Alex Knob Track
Type: Out and Back
Time Spent: 8 hours
Distance: 15.2 km (9.5 miles)
Elevation change: 1081 meters (approximately 3546 feet)
This is a gorgeous day hike to see massive Franz Joseph glacier. It was lucky for us to have a sunny day on the West coast, where it has a lot of rain. We started around at 8:30 a.m. Alex Knob Track is a continuous climb all the way to the top, but it is very gradual, so not so difficult. First part is a rain forest. On the half way to the top, there is a glacier viewpoint, Christmas Lookout. This point has a fantastic view. We looked at the glacier during Christmas season from Christmas Lookout. This is very good, so if 15.2 km is too much for you, it is a good plan to come just for Christmas Lookout. Indeed we saw a couple who came to this point and went back.
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| Franz Joseph glacier from Christmas Lookout |
How wonderful it was! The picture above is the view from the lookout. Glacier is still huge and it is nice to see the heavy glacier was pushed down on the slope of mountains. Blue glacier is beautiful. It is very distinctive blue. This kind of blue can't be seen anywhere else except for glacier. Cool.
Then more climb continues to the top. At the top the glacier was still seen, but the top portion was covered by clouds. One lady was already up there when we reached and she was telling to other people that she had been there for 2 hours with hoping the clouds go away. This is my hypothesis, but maybe top is above the clouds, so it was hard to see the top compared to the Christmas lookout where you can see the top from a little lower point.
Anyway some moment clouds were blown away and glacier was revealed. It was cool. We enjoyed being there for about 2 hours then went back.
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| Tasman Sea |
Another bonus if you continue climbing up from Christmas Lookout is Tasman Sea view. Vast green area and the blue ocean. AND blue sky. Gorgeous. The shadow of clouds were on the meadow and it was nice to stare at them moving. I wish I could live and stare at the view all day.On the way back I stepped on a slippery log and slipped. I hit my butt. It was so painful and couldn't get up for a couple of minutes. Grrr. This caused very big bruise on my butt which lasted for the next 3 weeks. Mr.N took the picture of bruise on my butt, but I limit myself from posting the picture here.
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| Glacier Walk |
Then we went for a short walk at the bottom of Franz Joseph glacier in the evening. Since it is light until 9 p.m., you can do a short hike after 6 p.m. It is great. In this walk, the whole glacier can't be seen, but huge moraine can be seen. It is vast and amazing.
This night we camped at DOC camping site. Due to road closure in the West, nobody was camping there. The whole campground was ours. It was peaceful and nice. The beautiful lake was along the campground and we ate dinner by the lake. It was a private lake! Lucky us.
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