So we woke up to quite a spectacle... but the night had been a little more intense. There was lightning within a half mile, audible rockfall and all sorts of rain and snow. But our little cave we found was nice and cozy. I got the dry spot, but had to sit my feet on my ice axe to keep from sliding down the slope in my sleeping bag. I carabinered my bag and pack together with my axe. All went well, but things could have gone farewell instead.
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| Henry bein' a badass... in his sleeping bag |
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| Follow the highest point down the ridge to the left. That little notch is our cave! Nice dusting of fresh snow above ~1500m |
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| Downclimbing a mini waterfall, no ice, but the grass sufficed. We got good at walking steep, slippery grass in crampons. Nobody fell! |
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| Made it down! And of course, on the most challenging day of climbing in NZ, I had to wear the silliest outfit. My friend Matt is in charge of Quiyk and I was lucky enough to get a free snitch uniform he made from the world cup last year. So we did a little photoshoot throughout the day. It also made a slightly dire night before a lot funnier. |
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| Bobby.. |
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| Henry |
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| Upper section of the Hooker Glacier Cook to the right, La Perouse, Mt Low, Mt Jellicoe in the background |
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| Cook again. There was almost always that plume of snow blowing off the top. Being the tallest thing for 2000 miles (it's down in Antarctica! See the isolation section of peakbagger's Mt Cook info) there's always wind up high. Makes for gorgeous sunsets |
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| Of course that gravelly valley is a glacier again.. amazing. I'm guessing those cliffs were a solid 100' tall. The ripples from ice falling moved really slow. |
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| Farewell Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park! This was the last time I got to visit. Easily my favorite region I visited in New Zealand. I had about a week of magical days down there over the semester. If ever you go to New Zealand, VISIT. |
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| Lake Tekapo from town. My feet hurt but it was sad to be leaving the Southern Alps. I kinda knew that I wouldn't get to visit again with finals looming. |
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