The Cookie Monster

All of the bosses headed out of town to a conference (my poster won an award at the conference, btw ;).  So, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to take a weekend excursion.  Inspired by pictures from one of my friends, I decided that I had to get to Mt Cook (Aoraki) while there was snow everywhere.  There's something about the contrast of the mountains with the white of the snow that makes the scenery so appealing.  The drive to Mt Cook was stunning.  

When I arrived, I noticed that the usual roadway to the trail I was planning to use was blocked due to snow.  Luckily, I found another access point to the trail and away I went.  Originally, I had hoped to take the trail the following day, but the weather was forecasting an Antarctic blast.  The views turned out to be absolutely beautiful.  The trail was easy to walk on as well, since the snow had packed all of the brush down.  I got up to a decent viewpoint of Mt Cook near the Sealy Tarns and decided that I better get back to the car before sunset.  I glacaded (slid) down the mountainside, which was loads of fun.... until it was time to stop.  At that point I got snow in everything and froze my hands when I tried to slow myself down.