Days 4 and 5
As quickly as the wind had come, it went. As we climbed up to Summit Lake, we passed Thor Peak, a rock that soars 1,500 metres up out of the valley floor. Glacial action has carved out this, the longest uninterrupted cliff face in the world, over a kilometre in length. Wow!
This led us to our next little challenge - 'the waterfalls' - ever walked up frozen rapids? Tricky at the best of times, but pulling sledges without spiked boots? Now that's what I call fun!
Having passed Summit Cabin (in which we stayed on night four - four of us slept with the fifth a little disturbed by the sound-box effect of the hut on the other four rutting warthogs snoring peacefully around him) the valley opens up to reveal Summit Lake and Glacier Lake, with massive glaciers forming the valley sides. As the sun shifts, hanging glaciers capture the light and glow bright ice-blue. I have never seen anything like it - quite stunning and quite beautiful. Words cannot describe it - the pictures do it better but to really appreciate it you need to be there.
It really looked like the lost valley - something out of prehistoric times. So unlike anything else, we all expected pterodactyls to sweep down and carry us away! As we crossed the Lakes, for a short while we were walking in just our thermal base layer - no, I'm not joking!
Then on to Turner Glacier and Mount Asgard - the weirdest mountain I've ever seen, a cylindrical tower with a flat, snow-capped top. This mountain has been the goal of accomplished climbers from around the world. Sadly, we did not have the right equipment to cater for the snow-covered glacier. So we moseyed on by, determined to visit next time.