Windy Tops

Tag: moraine

  • Daywalk: Ruapehu Crater Lake

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    The summit plateau during summer,
    Dome Shelter partly obscured behind.

    If you followed his blog, you’d think that Craig never leaves his bike behind these days. He occasionally gets out in tramping boots though, which is great because he’s probably one of the most skilled people at off-track navigating who I know. Last week Craig mentioned that after riding his bike around Ruapehu in one of those cycling events, he intended to take advantage of a truly awesome weekend weather forecast and wander up to the crater lake of Mt Ruapehu for a look. I’ve not been up that way before, and it piqued my interest enough to convince me to gatecrash. The basic plan was to go up the easy way, which is to drive to the top of The Bruce (that road up to Whakapapa Skifield), and head up from there. As a side note, we visited in the middle of summer. In winter you’d likely need alpine gear and it’s nowhere near as straightforward. It’s an un-marked route in which people can and do get lost and have accidents, and I guess in alpine environments even small problems can have serious consequences.

    Date: 7th February, 2010
    Location: Tongariro National Park, from the top of Bruce Road.
    People: Craig and me.
    Huts visited: Dome Shelter, aka Dome Equipment Shed (0 nights).
    Route: Walk up from the end of Bruce Road to the top of the Waterfall Express chair-lift, then continue up Knoll Ridge to Dome Shelter at the Crater Lake. Down via Restful Ridge.
    Related bits: Craig also wrote about this walk.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/20100207-ruapehu-crater-lake.gpx%5D

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.
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    Early morning Ruapehu from
    near Ohakune.

    Various weekend scheduling issues meant I couldn’t leave on Saturday, and the arrangement meant dragging myself out of bed to leave Wellington at 3am, so as to reach Ohakune at about 7am and wake Craig at DOC’s Mangawhero camp-site. I really wanted to stand outside his tent and blow a whistle really loud, but he was already packing up when I arrived, and nearby campers might not have appreciated it the same way I expect Craig would have with his understanding sense of humour. At least there was still a nice climb ahead during the day. A chap visiting the camp-side from Auckland, whom Craig had befriended, seemed to think we’d knock it off before lunch time. With a 1000 metre climb, I certainly wasn’t confident we’d be up and down within that time.
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  • Trip: Four days of D’Urville, Moss Pass, Sabine, and an ice axe

    Having an ice axe attached to your pack makes you look cool. Therefore, what better way to spend Easter than four days in Nelson Lakes National Park with an ice axe, and also with people who are friends? Well, there are possibly other things that could be at least as good, but the ice axe and other people in Nelson Lakes thing is what I did… despite having begun the trip without an ice axe.

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    Bernie in front of Lake Constance.

    Dates: 9th – 13th April, 2009
    Location: Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Rotoroa.
    People: Hans, Mika, Marie, Jen, Matthew, Bernie, Paul, and me.
    Huts visited: D’Urville Hut (0 nights), Morgan Hut (0 nights), George Lyon Hut [formerly Ella Hut] (1 night), Blue Lake Hut (1 night), West Sabine Hut (1 night), Sabine Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Water taxi to D’Urville Hut, south past Morgan Hut to George Lyon Hut for Friday night. Climb over Moss Pass and down the other side on Saturday, to Blue Lake Hut. Roam around and explore on Sunday morning, then continue north up Sabine to West Sabine Hut in afternoon. Continue to Sabine Hut (and return water taxi) on Monday.
    [Photos and movies]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    Our trip had been carefully planned by Steve, who sadly had to withdraw at the last minute over a foot he injured during the Oxfam 100 km Trailwalker the previous weekend. Having hired a cheap rental van and taken it onto the Interislander from Wellington on Thursday night, we arrived at the end of Lake Rotoroa some time well after midnight. I don’t know exactly what time it was, but I do know that after setting up some tents and flies, we were drifting off to sleep some time after 1.30am. We discovered at late notice that we’d almost mis-calculated how much shelter to bring and were short by a small fly or so. Thankfully, however, enough people had brought their own anti-social tents beyond the need of the organised plan. Marie crunched into Hans and Mika’s tent, Jen and Paul set up their small one-person tents, while Bernie, Matthew and I slid under my Huntech two-person fly, which can easily and comfortably accommodate three people despite the name.

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