After more than two-hour trek though ice and snow we decided to take a user friendly explore of Franz Josef the next day. We opted for more flight time and less on the ground exploration.
The Franz Josef Glacier is right next to Fox - about 17 miles South. It was named after Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast in 1865. On our way from Karamea to Fox we traveled over the Haast Pass:
Flying was a great decision because we could view from the air both Fox from yesterday plus Franz Joseph which is right next to it as well as the Tasman range. This flight gave a us a deeper sense of the Southern Alpine range approaching from the West.
Landing was easy and there we were two thirds up on Franz Josef walking in nice soft snow not ice...
