Background: For the past year, I have been plotting a trip to the south island of New Zealand with three of those nearest and dearest to me who also happen to be climbers. February was go time. We climbed two peaks and fell 100 feet short of a third. This photo depicts our first base camp set up around the Mueller Hut and in front of the heavily glaciated face of Mt. Sefton.
Thoughts: Camping in front of an incredibly active glacier was a new sort of psychological challenge for me, especially since we were preparing to summit a neighboring peak. Mt. Sefton's face would crack, rumble, and fall at regular intervals all day every day. It was a vicious looking face and since it was high summer, crevasses were rearing their ugly heads. It was an incredible location for base camp, one in which we caught all the action and had an unbelievable view. However, for my sanity, I think it would be in my best interest, and therefore my climbing partners' best interest, for us to camp somewhere that is not within earshot of a glacier that is so active.
