Fox Glacier

Aerial view from my parents' trip c. 2002

location: Fox Glacier (Te Moeka o Tuawe in Maori) in the Southern Alps
distance: approximately 2.2 miles

description: we hadn't explicitly planned on visiting both Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, but after our experience at the first glacier, we decided to take the time to visit Fox and were rewarded for our decision. the glacier isn't easily seen from the parking lot, but the steep walls and numerous rock slides give the valley a more dramatic, rugged feel. the previous Fox carpark was buried by a rock slide several years previously and a new one constructed a bit farther up the valley.

whereas the path to Franz Josef was over the flat valley floor, the one to Fox glacier stuck more to the mountainside Fox River was historically more prone to flash flooding. additionally, rock slips are more frequent along the Fox trail as well; in several places we could see where new track had been cut after the old track had been buried. there were even several spots with dire warnings not to stop for several hundred meters -- including the last, steep climb up to the viewing area -- for rock slip danger. news articles posted on informational boards at both sites warned provided numerous examples - recent and historic - of fatal errors by tourists who didn't heed safety measures.

Ground-level view from our trip Nov 2014

the setting and dire warnings conspired to create a more impressive atmosphere at Fox. all the evidence of recent, unstable geologic activity, the glacier obscured by terrain until the top of the final climb, and the comparatively pristine terminal face make for a dramatic reveal.

because we arrived later at Fox, we didn't have the same marvelous solitude as at Franz Josef, but it there certainly weren't enough people to tarnish the experience - and a extra hands to take posed photos for us with the glacier in the background. we heard a fair few helicopters porting people up to visit the top of the glacier, as my parents did when they visited about a decade ago. it's hard to tell from their aerial photo where we stood on our visit, or determine how much glacier has been lost in the intervening years. our view from the ground up was definitely worth the extra stop after Franz Josef and extra huffing and puffing to see the glacier.