo).

Many of the people arriving took their lookout photos, glanced around the mountains and then turned tail and headed out again. They were unaware of the magical spectacle down at lake level. I was unaware as well! Luckily I twisted my arm and forced myself to get down there to touch an iceberg.

Never mind the icebergs, this strange but stunning phenomenon was right along the lake's edge; an ice wave caught in suspension looking like it was just about to break onto the shore. 

The wave was made up of hundreds of  large irregular shaped plate ice piled on top of each other. A large patchwork of beautiful broken ice.

Up close there was quite a bit of noise as the ice cracked and slipped as it melted in the warm sunshine. People were also picking pieces up and smashing them on the rocks or throwing them out onto the ice adding to the noise. I know, I know, but don't tut-tut, it was a so much of fun, I was drawn to do the same. I felt like I was attending a Greek wedding smashing plates! (the lookout is behind that green mound, top centre)

Some people also chose to climb over the ice wave and try their skills at walking(skating) on the frozen lake. Most of them failed and made a spectacle of themselves in the process! The guy below managed to scoot out to that small 'berg to have his photo taken sitting on it. He fell coming back. It really was so slippery. 

Another guy walked quite a way out before his feet left him too it. I did feel sorry for him because I know that awful feeling when suddenly you're on your back in a heap on the ground. No one was willing to walk out and help him either and I don't blame them. He half crawled, half slipped his way back to terra-firma and hobbled off, pride deeply dented. Muffled sniggering could be heard nearby.

My theory is that the ice has formed on the lake and then the wind's got up and blown onshore quite ferociously and for quite some time, pushing lake water underneath the layer of ice breaking it up in the process and then pushing that onto shore as more ice formed behind. Whatever, I was thrilled to see another amazing spectacle of nature.

And I spent so much time down at the lake edge I finally managed to get a shot of Mt Cook without the sun spoiling it, it had moved off ever so slowly to the left. The Hooker Glacier terminal face can be seen at the top of the lake.

It was time to head back down the track to the carpark, there were lots more people out enjoying the warm sunshine which has now filled the whole of the wide flat valley floor.

I took another photo of Aoraki/Mt Cook (sans sun) just before the mountain disappeared out of sight as I neared the beginning of the track. 

And another photo of the Hermitage tucked in under the mountains on the far side of the valley. 'Rock flour' has turned the Mueller Glacier lake the beautiful teal colour the high country lakes are known for. The lake is trying to freeze too, there's a line across the centre just above the island where the ice is forming. 

There was one more short walk I wanted to do before I left the mountains and I was in a hurry to drive the few kilometres around to the trailhead. It's a short gut-busting walk straight up the moraine wall to the Tasman Glacier Lake. As per usual I've spent way too much time on the other walk and the sun is now fast disappearing behind the mountains, a shadow is quickly creeping across the vast expanse of the Tasman Valley. Darn! Oh well, I managed a few good shots the last time we climbed to the lake.

The Blue Lakes (which are blue no longer, check the link above for the reasons why), are frozen, so I'm hoping there might be a few icebergs on Tasman Glacier lake. I climb on as fast as possible hoping the shadow hasn't covered the lake as well.

Arriving at the top gasping for breath and with my heart pumping twenty to the dozen, I'm disappointed to see no 'bergs (well no huge ones, just a few specks here and there) and the lake disappearing into shadow as well (click on the photo to enlarge). 

Oh well, I sit down on a rock and casually take in the scenery as I wait for my breath to catch up and my pulse to return to normal. I take quiet satisfaction in seeing much younger (and supposedly fitter) people arrive, panting and gasping for breath as they virtually crawl over the last step. A few of them are Lions supporters and they're obviously suffering from the celebrations- the Lions played the Crusaders the night before and won 12-3.

Magical Mountains - Kea Point

This will be the last post for a few days. The rain has finally stopped (9 days give or take a couple of afternoons) and we're off to the wops and no reception again. 

Catch-up

I was so enthralled with the mountains and the beautiful scenery right outside the van I couldn’t sleep the first night we were parked up at the White Horse Hill DOC camp at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. This was the magical view from my bedroom window, I left the blind up so I could see Mt Sefton sparkling and shimmering in the moonlight at the end of the valley. In the end, with sleep eluding me, I thought I might as well make the most of it. I dressed and got my camera gear together and stepped outside to take some night shots in the peace and stillness of a calm and clear night. This one was taken at 2am!

The temperature was very mild considering the time and where we were, beside the Southern Alps, the night sky a beauty with a million twinkling stars above. Looking down the valley towards the Tasman River plain and Lake Pukaki.

I crept about the carpark trying to keep the gravel crunch of my footsteps to a minimum, there were a few sleeper vans parked in the day carpark with us. I’m sure if any of the others sleeping soundly in the cars had looked out and seen me, they’d wonder what the crazy lady was doing moving about their vehicles and shining a light over the 5th-wheeler. I did some light painting of the van with my head torch, watched the moon rise above the mountains behind me and took more photos of Mt Sefton in the beautiful moonlight.

I returned to bed but still couldn’t sleep and as I watched dawn approaching I was up again and back out with my camera to catch sunrise. I hadn’t seen Mt Cook yet but I knew it was visible from Kea Point and I was hoping to get there to catch the pink hue of sunrise on our tallest mountain.

I thought I’d walk to Kea Point, the 20 minute walking track exited the carpark right beside our van. But I took too long getting ready and taking photos of Mt Sefton again.  Before I knew it the sun was rising without me. Blast! Never mind, I managed to catch the pink hue on Mt Sefton instead. These were taken at 5:30am.

I hurried on up the track anyway, startling a number of rabbits along the way. The track passes through landscape that was formed in 1913 when a stream cut through from the Mulleur Glacier to the original Hermitage Hotel site, damaging the building and forcing the new hotel to be built further down the valley and off to the side. A bonus was that the hotel now has fantastic views of Mt Cook.

A short time later I rounded a corner to see my first close up view of the majestic Aoraki/Mt Cook towering above the ridge ahead of me, the sun warming it’s eastern slopes.

Beautiful Aoraki/Mt Cook lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island, and is New Zealand tallest mountain at 3724 metres.

The Kea Point walk climbs gradually up through sub-alpine grasslands and scrub to finish at a lookout platform on the edge of the Mueller Glacier moraine wall.

The platform is high above the Mueller Glacier Lake, the opposite moraine wall and Mt Cook behind, are across the wide expanse.

Across the lake to the right and at the base of Mt Wakefield(2012m) is the Hooker River outlet, the river flows from the Hooker Glacier Lake which is at the top end of the Hooker Valley and at the base of the Hooker Glacier, on the west side of Mt Cook. The Tasman Glacier is on the east side.

There are stunning 360 degree views from the viewing deck.

There’s Mt Sefton(3151m) and The Footstool (the right hand peak) and the Mueller Glacier which is around the corner and out of view. High up on the sides of Mt Sefton I can see the dirty blue of glacial ice. There’s nothing here to give these photos scale but believe me everything is on a grand scale- extremely high and and very deep. A person in the valley below would just be a speck on the landscape.

Behind me I can see the track up to the Sealy Tarns, a gut-busting near vertical track to the top of the Mueller Ridge which takes 3-4 hours return for a fit person, everyone else it would be all day…if you made it. The track runs up the deep gully to a lower ridge and then you can see it tracking along the top, apparently there are some amazing views from up there but you won’t be seeing them from me anytime soon. I spot a moving dot of blue and zoom in to see a person stepping it out, the only sign of life I see for the next couple of hours.

But it’s Mt Cook that steals the scene and I can’t stop clicking especially when the clouds suddenly streak out from behind it.

I have the whole place to myself which is surprising, considering the amount of people back in the camp and the fact that it’s now approaching 7am on what is going to be a beautiful day. I sit there in the peace & quiet contemplating this magical place and soaking up the atmosphere and the cool mountain air. I’m also thinking about the climber that has been reported missing on Mt Cook a couple of days beforehand, he’s up there somewhere. And sadly his body was found a day or so later. Another life taken by a mountain that draws the adventurous in.

I set my tripod up to take a selfie….well you can’t visit Mt Cook for the very first time and not record the event can you? And sit there for another half an hour or so. I still can’t believe I have the place to myself or understand why nobody has arrived, I thought they’d at least be a photographer or two to catch the sunrise.

Finally after a couple hours by myself I head back down to camp and as I round a corner I spot two people coming up the track towards me…can you see them? On the far right.

I turn around after they have passed me and zoom in to take a shot of them approaching the top of the track and the view of Mt Cook.

Further down, the view opens up and the morning sun is already warming the Hermitage Hotel up across the valley.

The only other people I see before I get back home is this lovely couple who have only made it a short distance up the track before they’ve had to take a break. They are thinking of not continuing on but I encourage them to take it slowly and rest often, because there’s no way they’d want to miss the fantastic views at the other end. They chuckle and kid each other and want me to take a photo of them on their camera, which I do. Then I say goodbye and carry on, looking back just before I disappear around a bend to see that they’re still sitting there on the rock waving and laughing at me!