Where were you on the longest night of the year?
I was in a tent on the side of the highest mountain in the North Island! It was a long, gusty night, albeit surprisingly warm given that our tent was pitched on snow.
Our Camp
Dad and I travelled down to Mt. Ruapehu for an ice/snow climbing course last weekend. The weather was fine, although it was very windy on Saturday. We practiced pitch climbing and double roping on Saturday, and on Sunday we found a couple of frozen waterfalls and had a go at climbing those. I attempted ice-climbing, but the front points of my crampons wouldn't bite into the ice so I didn't get very far up. It is a bit unnerving hanging off your crampons and two ice tools which only penetrate 5mm into the ice! To add to the challenge, there was a snow-maker almost directly above the cliff so we were getting snowed on.
Climbing a frozen waterfallAlso played around with ice-screws and various anchors and crevasse rescue systems. The most interesting anchor was a V-thread. This is basically two holes connected in the ice in a V-shape, with a bit of cord threaded through. Surprisingly, this anchor is strong enough to abseil off! (we tried it)
Mt. Ngauruhoe (2287 m) from the track to Waihohonu Hut
After the conclusion of the course, Dad and I headed off to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit. We started tramping across towards the Tama Lakes at 3:30 pm. All the puddles and bogs were frozen, and long stalagmite-like ice crystals were growing out of the scoria. Two hours later, just as darkness was starting to fall, we found a decent campsite and pitched our tent.
Mt. Ruapehu from above Waihohonu Hut.
The prominent peak is Te Heu Heu (2732 m), Tahurangi (2797 m) is second to left.
There was no water near our camp, so the next day we had our porridge at Waihohonu Hut, which was only a couple of hours away. From Waihohonu the track goes through a couple of stands of native bush, where we saw a flock of Whitehead birds. After emerging from the bush, the track winds over an almost lunar landscape to Oturere Hut.
Oturere Hut
The last day was a long tramp back to Whakapapa. To start with it was over fairly flat snow and rocks, before the track started to climb steeply up to the Emerald Lakes. Near the top the snow became icy, so we halted to put on our crampons. From the lakes we left the track and climbed up the side of Central crater to the summit ridge of Tongariro. The terrain was a mixture of ice and soft snow, and a little bit of rock.
The larger of the Emerald Lakes
We summited Tongariro in time for lunch. Mt. Egmont was clear in the distance to the west, the Kaimanawa Ranges to the east, Lake Taupo to the north, and Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu to the South. After a brief rest we dropped down a ridge into the Mangatepopo Valley.
Mt. Tongariro (1967m) - the summit is the rocky knob on the left.
Once we reached the valley floor the exciting part of the trip was over, but we still had to trudge for another three hours back to Whakapapa. Eight hours and twenty minutes after leaving Oturere, we arrived back at the car. Our legs were stiff and tired, but we had immensely enjoyed the journey.
Cherrypie said...
That sounds exciting(and cold). Lovely photos.
June 24, 2009 at 7:15 PM
Matthew said...
I was in my nice warm bed on the longest night of the year.
Those are amazing pictures you took there.
And that frozen waterfall was interesting.
Is that you climbing up it?
BTW, thanks for that long email about your trip, it was great to hear from you!
June 26, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Heather said...
Yes, that is me on the waterfall.
I wasn't cold at all because we had heaps of warm clothing and we were moving around.
June 27, 2009 at 10:16 AM