Day 91 Mount Cook

Today ( December 30, 2010) we hiked to Hooker Lake and Hooker Glacier. It was another glorious day as the sun was shining which gave us a good look at Mount Cook.  As with Mount McKinley in Alaska only about 20 per cent of the people get a clear look at the mountain.  It is usually cloud covered or at the very least a good portion of it covered.

The Hooker Lake hike was much flatter that most of the hiking we have done but it did give us challenges with the terrain.  There was a lot of rocks which made you pay attention to where you were stepping.  Kathy calls them joint hurting rocks.  The wind was also pretty forceful.  It wasn't a cold wind except when we were close to the glacier but it made talking a little difficult.   

The scenery, however, was spectacular.  When we first saw Mount Cook we were looking at the South and Southeast side of the mountain.  This view only gave us the top half of the mountain as Mount Wakefield is in front of it. When looking at the mountain from a distance it appears that Mount Wakefield is part of Mount Cook.  The hike had us going around Mount Wakefield in order to get a look at the glacier and the bottom half of the mountain.  As the hike progressed we were able to see more and more of the mountain. It also gave us a different look as we were looking at the South and Southwest side.  We were also privileged to see a number of  glaciers, cascading waterfalls, ice floes and The Mountain.

The Hike: 

The Scenery:



Hooker Glacier



 

Hooker Lake with large Ice Floe



The Mountain:

The entire hike was a little over 4 hours and it tired us out pretty good. Fortunately the wind was at our backs on the return trip.  We did take time to stop and view The Alpine Memorial, a monument dedicated to people who had lost their lives in Mount Cook. 

Alpine Monument

Once we had paid our respect we headed back to the campsite and settled in for the night.  It was a very rewarding day.