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Glacier Assault (pics)

The Target: Fox Glacier, in southern New Zealand

Note to self: when they start handing out rain gear for a hike, you're going to get wet

The foot of the glacier rises about 600 feet from the valley floor
Take a look at the people in the pic for a sense of scale

Sure this is a good idea?

Indiana Daniel

What's that weird color all over these rocks?
It's algae, which normally only grows in water, but this
place is so wet it just grows all over the place

The guide was informing us that if we kept moving,
the falling rocks would have a harder time hitting us
New Zealand does not have runaway lawsuits like the U.S., so
activities can be much more "interesting"

View from the top looking down the valley
70 years ago, the glacier extended to the end of this picture

Hey! This isn't so hard!

The conquering heroes

The basin, or neve, that feeds Fox Glacier is another 7 miles up the hill
At the top, they get about 40-50 feet of snow per year

This is one of only two places in the world where the rain forest meets the glacier meets the sea
This is also one of the last pictures my Nikon D-80 took
before it got so water-logged and frozen it wouldn't work any more
Finding my inner dork
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