FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER (Day 60 - part 1)

The night was quiet but the morning was ridiculous, with people banging the walls and stomping through the hallways.

We had booked an afternoon tour of the glacier via helicopter, but since the weather was nice, we thought we'd walk up and have a look at it first. We were the first ones to arrive and the sun hadn't entered the deep valley yet.

We first walked along a path lined with dense bush, which suddenly opened up to a giant barren valley. According to the signs, the glacier had extended almost to the parking lot in 1867, and most of the forest we had just walked through was new since then.


Updates were apparently given daily at 10:00 am, so this was still yesterday's report.


This photo gives a sense of scale, and also how far the glacier has retreated (with the "you are here" being close to where the glacier had extended to).


Leaving the forest

We made our way across the expansive rocky terrain, following the path marked by yellow-tipped posts. Helicopter noise echoed throughout the valley as the morning flights began, either dropping people off to hike or to just give an areal tour.


Following the markers


Feeling like the middle of nowhere


Waterfalls streamed from the hills.


There was a very clear line where the forest had started to grow back...


... starting first with the mosses and algaes...


... then extending to the small plants. If the glacier doesn't reclaim this land, this too will one day be dense forest again.


Getting closer...


... almost there, looking back down at the path we just climbed.


An ice bridge

We reached the viewing point and then could go no further, for safety reasons. The area was roped off and signs were posted containing newspaper articles of past tragedies. Soon after, a ranger appeared and radioed back his 10:00 am report of the valley conditions.


Presenting... Franz Josef glacier


Given all the dirt, it was sometimes hard to tell what was ice and what was rock.


A helicopter flies in low to drop off another set of hikers.


The ranger makes his call.

We spoke with the ranger briefly and he pointed out that the ice bridge that we saw on the way up would probably be gone in a couple days. We decided that made it somewhat of a short-lived celebrity and therefore had to have our pictures taken with it.


Our brush with fame

Slowly the sun began to creep into the valley, changing the color of everything.


The murky grey color of the water is caused by 'rock flour' (fine rock particles ground away by the glacier as it flows).


Ice lined the shores.


The river is prone to dramatic floods when large pieces of ice collapse at the glacier face.


Ice or rock??


Numerous rainbows danced in the falls.


A view back toward the glacier, with the valley now bathed in the morning light.

The parking lot was quite crowded when we returned and people vultured for our spot. We left quickly and headed back to town. Mist rising from the water flowed over the road.


Mist frequently occurs here when the cold glacier water meets warm moist air.

Again, the cafes were very expensive or didn't have any vegetarian options. We ended up making peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches back at the hostel.

Soon it was time for our helicopter flight. We had signed up to do a tour with Franz Josef Glacier Guides. It was one of the tours that gave the most time on the ice (around 3 hours). We signed in, paid, were given color-coded wrist bands, and then were told to fill in a form at the center kiosk (next of kin kind of thing). We then loitered around as other groups gathered and then left. At some point, it was well past our scheduled tour time.


There are apparently many glaciers in the area. This map of helicopter fights gives a good overview. The green lines represent Franz Josef (left) and Fox (right).

Eventually Ben arrived and gathered a bunch of us loiterers with matching wrist bands together. We followed him to a back room where we were given waterproof pants, warm socks, boots, mittens, hat and a jacket. The first set of boots were much to large for me (they have their own sizes so just had to guess based on US or European sizes). The second set were much better but still a tad large, but most of the boots in that size range were gone, so I was ok with it.

We were given crampons to match our boots and a small bag to put everything in that we wanted to take (such as water, camera etc). We walked down the street a short ways to the helicopter pad. We were definitely leaving late but hopefully it wouldn't cut into our time on the ice.

There were 10 in our group, but the helicopter could only hold 6 people at a time. We were in the first set to fly up to the glacier. We climbed aboard and put on some thick headphones through which we could hear the pilot giving instructions. We fastened our seat belts and got ready for the ride.


Ben herds us toward the waiting helicopter.

We took off and headed toward the glacier, passing close to the mountainside and following the large glacier valley up. The helicopter would do slight drops in the air, as if it were a boat going over small waves. We descended quickly and were escorted rapidly off the helicopter, which then loaded up with a group whose tour had just ended and then left to fetch the rest of our group.


Approaching the glacier


This is where we'll be landing (these are people).


Getting off the helicopter

There were lots of other groups on the glacier, many doing a different length of tour. While waiting for the rest of our group to arrive, Ben had us put on our crampons, showing us which was the right or left (the strap goes on the outside of your foot) and how to crisscross back and forth and finally tie it off.


One done, one to go.

Once the rest of the group had arrived and everyone had their appropriate footwear on, Ben and Jeff (another guide who had helped us off the helicopter) talked to us a bit about the glacier.

Most importantly... why can't we just walk up? Apparently the lower part of this glacier is too unstable and therefore highly dangerous. And why is it blue? This has to do with the shorter wavelengths of light being absorbed by the top ice (making it look white) while the longer blue waves can penetrate deeper, giving it that incredible color that glaciers have.


That distinctive blue color

He then talked about the different sections of the glacier: the top part of this ice fall (with the jagged peaks) is actually flowing quite quickly in comparison to this middle section. This part is slow but then flows quickly again toward the bottom. This causes for all sorts of interesting formations (and problems). Most of these, such as the ice caves, don't last very long. Things are always melting, moving and changing. The guides have to find new routes on the ice almost daily.


Deep holes and crevaces were some of the many dangers.

Ben pointed out the vegetation line. This is where the glacier used to come up to. Along with receding in length, it has also receded in height.


An indication of where the glacier used to be


Ready for the adventure!

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