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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 1 (May 1, 1929)

Sublime Views from the Bivouac

Sublime Views from the Bivouac.

Having safely negotiated this truly awe-inspiring junction of the tributary with the main ice-stream, not without a very pronounced feeling of thankfulness, we then did the wholly stiff climb of from 800 to 1,000 feet up the so-called “grassy slope” to the Almer bivouac, amid the snowfields above.

From this height, close upon 6,000 feet above sea level, situated in the bosom of the Alps, we enjoyed our evening meal, watching the glorious sunset with its gorgeous effects—looking up, across, and down the Great Ice-Falls of the Franz Josef, bulging and falling abruptly over 1,000 feet between enormous and page 54 dark frowning precipices on either side, the huge pinnacles now transformed against the sun's rays into an almost transparent blue; gazing intently, but now wholly unperturbed, at the dreaded Almer Glacier below, and upwards at the big snowfields that give it perpetual life; looking down, far down, at Defiance Hut and still further down into the depths of the forest below, out on to the narrow plain through which the ice-cold waters of the Waiho River spread, out to the coast line with the waves breaking on the shore, and far out into the Tasman Sea which melted into the horizon; surveying the bold masses of Mt. Moltke and Roon (7,344 feet), and their snowfields; turning round and viewing the wholly picturesque Croz, Blumenthal and Melchior Glaciers tumbling into “The Franz,” and obtaining glimpses of the immense snowfields above. …. The only objects to divert our attention while we endeavoured to memorise these wonders of the Alps were the ever-engaging keas which gathered around. … In the silence, broken now and then by the cries of the keas and the occasional roar of tumbling pinnacles and cascading ice, one echoed the hope:—

Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Luke, 24, 29.

The sun, now a huge blazing disc, dipped down rapidly behind the mighty bulk of Room; the lights changed from gold and amber to pink, and then paled into silver; the shades of night fell down fast upon us. So we turned in, our slumbers broken only by the noise of the friendly keas as they cluttered up and down the roof, and by the tumbling of the ice on the glaciers which completely encircled us.

Early Morning Scene From Almer Bivouac. (Govt. Publicity Photo.) An unforgetable view taken from just above the Almer Bivouac (in the foreground), at an elevation of close upon 6,000 feet, showing: (1) The Franz Josef Glacier flowing down towards the sea; (2) On the left the lower peaks of the Kaiser Fritz Range comprising the snowfields of Mt. Moltke, Tower Saddle, Lemner Peak, Ebenezer Peak, and Alec's Knob; (3) The glacier-fed Waiho River finding its way to the open sea, about fifteen miles distant from the photographer; and (4) To the right, portion of the Baird Range and the Almer Glacier joining the “Franz,” about 1,000 feet below the camera. Cape Defiance, at the foot of which the hut is situated, is seen directly over the man's head, only it is 3,000 feet below.

Early Morning Scene From Almer Bivouac.
(Govt. Publicity Photo.)
An unforgetable view taken from just above the Almer Bivouac (in the foreground), at an elevation of close upon 6,000 feet, showing: (1) The Franz Josef Glacier flowing down towards the sea; (2) On the left the lower peaks of the Kaiser Fritz Range comprising the snowfields of Mt. Moltke, Tower Saddle, Lemner Peak, Ebenezer Peak, and Alec's Knob; (3) The glacier-fed Waiho River finding its way to the open sea, about fifteen miles distant from the photographer; and (4) To the right, portion of the Baird Range and the Almer Glacier joining the “Franz,” about 1,000 feet below the camera. Cape Defiance, at the foot of which the hut is situated, is seen directly over the man's head, only it is 3,000 feet below.