Glaciers Banned Hiking

Taken inside the Fox Glacier, South Island, New Zealand on April 16th, 2012 Glacierology 101:

A moulin is a hole carved through a glacier by meltwater. Sometimes a moulin will grow until it becomes a cave in the ice, much like a blue slot canyon. And then, abruptly, the feeder stream will change course, allowing the cave to dry out and stabilize. Then it can be safe to venture into the cave and explore, which is exactly what I did on the Fox Glacier in New Zealand. Walking into the depths of the cave I watched as every color except blue was leached out of the light until eventually everything glowed with an internal cyan aura. This seven-kilometer esker, or sand ridge, was formed during the Ice Age and has been an important trade route in eastern Finland for millennia. Calm lakes lie on either side and tall pines provide shade for moss, toadstools and blueberries -- easy to see how fairy tales are born. You expect a frog with a crown to hop off the nearest giant mushroom, or a mystical hand to reach out of the lake. Take a train from Helsinki to Punkaharju or drive the 350 kilometers northeast of Helsinki. www.outdoors.fi

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