Fox Glacier

The Makarora valley at the outset of the tramp to Gillespie Pass
The ascent up to Gillespie Pass (this is the actual angle of the climb)

View from Gillespie Pass on the top of the mountains, though it was difficult to photograph

Relaxing in the Siberia Valley

Simon and Matthew crossing the Wilkin

View of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook (left to right) from 6km outside Fox Glacier, about 7pm, 3 hours before the rain

Aftermath

My first night here on the wet - er, west - coast gave me a true taste of the weather here in the far west. The people at the hostel here said that between 120 and 200 mm of rain fell in the area last night. That's approximately 5-8 inches! I wasn't able to get a room here last night because they were booked, so I had to set up my tent and by this morning there was a river running through it. I didn't get much sleep either as the wind was strong and I kept accidentally turning over and landing my butt in one of the big puddles that surrounded me. I'm beginning to wonder about how the waterproofing on the tent is holding up, but I also suspect that no tent could have fully withstood that much rain. Everything is soaked and I took down the tent in the rain this morning so that I could start drying it inside. Fortunately I was able to put my clothes inside my pack liner so they kept dry. The rain is forecasted to continue for the next few days, but the heaviest falls were supposed to be last night (lucky me). The worst of it is that I discovered they indeed had rooms last night because of some cancellations in the evening. The people at the hostel were nice enough to put my sleeping bag in the dryer though :)

I've more or less given up on the idea of walking over to the glacier today and think instead I'll sit inside and read and watch my things dry out. I have a room for tonight, but at this point it doesn't matter too much!

The amount of rain that fell was actually a bit surprising because at 7pm last night the sky seemed to be clearing and it was a very pleasant evening. I walked 6k to Lake Matheson which is supposed to show reflections of Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak, but there was a bit too much breeze to see anything. I did, however, get some very nice views of the mountain a bit later as the clouds around the peak cleared. I met a nice older couple from the North Island there and we chatted a bit. They said they were really catching up with the times because they had just bought a microwave! The man also used to play clarinet and saxophone in a big band, and said they used to call the clarinet the licorice stick :)

-Brian