New Hooker Magnets

I've got the Blues.

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HOOKER LAKE - New Zealand, Aoraki - Mount Cook National Park.

Hooker Lake

Hooker Valley - Glacier valley in New Zealand during rainfall

Along the trail from Mt Cook Alpine Village to the Hooker Glacier. Aoraki/Mt Cook in the background. South Island, New Zealand. August 22, 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 200, f/11, 1/500 sec, 23 mm

Mount Cook framed

This is along the incredibly scenic trail from Aoraki/Mt Cook Village in New Zealand towards the Hooker Lake and Glacier at the foot of Aoraki/Mt Cook. To get a brilliant day like this in mid winter was sheer luck. 16 August, 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 200, f/11, 1/500 sec, 13 mm

Hooker Lake at the foot of Aoraki/Mt Cook in New Zealand. The ice was not quite thick enough to walk on. 16 August 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 200, f/11, 1/800 sec, 10 mm

Hooker Lake lies at the end of Hooker Valley track and is below Hooker Glacier at Aoraki/Mt Cook in New Zealand. There were numerous small icebergs in the lake in mid winter. August 16, 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 200, f/11, 1/800 sec, 84 mm

A relatively easy 5 km walk from The Hermitage at Aoraki/Mt Cook alpine village in New Zealand takes you to the glacial Hooker Lake. On this day it was overcast so no mountain tops were visible, but the ice covered lake was spectacular. This is a stitch of 5 photos and is 9000 pixels wide. 24 August, 2016 Canon G9X, f/9, 1/640 sec, Photoshop CC used for stitching.

The first of the three swing bridges along the Hooker Valley Trail in the South Island of New Zealand. 16 August, 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 100, 1/30 sec, 23 mm

Mt Sefton is one of the most photogenic mountains seen from the Hooker Valley Trail in New Zealand, South Island 12 September, 2017 Sony A6300, ISO 200, f/9, 1/1250 sec, 27 mm equiv. Converted to B&W using NIK plugin to Photoshop CC.

This memorial commemorates more than 100 climbers who have died in the New Zealand Aoraki/Mt Cook area in the past. It is a fitting reminder of the dangers of mountain climbing. This is one of many photos taken on our truly amazing 6 hour walk up the Hooker Valley from the Mt Cook centre to Hooker Lake and Glacier. That walk was for me about the most spectacular scenery that I have ever seen, outranking that of what I saw in Canada. The memorial is close to the start of the walk. The temperature may have been zero or below during the walk, but with the cloudless blue sky, we soon got very hot and had to strip off layers. 16 August, 2014 Canon EOS 550D, ISO 100, f/11, 1/250 sec, 123 mm

Mount Cook with its namesake lily blooming in front of it. These lilies only bloom in November and December, and when they do, the whole valley seems to be dotted with white and gold.

Taken from the second bridge along the Hooker Valley Trail. New Zealand September 12, 2017 Sony A6300, ISO 200, f/9, 1/1600 sec, 38 mm equiv.

The Hooker Valley track was absolutely worth the walk. This was one of the first epic lookouts we reached, just before the first swing bridge. Around every corner there seemed to be yet another amazing view!

Gorgeous wispy clouds floating high above Mount Cook and the Hooker Valley. The clouds here were crazy in the way they can only be in the mountains.

The Hooker River was definitely in a rush to get as far away as possible from Mount Cook, which stands imposing at the end of the Hooker Valley. For the first half of the Hooker Valley Track, Mount Cook was hidden behind the mountain to the right, but it finally came into view here and stood tall over us for the rest of our walk.

The Hooker Valley Track is one of the best half-day walks in New Zealand. Not only is it an easy, relatively even walk on a gravel path, but you get amazing views of the Southern Alps for your entire trip -- and that view constantly changes, sometimes including glacial lakes, other times including rushing river rapids, and most times including Mount Cook/Aoraki, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. Read more about my experience on the track at http://www.bootsandabackpack.com/how-the-hooker-valley-track-nearly-killed-my-dad/.