canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2024-05-03 07:10 am
canyonwalker) wrote2024-05-03 07:10 am
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End of the Road at Turoa. Bonus Falls.
We had a packed day at Tongariro National Park in New Zealand a few weeks ago. We continued on despite the cloudy, rainy weather. After bailing out of Waitonga Falls and finding a bonus falls, then enjoying a short hike Mangawhero Falls, we decided to explore up the park road. We figured maybe the morning clouds would burn off and we could go back and hike Waitonga Falls.
As we drove higher and higher up toward the 9,177' summit of Tongariro's Mt. Ruapehu, the clouds didn't burn off... but we did rise above them. Well, not all the clouds, but the main layer that was dropping rain lower down. Up at Turoa ski area, at the end of the road, the sky was almost clear!
Well, the part right around Mt. Ruapehu wasn't clear. The clouds kept shifting but never quite giving us a clear view of the mountain's distinctive triple peak. But we enjoyed the views we were able to get.
Oh, and it was cold up here. While temperatures were in the mid 50s down in Ohakune where we started the morning, it was only a bit above freezing up here. Temperature drops like that are typical for higher elevation.
BTW, yes, what you see in the mid-ground of the photo above is a ski area. It's just that it's out of season right now.
As we explored around the vacant, out-of-season ski area, bundled up in multiple layers of clothing to ward off the cold, we spotted a waterfall. Yes, up here near the top of the mountain there's a fairly sizable waterfall! This is almost certainly a seasonal waterfall that only appears (a) during snowmelt and (b) right after rain. The rocky terrain up here means water drains fast.
As we drove higher and higher up toward the 9,177' summit of Tongariro's Mt. Ruapehu, the clouds didn't burn off... but we did rise above them. Well, not all the clouds, but the main layer that was dropping rain lower down. Up at Turoa ski area, at the end of the road, the sky was almost clear!
Well, the part right around Mt. Ruapehu wasn't clear. The clouds kept shifting but never quite giving us a clear view of the mountain's distinctive triple peak. But we enjoyed the views we were able to get.
Oh, and it was cold up here. While temperatures were in the mid 50s down in Ohakune where we started the morning, it was only a bit above freezing up here. Temperature drops like that are typical for higher elevation.
BTW, yes, what you see in the mid-ground of the photo above is a ski area. It's just that it's out of season right now.
As we explored around the vacant, out-of-season ski area, bundled up in multiple layers of clothing to ward off the cold, we spotted a waterfall. Yes, up here near the top of the mountain there's a fairly sizable waterfall! This is almost certainly a seasonal waterfall that only appears (a) during snowmelt and (b) right after rain. The rocky terrain up here means water drains fast.