November 28th - Peter's Pool

Good Morning Franz Josef Glacier!

This place has some spectacular views whether from our tiny little cabin or while walking the Glacier Trails to see Franj Josef itself or to Peter's Pool!  In total we hiked/walked for 3 hours and it was beautiful.  The sand flies weren't too bad (bonus) and we couldn't have asked for a sunnier day.  

After breakfast we drove out to the Glacier Walk entrance by going over the Waiho River bridge (which also reminded me of Dante's Peak when it got washed away by volcanic ash and lava.)  We didn't take this picture but just to give you an idea, as the view of the bridge was similar if not exactly the same on the day we went. 

That's me.

About 90 minutes return; the Glacier walk was fairly flat but very rocky under our feet.  The first 15 minutes or so is through the forest but then opens up into this massive valley-like riverbed filled with rocks of all shapes and sizes, carved out and left behind by the Glacier.  Some of the rocks were the size of a car and other the size of a pea but all were shiny with either the look of wood or the look of metal.  Hard to explain.  I stole one for Chloe as I remember her to be a rock collector.  






 


There were many "warning" signs stating that the valley can be very hazardous with weather changes happening within minutes like river flooding and ice falling.  Didn't seem too hazardous to us but then we read on about how people have died by not heading the warnings and going off the marked path or getting too close to the Glacier.  So we followed the rules but I could tell Ryan was keen to to get a little closer than allowed.

If you look close enough you can see two groups of people on the Glacier.  We were only able to see them through Ryan's 300mm zoom lens. An even closer look at this pic we see that there are steps built into the ice leading to the top.  Somewhere in the middle a man is ice climbing. 

There were a few other walks to choose from and Peter's Pool sounded interesting to me.  Turned out to be my favorite sight so far.  As we started our journey into the forest we were surrounded by the constant sounds of birds chirping with the Tui always successfully out-singing all the others.  The Tui has a very distinct voice so we knew it was close by and soon we saw him with the beautiful blue hue with the white ruffles under the neck flying around.  Such a cool bird!  Anyway, back to Peter and his Pool.  

About 20 minutes into the forest, we came across a clearing to Peter's Pool.  Beautiful!  With a wooden bench to sit on, and a view of the Glacier across the pool, I could tell this was a place where I could easily lose track of time.  The weather was perfect as we could see the reflection of the Glacier on the water.  An elderly women was sitting on the bench admiring the view and attempting to take pictures with her iPad.  (iPad picture taking people crack me up!)  She made no sign of leaving her 'seat-with-a-view' any time soon as she settled in just staring and smiling.

Peter's Pool

Named after Peter Westland, a 9 year old boy who camped here with his mother in 1894; this "kettle" lake was formed around 200 years ago as a chunk of ice from the retreating Glacier melted.  I read that in another 100 years the lake may disappear as rushes and other plants take over the area.  Sad but pretty awesome!




Moving along the forest path through thick green lush ferns and tall trees, we hiked up and down steep hills to get to the Douglas Bridge about 20 minutes away from the pool. 







We crossed the suspension bridge only to find the trail closed on the other side due to mud slides.  So we stopped for a trail mix snack before heading back. 






Once again the Tui seemed to be following us with his song but if you got too close he would fly away.  The elusive Tui bird is a shy one for pictures.  But here is one I found on the web to show their awesome look.  


After our 3 hour hike we stopped into a local pub for a few beer and some snacks before heading back to our little cabin.  And this is what happened next.

All tuckered out!