07-26/12/2012 - photos
Participants: Tom Brennan, Rachel Grindlay
Tongariro NP
Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu
Ngauruhoe with its head in the clouds
Tongariro and Ngauruhoe
Tongariro "Crossing" - climbing Tongariro and Ngauruhoe
Ruapehu
Taranaki from 150km away!
Setting off first thing in the morning - we were the second party on the track from the car park
Rachel approaching Mangatepopo Saddle
At the saddle
Ngauruhoe
Crossing the massive expanse of the South Crater
South Crater and Ngauruhoe
Rachel and Tom
Looking back to Mangatepopo Saddle, South Crater and Ngauruhoe
Ngauruhoe
Alpine Buttercup (Ranunculus sp)
Blue Lake, in the volcanic flying rock zone
Ridges
South Crater and Ngauruhoe
Rachel at the summit of Tongariro
Tom and Rachel at the Tongariro Summit, with Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu in the background
Out of the wind at the summit
Summitters on the approach ridge
Mt Doom!
Tom at morning tea
Climbers are little specks on the face of Ngauruhoe
Red Crater
Rachel descending to the Emerald Lakes, leaving the hordes at the top of the hill behind
Emerald Lakes
Walkers on the ridge leading to the Emerald Lakes
Oh crap! I'm in the Volcanic Flying Rock Zone!
South Crater and Tongariro
Rachel setting off up Ngauruhoe, a very loose scree climb
Just waiting for all the rocks to come tumbling down!
Rachel at the Ngauruhoe crater, Ruapehu in the background
Ngauruhoe crater
Circumnavigating the crater
However, the crater is not the real summit, so we go "tobottoming" down the snow patch to gain the next ridge...
...and climb up to the real summit, which hardly anyone goes to. Ruapehu and the Tama Lakes in the background
Rachel on the summit of Ngauruhoe
Near the summit are numerous volcanic vents emitting steam that you walk through
Rachel descending the long long scree ski slope
Cliffs on the track in the upper Mangatepopo Valley
Soda Springs, below Tongariro
Mangatepopo Valley