Grounded from Heli-hike

Because of high winds at Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, we were not able to take the helicopter flight to Tasman Glacier for a hike with an experienced mountaineer and exploration of some ice caves. This was something we were really looking forward to, but weather is so unpredictable in the mountains, you just have to roll with the changes.

Instead, we spent some time touring the Edmund Hillary Center museum. Hillary was born in Auckland, and made his successful ascent of Everest as one of two Kiwis on the British expedition of 1953. He had climbed Mt. Cook and most of the New Zealand peaks before being invited to join the British expedition.

We were still able to view the Tasman Glacier by hiking up the moraine to an overlook of Lake Tasman, formed from the glacial melt. Just two weeks ago, a massive and historic calving event resulted in warehouse-sized icebergs clogging an area at least 1 square mile in area. From our high vantage point, it was hard to distinguish relative size, so we have included a photo from a news article.

While up there, Courtney related rather matter-of-factly that she and 3 others are the only ones to have kayaked down the Murchison river, and no one has done it since.

The afternoon blue skies afforded beautiful views of Mt. Cook and the surrounding mountains with their own glaciers.Read more