We arrived at Fox Glacier around mid-afternoon, and after making arrangements for our glacier "Heli-hike" we had some dinner. We were pretty tired from the trip, having done some canoeing and kayaking during stops along the way from Greymouth to Fox Glacier, and originally planned to get some sleep and be ready for the next day's hiking. As we walked back to our hotel, the sun was starting to get low, and the skies were clear, and I thought perhaps I should do a sunset shoot at Lake Mattheson. Realizing that there was no assurance that the skies would be clear the following evening, I decided to give it a try. It was just a few minutes down the road, and I arrived perhaps 30 minutes before sunset.

What I didn't realize was that there was at least a 20-40 minute hike to get to the various view areas. So I geared up as quick as I could, and started hiking down the trail as fast as I could. I came across the scene above about 15 minutes in, and stopped for about 30 seconds to take a couple of shots, and resumed the hike to get to one of the more famous shooting areas. I got there in time to see the last remnants of sunlight on the mountain tops, but probably a good 30 minutes past the prime shooting time. And not surprisingly, sunset the next day was completely clouded over, so I'm glad I took the hike and at least got a few images of this beautiful location.