After a freezing night of sleeping in my car, I was onto another freezing activity: checking out some glaciers.
Sadly, because of global warming they’ve been receding at an insane rate. The only way to actually get on them is to helicopter and I wasn’t coughing up the funds for that. Instead I was planning to do a few short walks around them.
The Franz Josef valley was pretty insane looking. Clouds had descended (shockingly) and were creating a very moody setting. The main track was really easy; navigating the people was the hardest part. A ton of tourists. And as a fun note, I saw a woman wearing suede heals on the path. Clever choice. I see you, girl.
I think the closest you could get was 750m, so that was a bit underwhelming. I found the surroundings to be the coolest part. There was a good number of rocky peaks and waterfalls streaming off the side of the nearby mountains. Plus with a low cloud ceiling, it felt like I was in Jurassic Park.
I took my time walking back. Fox Glacier was only about a half hour down the road so there was no hurry. I later found out that the road to access that glacier was closed due to a landslide anyway. I guess once you’ve seen one glacier from afar you’ve seen them all? I was ok moving on.
Next on my agenda was hiking the Copland Track. It was a 2-day out and back of moderate difficulty. The main attractions were natural hot pools near the hut and swing bridges. It was also on my way south, so that didn’t hurt either.
I found a cheap place with a shower and kitchen so I could sort out my supplies and get clean. I repacked my bag for the two days, got all of my food made and turned in so I could get an early start.
In the morning, it was a quick drive to the start of the track. The parking lot was pretty full which was surprising. I found that all 31 spots at the hut were full the previous night. Kind of unheard of on a non-great walk track, though a good sign that this one was worth the effort.
I saw two guys getting started as I parked and gathered my stuff.
Basically right at the beginning of the walk you come upon large stream. Normally it’s probably not that high, but because of all the rain it was definitely an obstacle.
Similar to the Awaroa Inlet from Abel Tasman, there were several areas of water that were about ankle-deep and 10-15 feet wide. There were some spots where you could get about halfway across before getting stuck.
I stood there for 15 minutes like an idiot, getting bitten by sandflies, trying to figure out what the best plan of attack was. I tried moving some rocks around to make my own path. That wasn’t really doing the trick.
Two other hikers came along and briefly debated also. One guy, some super intense Dutch guy who had gaiters on, more or less waded across immediately. The other person took their shoes off and rolled up their pants.
Bleh. I didn’t want to get my feet wet so early but that was the only viable solution. The water was frigid and rocks sharp. Apparently I only walk on pillows because the bottoms of my feet are not tough. That mess hurt.
I made it across eventually and got my shoes and socks back on. I walked solo for about three hours. The scenery was kind of sweet; there was a nice variety. Eroding cliffs, calm clearings, several other stream crossings and rock hopping along a powerful river.
A little over halfway I reached a paddock where two other hikers had stopped for lunch. I set up shop there as well. The sun was out which was a new experience. It was a perfect spot to recharge the batteries for the rest of the walk.
Those two guys ventured on while I finished my food and relaxation. As I was getting back on the path I met up with the person I crossed the first stream with, Morgan from Reunion Island. We walked the rest of the way together and chatted.
We also got to share the experience of the two gnarly swing bridges. I mean, we had to go one at a time, but it was pretty insane.
The second half of the day was much more demanding walking. Steeper and more important where you were putting your foot. Then out of nowhere we arrived at the hut. It was in a serene valley looking right at the southern alps. Absolutely awesome spot. The best part is that it was only 3:30pm so we had plenty of time to take a load off.
We sat down inside with the two guys from the lunch paddock, a Kiwi named Paul and a French-Canadian named Keran. After a snack, we all went to have a soak in the natural hot pools that were 100m away.
Epic. Our very own geothermal jacuzzi. Amazing for the muscles. I stepped in one of the tributaries leading into the pools and nearly burnt my foot off. Two of the three pools were maybe a little too hot, which is saying something. They were all really shallow so you had to kind of get horizontal and comfortable with the weird muddy bottom. Also submerging as much of your body as possible helped keep the sandflies away. But you couldn’t dunk your head under for fear of amoebic meningitis. Unfamiliar with what that is but not interested in finding out.
The four of us sat for a while and chatted. It was incredible to relax in that setting with that view. A few groups came and went as we stayed there pruning up hardcore.
We got back inside for our “safety talk” by the hut warden, whose barn burner of an opener was, “Welcome to Welcome Flat Hut.” After that, everybody pretty much just sat around and chatted for a while before going to bed early. The majority of the huts along the walks aren’t powered, so once it gets dark there’s not much going on.
The night sky was great but I couldn’t be bothered to deal with taking a long exposure. I should have. The image will stay in my brain for a little while longer at least.
In the morning, our impromptu group agreed to walk down together. We got a bit of a late start after they took another dip in the hot pools and I snagged some photos.
We were crushing the return journey even though it was a complicated descent at times. By hour four of our breakneck pace my left knee was in forfeit mode. I started falling behind even though we didn’t have all that much left.
I hobbled back across the creek and to the finish line as the rain began again.
Overall, it was probably the best hiking experience I’ve had in New Zealand. The hut was picturesque and having the hot pools right there was unbeatable. I’ve since invested in walking poles to hopefully alleviate some of the burden on my ancient leg hinges. We’ll see if they help. Please.
