Fox Glacier up close

While exploring Fox Glacier, I got up close and personal by using the 18x zoom on my Panasonic Lumix camera. Don’t you think my advanced point and shoot camera did a fine job of caputring the blue colors of the glacier, including those pointy tips of ice? Alan and I visited Franz Josef and Fox Glacier on a guided road trip down the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island with Robert Panzer of Tailored Travel.

Although the Fox Glacier Valley Walk is an easy hike, the path is much steeper than the approach to Franz Joseph. The trail travels along a low ridge, which hugs a riverbed that’s littered with boulders from the glacier’s retreat. Unfortunately, since the ice takes a sharp dogleg to the right, the upper reaches of Fox Glacier are difficult to see.

Perhaps it was the v-shaped valley or the low coulds, but we really felt the cold during our visit in New Zealand’s late spring season. Alan and I didn’t let that stops us from photographing away when the trail ended directly in front of the glacier’s terminus. By the time we finished the photo session, our hands were red and cold but the photographs we captured made the frigid journey worth it.

Have you visited Fox Glacier? Post a comment to share your experience. Next time, Alan and I want to take a glacier climbing tour.

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