All zinced-up and ready for the glacier
Crampon bags, check!
Climbing up the moraine
Late Thursday morning we hiked up the end of the glacial valley and onto Franz Josef glacier. The rocky valley floor is composed of flattened rubble that fills the valley 300 meters past the actual rock bottom of the valley. Waterfalls were spread at regular intervals along the valley's walls. After scrambling up the moraine we climbed onto the ice of the glacier. The ice beneath our boots was vividly blue in some places, the melting glacial water pooling up in pockets in the ice and streaming down the jagged chasms that split the ice. Sometimes the cracks in the ice were large enough for us to explore. The sun was shining brightly, making the ice of the glacier transparent. Franz Josef is only one of three temperate glaciers in the world, the icy mountain surrounded by temperate rainforest and waterfalls. 
After our tramp on the glacier we walked around Lake Matheson. On calm days its surface is supposed to be smooth enough to see the reflections of nearby mountains perfectly. Although there was just a little too much of a breeze on this day, it was still a beautiful walk. Ducks cut watery trails across its surface as smaller black and white birds fluttered their tails as they flitted through the air. The tree trunks lining the path were covered with moss, harekeke, and hanging vines. Some of the trees had a hanging flower adorning their uppermost branches, its bright red petals brightening the otherwise green forest. 
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