Mt Hopeless from the south is a moving spectacle, literally. The huge glacier that once occupied this basin has retreated to small patches of ice, leaving exposed vertical rock strata which were laid down in the seas around Gondawana 200 Myr ago. They don't take kindly to being shoved 2 km into the air and subjected to freeze-thaw. They show their displeasure by falling apart before your eyes, and under your feet, forming the most unstable boulder fields I have encountered. I have the shins, knees and plasters to prove it. Superb scenery from a purely human point of view, however!
The track up-valley, damaged from recent floods.Last week about 120ml of rain fell overnight and there was plenty of flood debris showing that the river had reached a staggering height above normal flow.
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Across the boulders to the Glacier remnantsThe shattered and split nature of the glaciers amazed us, and we decided to try and cross the boulder fields and cliffs to get a closer look. We will try to find some old photos and chart their demise.
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