More Parkaeology

In April last year I speculated about the origin of an old track I found in the Mangatepopo Valley. That post included a map showing the Mangatepopo Hut on the other side of the valley from where it is today. I have since found a map from 1926 that both confirms the existence of the old hut site and confirms my speculation about a track from that hut.

The new (old) map from the New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey shows both the old hut site and the new hut site. A track is indeed indicated as originating at the old hut and heading east towards Ngaruhoe, and it is highly likely that this is the track that we found. Pukekaikiore is in approximately the same place as the (7) beside the old hut.

Part of 1926 map of Tongariro National Park. Click for larger version.
National Library of New Zealand,http://natlib.govt.nz/records/21979457?search[page]=6&search[path]=items&search[text]=%22Tongariro+National+Park%22+map

This map also shows a number of other interesting tracks. The track passing east from the new hut, through the (8), is the approximate location of the curent track through the valley, with the dog leg south being the old Devil's Staircase.

The track heading north from the new hut is also of considerable interest. That track also still exists, zig-zagging up the side of the valley and being clearly apparent when one is on the ridge. (See, for example, this post). The more easterly of the two branches seems to mirror the route taken when we dropped off Tongariro summit in June 2012 (see that post for a map of the route taken). The route on the 1926 map also seems to head over the top of North Crater before dropping down to the Ketetahi Hot Springs. This seems an obvious route when one looks at a topo map, but I have never tried it.

Finally, the more northerly route skirts around the side of Tongariro to go direct to the Ketetahi Hot Springs. It would be interesting to see whether any trace of that route remains.

Ketetahi and Te Maari

A quick trip up to Ketetahi Hut to see the damage from the recent Te Maari eruption. I was hoping to head right on to the tops and maybe around the back of Blue Lake towards Te Maari itself, but slow traffic and other commitments meant that we ran out of time and just went as far as the damaged hut.

The large plume of steam from the Te Maari vents was easily visible from the carpark, but as we climbed above the bushline it became evident that there was increased thermal activity all over the mountain. Steam was pouring out of the Te Maari vents, there was significantly more steam from Ketetahi than normal, and exposed hillsides with sulphur deposits were also steaming. Perhaps the cooler air temperature made the steam more obvious, but it seemed a lot more than that. Whatever heat source is responsible for the Te Maari eruption must surely be responsible for the general increase in activity. Perhaps there will be more eruptions, or perhaps the mountain will just continue to steam away for months to come.

Track damage: rocks strewn across the track by
a lahar.

Mud from the lahar between the trees.

Although there had been snow overnight, the snow was not nearly as low as the Metservice forecast (1200m) and the snowline was about at the hut (just under 1500m). We were pleased that other aspects of the forecast were wrong, as instead of rain it was pleasantly dry for most of the way up. It wasn't until we were about 20 minutes from the hut that it started to rain and got quite cold.

Impact crater with boulder inside.

Impact crater cordoned off.

We stopped at the hut to put on dry tops, have a bite to eat, and survey the damage from the eruption. One bunkroom had serious damage from a boulder that had come through the roof, and there are big "bites" taken out of the roof in two other places. DOC has removed the bunks from the central room so that people can't sleep there anymore, but it still provides a welcome shelter.

Ketetahi Hut from a distance.

Ketetahi Hut showing damage.

Hole in the roof.

Damage at the back of the hut.

Dead vegetation in the grey ash from the eruption.

Ketetahi Stream - this was just tepid to the touch.

DOC declared a 2km "volcanic hazard zone" around the Te Maari vents and warned that:

• You are still at risk from further volcanic eruptions if you are within the 2 kilometre Te Maari Volcanic Hazard Zone.
• You enter the Te Maari Volcanic Hazard Zone at your own risk.
• You should move quickly through this Volcanic Hazard zone.
• Be aware of the potential of renewed volcanic activity.
• The main danger will be from flying rocks.

DOC also published the map below showing the recommended direction of travel in the event of an eruption.

Postscript

Eight days after this trip, just before 1:30pm on Wednesday 21 November 2012, Te Maari did erupt again. A much less significant eruption than previous, with no rocks ejected and no significant ash. But it was enough for DOC to close the track again.

Eruption

A new vent on Tongariro
www.stuff.co.nz/Tongariro-eruption

The problem with having favourite tracks (or routes) on a volcano is that sometimes volcanoes... erupt.

On Tuesday 7 August I was to be driving up the North Island, via the Desert Rd. As I headed off for a shower that morning I decided to quickly check the stuff news website on my phone. With some disbelief I read the lead headline "Tongariro Erupts", and with some dismay read that roads in the central North Island were closed. Daylight meant that the authorities could make a proper visual assessment of the situation and before I left home the Desert Rd was back open.

I was hopeful I might get to see the eruption site, but there was ground level cloud shrouding Tongariro and it was impossible to see anything.

There was, however very clear evidence of the ash. Driving down the hill towards Rangipo the road and surroundings suddenly became very grey and dusty. Initially I thought that perhaps there had just been a lot of logging activity to stir up dust, but quickly realised that it was a lot more than just dust. A layer of ash covered everything; road, trees, blackberry at the side, and was being thrown up in a cloud by the cars. I snapped a couple of photos, and took another one a little further down the road as a comparison - it was only then that the true extent of the ash became apparent.

Ash at the intersection of SH1 and Kaimanawa Rd	Clear again...
Location map

In subsequent days official photos became available: a thick layer of ash, something of a mud flow, parts of the Tongariro Crossing track destroyed by boulders, and Ketetahi Hut destroyed. The inevitable result of this is that DOC has closed the tracks on Tongariro while we wait to see whether the mountain will settle down again or whether this is the start of a new eruptive sequence.

Damage outside Ketetahi Hut www.stuff.co.nz/Tongariro-eruption

Damage to the track near Ketetahi Hut www.stuff.co.nz/Tongariro-eruption

Links:

• GNS Tongariro page

Missed Summit

Another trip to Tongariro today, with the intent of heading up to the summit and back. We had hoped for a good covering of snow, but instead found that the mountain was almost devoid of snow. Assumed we wouldn't be needing the walking poles and ice axe, so removed them from my pack and off we went.

Icy ground around the crater rim.

To cut a long story short, in exposed places the wind was quite cold. Up on the crater rim it was also very strong and we put all our gear on - hats, gloves, water- and wind-proof jacket and over-trousers. Made our way around to the critical shaded slope and found that it was iced up. The foot track was something of a ledge, and for what seemed like about half the way it was ok, but then it became narrower, more slippery, and dangerous. With no ice axe it was time to turn back.

The decision point: left across the shaded slope
(tried that, turned back); straight ahead over the
knob; right to the North Crater saddle and back via
the west face and Hardman's Ridge; or just turn
around and go back?

Back off the shaded slope we noticed that the wind had picked up and we were getting cold. Hunker down behind a boulder while we decided what to do. One option was to head up and over the knob and continue on to the summit. This looked feasible but we were cold and coming back around into the wind didn't seem like much fun. A second option was to just turn back into the wind and head back down into South Crater. I wasn't too keen on this, as again it meant perhaps 30 minutes into the wind, and a steep and slightly icy descent into the crater.

The track on the shaded slope, at about the point
that we turned around.

The summit is just up there! But the wind was roaring...

My preference was to go to the right around the knob to the saddle with North Crater, and from there head back to the ridge above the Mangatepopo Valley (Hardman's Ridge). I went ahead and checked that the terrain was free of ice and then we set off on this option. Taking care to stay high and avoid the steep sided gullies we made good progress. Much to Heather's surprise we did indeed pick up a clear but unmarked track up on the ridge. We followed this down the valley for a while and then started looking for the way down. After a couple of false starts we found where the track down came out down by the stream. We started off cross-country down hill and then happened across the downhill track. From there it was easy travel back to the main tourist track and back to the car.

Heather had initially been a little reticent when I had suggested the off-track travel back to the car. But the terrain was good, route-finding was easy, some fun running on soft scree and moss, and for the most part we were out of the cold wind. The air temperature was about 2 degrees celsius, with winds of perhaps 50-60km/h and higher on the crater rim. The resulting wind chill took the temperature well below zero, soan option that took us out of the wind made for a much morre comfortable and enjoyable day.

Map

Mangatepopo Valley

A quick(ish) run 5km up the Mangatepopo Valley and then back to the carpark. Would have been nice to go further, but this was all that was realistically possible. And in any event it's always a great way to break up a car journey!

Ketetahi Hut

Approaching Ketetahi Hut from below

A quick trip up to just beyond Ketetahi Hut to meet up with Heather and two new Canadian friends who had been doing the Tongariro Crossing and a couple of side trips. It took me 1:09:15 for the 6.2km and 682m climb to Ketetahi Hut, and then I continued on another 1.12km and 111m climb to when I saw Heather and Allyson.

Heather and Allyson approach.

The view north from just above the bush line.

I took a few photos and then it was back down to the hut for a bite to eat and then back down the mountain. A few more stops for photos along the way, including a series of photos of the two girls at a waterfall just a short distance from the carpark. After we finished it was time for a drive north, stopping in at Kerosene Creek for a soak in the lovely thermal water and then on to Rotorua to have Thai for dinner.

Tongariro Summit

The final snow slope up to the summit

Back to Tongariro again, in much better conditions than last time. A time of 4h:03m for a return trip to the summit via the new standard route.

Heather and I jogged a lot of the trail up to the Devil's Staircase. At the bottom of Devil's Staircase was the first of the school groups that we would encounter for the day. No problems here though as they were putting on helmets to prepare for some rock climbing.

We hiked up the new route to South Crater, catching and then passing through a group of school girls from Auckland along the way. As we arrived at South Crater there was a large group of people, possibly several groups, all resting up. More people than I had ever seen up there!

We jogged off across South Crater to find a clear spot behind a rock and sat down for a bite to eat. After that we continued across South Crater and climbed up to the rim. We passed through another school group along the way. We smiled as we heard that the group had been underway for 4 hours, as we had been underway for only about 90 minutes.

Looking across towards one of the Emerald Lakes

Having made the crater rim we took a few photos and then jogged and hiked around towards the summit. It was not until the last slope up to the first summit that we encountered a snow slope. The slopes and ridges that had been covered in snow when we did the crossing and summit in October 2010 were now almost entirely clear.

We stopped for lunch at the summit, and then started back down. We jogged as much as we could around the rim, but the route down to South Crater is sufficiently steep and slippery with loose scree that there was no chance of running. Our legs were feeling fairly tired by then so we walked back across South Crater.

The new Devil's Staircase is easily runnable, so we ran all the way down to the valley. We also ran most of the way back down the valley to the car, mainly stopping to walk at the more technical sections where the track drops down around the end of a lava flow.

Epic = Bad Decision

The day's objective.

A simple summit loop on Tongariro turned into something of an epic because I assumed that snow conditions would be better further on, and didn't stop to consider what might happen if the conditions were actually worse. The full trip took 6:11:52, nearly 2 hours of which was taken to travel just 850m. Next time take an ice axe or crampons, or turn back.

The day started well, with clear sunny conditions. It had been a cold night, with the temperature on the mountain dropping well below zero. But by the time I set off from the Mangatepopo carpark at around 10am the air temperature was about 5 degrees, and there were clear sunny skies.

I jogged off up the track, although this was hard work with the gradual climb and the weight of water. Stopping for a few photos and walking the rougher climbs around the end of lava flows, I made the 4.5km to the base of Devil's Staircase in about 45 minutes. I elected to take the old Devil's Staircase rather than the new track with its wooden steps. I could rationalise this as choosing the safer option, as any ice on the wooden steps would be treacherous. In reality, though, I just preferred the path less travelled.

I unclipped my walking poles and then proceeded across South Crater while adjusting them. I was walking along the well-travelled path so the ice and snow had been broken up and was easy walking. A few moments inattention while I was adjusting my poles and I strayed onto the ice, slipped, and came crashing down onto my backside. That certainly gave me a pause for thought, and I wondered whether the climb on the track up the crater wall would even be possible.

Looking full of confidence at the top of the climb out of South Crater, the ridge to the summit behind me. Reaching the crater wall the track had been nicely broken up by those ahead of me (including a group wearing crampons), and it was a relatively easy walk up. At the junction with the summit track it was time to stop for a few photos before continuing around the crater rim. Very few people had been around here (perhaps two others), but although the surface of the snow was icy for the most part the travel was easy because the slopes were also easy.

The crater rim, leading to the summit left of centre.
The obvious climb up the ridge to the right of centre
should have been the turn around point. The poled
route traverses diagonally across the shaded snow
slope to the left of that ridge.

About two thirds of the way round the rim came the point that should have been the turn around point. The poled route cuts to the left diagonally across a slope rather than going over the top of the rise. This was shaded and very icy. I inched my way along about 20m before deciding that the risk of a fall was too high, and then inched my way backwards to safety. I took the alternative of going up and over the rise, which is the way that the others seemed to have gone. This was steeper and more slippery than I would like, and at the time I definitely didn't want to go back down this slope. In retrospect it probably would have been ok for a controlled glissade, but at the time going back down did not seem like a good idea at all.

I assumed that the snow conditions would be better on the other side of the mountain, with more sun having been on the snow during the day, so it *should* have melted more and have less of a hard crust.

Off that slope and it was a relatively easy walk around to the two summits. Another short slope, but the snow on there was ok. Stopped at the main summit for some photos, then started down.

The first couple of metres down were fine, but then it all quickly turned bad. Relatively soft snow turned icy and I had to carefully lever myself down holding on to some rocks. A few more steps on good snow, then I slipped on an icy patch and fell. On the icy patches it seemed easier and safer to stay seated, kick my heels into the surface and then inch forward. Reaching a better patch of snow I would stand up and try walking again, only for the same thing to happen again. I inched every so slowly down, taking almost 2 hours to travel 850m.

The slope down. It was a lot icier than this in many places, but I wasn't so keen to stop and take a photo in those spots!

Looking back at where I had come down.

The day after my trip there was a news story of a tramper who fell in icy conditions on Mt Egmont, fracturing his lower leg. That scenario certainly crossed my mind several times as I inched my way down from the summit. The slope is not extreme, but the icy conditions were treacherous. Relatively soft snow would suddenly give way to ice, and on at least four occasions I slipped and fell down. It would have been all too easy to accelerate away down the slope only to come to a crashing halt against the rocks. Luckily in all instances the ice gave way to softer snow and I could dig my heels in before sliding too far.

Having dropped low enough the slope eased up a little and the snow became a lot softer, with some patches of powder. I could now stand up and walk at a good pace. I was fed up with this now and wanted to get back to the car. Another half an hour and 1.3km and I was back down at the Mangatepopo Valley track. I jogged most of the way back to the car, stopping again at the most technical sections, and also stopping to talk to an older couple who had been up to South Crater for the day. Less than 1km from the car my tiredness made itself known as I tripped on a rock and fell, crashing my right hip into another rock. A large purple bruise and some abrasions, but nothing serious.

Risk Assessment
This was a "near miss". I got off the mountain in one piece, but with no safety margin. I slipped and fell four or five times while standing, and also slid a couple of times while sitting. Any one of those slips could have resulted in an uncontrolled slide and a fracture like what was suffered by the tramper on Mt Egmont.

The pre-trip risk assessment should have considered the need for an ice axe and/or crampons. With those the entire loop could have been completed safely.

While on the mountain I should have questioned my assumption about better snow conditions on my intended route down. I should have explicitly considered the possibility that the conditions might be as bad, or worse than the route up, and then made a decision accordingly.

More photos available on Flickr.

Tongariro Out-and-Back

This started out as a fanciful notion before the Rotorua Marathon that maybe we'd give the 50km Tongariro Northern Circuit a nudge just 3 days after the marathon. But we were both tired and our plans shifted several times until our intention was to head up the Mangatepopo Valley to Tongariro, do the summit, and then come back down the west ridge.

The weather in Turangi was wet, but at Mangatepopo it was warm and sunny with clear skies over the mountain. Having expected bad weather we both started in thermal tights, but by the start of the climb up to South Crater it was sufficiently warm that Heather decided to quickly change into something cooler.

 
 

We took the tourist route rather than the old Devil's Staircase up to South Crater. As we had lunch up on South Crater we watched a bit of cloud start to drift over the crater rim, but all still looked ok. The temperature dropped a bit, so Heather put her thermal tights back on, and we both put warm tops on. It looked like there might be a bit of cloud as we made our way around the rim to the summit, but it didn't look like it would be anything too serious.

The short walk across the crater, and then we started the hike up the rim. The weather closed in rapidly as we climbed. By the time we reached the top visibility was down to about 50m, and we needed to put on our raincoats, gloves, and beanies because of the cold wind.

In storm gear, but back down out of the wind.

The wind grew stronger as we walked around the rim, and after only about 200m the wind was so strong and cold that it was time to put on our waterproof overtrou as well. As it started to rain we quickly decided that the better course of action was to go back. Down at South Crater we were largely out of the wind, and the rain had stopped, but the cloud was still low and visibility much reduced. Without the familiar landmarks it seemed that we were in a completely different place.

Looking down at South Crater in the clear

Less than an hour later, back down in South Crater.

A short way down from South Crater it was sunny and warm again so we took off all our storm gear. Clouds threatened in the distance, but we were able to make it back to the car without any more rain. For a while we walked along talking to a guide who was guiding two Singaporean clients across the Crossing, and we also ran some of the flatter sections.

A good decision not to try the Northern Circuit - our legs were far too tired for that. And a good decision to turn back when we did. All in all a very pleasant day, with for the most part good weather, only a small amount of weather drama but the gear to cope with it, and good company.

A Snowy Tongariro Crossing and Summit

Looking back at Red Crater. Click on the photo for a panorama that stretches around to North Crater.

For the first time in about 30 years I was lucky enough to be on Mt Tongariro when there was a reasonable amount of snow!

Heather had never done the Tongariro Crossing before and, after her crewing for me for the entire 24 hours at the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race, how could I refuse? It took no effort at all to convince me, and we had an absolutely brilliant day.

An early start saw us on the start of the track by 7:30am. Up the Mangatepopo Valley we passed a number of people, but our early start meant that not many tourist walkers were on the track yet. At the end of the Valley we left the tourist track and I led the way up the old Devil's Staircase. Views back down the valley were spectacular, but there was very little snow in evidence. Ngaruhoe had some snow on its slopes, and there was patchy snow on the outer flanks of Tongariro, but we weren't at all sure that we would find anything significant once we reached the craters.

We reached the saddle and the entrance to South Crater, and there was snow! Initially a small patch to walk across and then as the crater opened up in front of us there was snow covering most of the crater walls. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then ventured across to the "seasonal lake" which is ignored by most people. The lake was frozen and after a brief exploration we returned towards the tourist track.

Clouds streaming in through the saddle. It had been clear and sunny up until now, but ominous clouds were approaching from the west through the saddle between Ngaruhoe and Tongariro. We started up the crater wall but stopped to put on extra gear as the wind picked up, clouds came in, and the temperature dropped.

The summit ridge. At the top of the wall we found a partially sheltered spot and stopped for lunch #1. While we were there the cloud cleared, although the cold wind remained. After lunch we decided to head across the snow slope until we joined up with the track to the summit. A couple of "bumps" along the crater rim and then we were on the ridge to the summit. It was absolutely spectacular up here, with the ridge and slopes covered in snow.

We visited both summits, stopped for various photos, and then retraced our steps around the crater rim. At the snow slope we donned our waterproof over-trousers and glissaded down the slope. After a hesitant start Heather found that it was great fun, so we walked back up the slope for another go.

Emerald Lakes with ice.

After the glissading we walked back across to the Crossing Track and walked around the edge of Red Crater and ran down the steep sandy slope to the Emerald Lakes. Another short glissade, lunch #2, and then it was off across the snow again to rejoin the track. The snow here was soft enough that we often broke through the surface, although we didn't usually sink in very far.

As we had seen on the summit trek, Blue Lake was frozen. And just around the corner from Blue Lake started the descent to Ketetahi Hut and then to the car park. We ran most of the way down, stopping just for a few photos along the way. About 1km before the end of the track my legs had had enough running so we walked the rest of the way to the end.

Tongariro North Crater

Tongariro's North Crater rises high above the usual tourist route and intriguingly looks to be completely flat. We had been past the crater on many occasions, but until now had never paid it a visit.

Our general route was:

• Up the old Devil's staircase, now no longer marked, to rejoin the standard track at the entrance to South Crater
• Across South Crater to a the foot of a spur that the topo map suggested would provide an alternative route to the east ridge
• Sidle across to the saddle between the east ridge and North Crater, and from there gain access to the crater
• Having circumnavigated the North Crater, drop down across the west face of Tongariro and exit to the Mangatepopo Valley via the stream incorrectly marked on topo maps as being soda springs.

Our intention on this trip was to stay off track as much as possible, although we did take advantage of the Mangatepopo Valley track to speed our travel along the part we had walked many times before.

View across South Crater to the
spur we used to access the east ridge

The route up the Devil's Staircase and across South Crater is straighforward. Our objective was a prominent spur to the NNE of the entrance to South Crater. We intended to travel up the gully behind the spur. At the foot of the gully we found a small spring, highlighted by a thick green bed of moss. The route up the gully did not look promising, so instead we crossed back on to the spur and travelled up the side of that. A more direct route would have been NE from the crater entrance and up the gully at the E side of the spur.

Having gained the E ridge we travelled NW to a small saddle, which in turn provided a straightfoward route to sidle around to the wide flat saddle leading to North Crater.

View from the east ridge across to North Crater (left) and the Blue Lake

Blast crater with small brown "lake" on the floor

Given that we were approaching the saddle from the E, the plan was to head around the E side of North Crater first, continuing anti-clockwise to complete the circuit. Jan changed her mind when we started to climb the rim and headed W instead. This brought us to the high point on the rim, and it was time to stop for lunch. After lunch we continued around in a clockwise direction, which soon brought us to the edge of the blast crater.

From various points on the main crater there were views across to Lake Rotoaira, down to Ketetahi Hut and the springs, across to Blue Lake and Emerald Lake, and back to Ngaruhoe and Tongariro summit.

Lake Rotoaira	View down to Ketetahi Hot Springs (steam, left) and Ketetahi Hut (centre right)
View across the brown "lake" in the main crater with Ngaruhoe behind	Emerald Lake and side of Red Crater

The upper reaches of the Wanganui River Valley,
with just one small ridge between us and the descent
into the Mangatepopo Valley

Completing the circuit of North Crater we headed diagonally down across the face on the W side of the saddle. We dropped into the Wanganui River valley, then climbed a small ridge to look down into the Mangatepopo Valley. Our plan from here was to follow the dry stream bed down. This was intially reasonably straighforward, but hit a snag when we came across a very high dry waterfall (perhaps 20m), at which point we switched to the true left bank. A short distance further and even that seemed to become precipitous so I scouted ahead to find a route that would be more to Jan's liking. My first attempt ended in a vertical section, but the second attempt was more successful. We made our way down the spur to the true left of the stream bed and then picked up the main Mangatepopo Valley track back to the carpark.

More photos, and larger sizes, available on Flickr.