The hike is with a trained guide and you get all the materials you need to complete the hike before you go (i.e. big jacket, waterproof pants, gloves, boots, beanie). Before we got on the actual glacier we had to put on crampons, which are basically a collection of 2 inch spikes that fit to the bottom of your boots. It was amazing to be on a big sheet of ice and walk through huge ice tunnels. The weather the day we went was about 32 degrees and sleeting.. exactly the type of weather I'm trying to avoid in the US by coming on this trip.
The glacier rests on two major fault lines. Our tour guide told us that several hundred thousand years ago there was a massive earthquake when the faults shifted that registered as a 12 on the Richter Scale.
There is also a town right next to the glacier, fittingly called Franz Josef. The town is very small and we stayed there for two nights and it was a lot of fun. The hostel we stayed at was the only one in town and there were a few other tour groups staying there. There was a bar at the hostel that hosted a lot of fun games and stuff to do at night, it was a blast.
Right across the street were 3 outdoor hot pools. After our hike we went and jumped in the hot pools, which are in the middle of the rainforest. It felt so good after that hike.
Here are some pictures from the hike:
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| This was on our walk to the glacier. The crack in this mountain is from the spreading of the fault lines underneath |
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| Look at the little blue people behind me in the background |
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