Sealy Tarns is a small flat area with two small tarns halfway up the northern slopes of the

Sealy Range Sealy may refer to: Places * Sealy Tarns, New Zealand * Sealy Township, Logan County, North Dakota * Sealy, Texas ** Sealy High School ** Sealy Independent School District Other uses * Sealy (surname), a surname (including a list of people ...

, New Zealand. It is accessible from the Hooker Valley and

Mount Cook Village Aoraki / Mount Cook, often referred to as Mount Cook Village, is located within New Zealand's Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park at the end of , only south of the summit of the country's highest mountain, also called Aoraki/Mount Cook, in the So ...

via a tramping track maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The track climbs steeply from about to via many switchbacks and over 2,200 steps built of large timber anchored into the ground. The track was established during the 1980s, and upgraded in 2012. The distance for a return trek from Hooker Valley Road to Sealy Tarns is 5.8 km (3.6 miles). The Sealy Tarns area marks the end of the well-maintained track, with a popular tramping route that continues to climb to Mueller Hut. The area features two small

tarns A tarn (or corrie loch) is a proglacial mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. Etymology The word is derived from the Old Norse word ''tjörn'' ("a small mount ...

(hence its name), an area suitable for

tobogganing A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill ...

on the side of the ridge, and an excellent view of The Footstool,

Aoraki / Mount Cook Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...

, both Hooker and

Mueller Glacier The Mueller Glacier is a long glacier flowing through Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies to the west of Mount Cook Village within the Southern Alps, flowing roughly north-west from its névé near Mo ...

s and their respective

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ...

s, and

Panoramic overview

This stitched panorama was taken in the Winter of 2007 in the afternoon. From left-to-right the notable features are: * The route further up the ridge to Mueller Hut * A snow-covered area with toboggan tracks * Two DOC signs indicating the tarns area with the tarns themselves snow-covered in the background * The Footstool * In center of frame, top-to-bottom: **

** Terminal face and glacial lake of Hooker Glacier ** Terminal face and glacial lake of the Mueller Glacier (compare to a photo from 2016 to see the retreat of the glacier) * The wide flat-bottomed Hooker Valley (the village itself is hidden behind the ridge on the right)

References

Lakes of Canterbury, New Zealand Plateaus of New Zealand Glacial lakes {{CanterburyNZ-geo-stub