ON RUAPEHU'S SUMMIT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14303, 24 February 1910, Page 7

ON RUAPEHU'S SUMMIT.

~ , : COMPLETION OF THE ASCENT. SNOW AND ICE YIELDS. - m GLACIER ASK CRATER LAKE. •: 11. : ' " niebt, with. it* fitful snatches of slum- ■■ I-anie '» an end in "° course, and m Kas daylight c party were astir prepar- •" fnr the assault upon the mountain. • SVfast was partaken of by the light of » "the camp fire and a candle stuck in the fork ■t a tree At a quarter-past five all were °dr and moved off on the trail at the JJJ March." A narrow ravine below Z camp, flanked by low sfunted treeshe last of the bush-was followed tor a short distance. An old slip was then tra- • v«rscd, : and this brought the mountaineers, An 0 a belt of tussock country between the frince of " bush and the winter snow , line Some tussock and mossy terraces and ' , Jpcs' were crossed ' and the rough, rocky : country, of which the upper slopes of the mountain are composed, was then entered

' - A climb up a face of loose, moving elatelike rock led to the first of ii series of ' • boulder-strewn ridges. Giant boulders, of : 9 very form and size, were strewn about, the hillside, whilst on the. edges of numerous : Ravines 'the jngged lips of old crater Ms,: '••'twistedV by.' the intense heat and violent ' . disruptive force of volcanic action into all kinds 'of. weird and fantastic chapes, came into view. All around, to the right- and left, above and below, was a scene of desolation. Mile upon mile of loose rocks, some slate-like, some spherical, unci some irregularly shaped, met the eye. . Here and there on the lower slopes are small clusters ' of mountain snowdrops aud other .vegetation, but as the walkers pushed on all trace of plant life. disappeared, and nought •was left save the great expanse of barren wm '

: .. CROSSING THE SNOW LINE. ' Rising more and more rapidly as . the ■afcexit. proceeded the edge of the summer , snow line, which had been viewed from ■ below with eager longing, soon came into view. The terminal moraine of an. expensive glacier stood out prominently in the early morning light, and a tramp over still s . Tougher country' than any yet experienced I- ; brought the party at eight o'clock to the , beginning of the snow and icefields. At the;' present ; time an uninterrupted strip .of bare rock makes it possible to reach the summit of the mountain without, touching " the : snow, but a portion of the snowfield in was; traversed by the party as a welcome variation from the class of country already passed -over. The snow was covered with dead mosquitoes and butterflies, which had If / been frozen into the drift. A low ridge on : the right still divided the party from the icefield proper, but the latter soon came • into {'sight,and a * glorious panorama - then burst upon the view. A great waste of ice llpand frozen snow, which flashed back the early morning sunlight with dazzling brilliancy, spread itself across : the mountain side, the pinnacles of the glacier, with all their diverse : and. fantastic shapes, forming an ims posing and beautiful background. , The glacier is intersected 'by numerous yawning crevasses, stretching across . the • greater part of the.frozen surface,• and varying in width at the top from a few inches to several feet. These fissures, with their delicate tints of pale blue, 'have an alluring appearance, but to all readers of stories of ■ VAlpine adventures, as -well as to those who have had experience of glacial exploration, . V the word " crevasse" is a warning, in itself.

All, therefore, moved with the necessary , caution in approaching these great vwedgeshaped charms with their sheer drops into " 1 1 v " T t ', 1 C T 1 * s unknown depths ,of solid ice.

'' SCALING THE RAFTER. > i A tramp: over*' the snowy surface • for a li&'fewi 1 hundred yards, with the: assistance of the bush - alpenstocks, ; served to give an agreeable .variety to the climb, but presently the increasing steepness of the ascent led the party to return to the adjacent ridge of rock by which medium the ' ■■■> , ~ •, T L J u journey, to the summit was completed. At - this stage , probably about- 1000 ft of the ■ r ascent; remained to be accomplished. ; lie ridge, which was quite free of snow, extended in an almost direct line to the top of • Epapehu, and it cannot better be described than as - one of the rafters of the * . ,i ■ ' J-" Mountain. he course lay partly over disintegrated flat rocks, which -slid beneath ; the feet, ' and partly over a solid bed of ;> heat-riven rock, closely scored by shallow ;r, lines, which afforded a sufficient, foothold. ' An icy' north-east wind swept across the feS?mountain, arid tempered the heat- of the • ;' sun, which was now asserting its: power between the passing belts of thick mist that , .continually pasted up the mountain from the flats below. ~ A short pause and a glance back revealed lift pifctiire of grandeur which could not be surpassed, on the day in question, even on v the mountain top itself, owing to the cloud ~v Wit that encircled the summit. In front, •Wow the 'enow- line, was a barren storm- * wept mountain face, with all its striking evidences' of the effects of the mighty con- . visions of Nature, in the shape of. the great •broVii and gray boulder ridges, rugged hillocks, and rough ravines with precipitous fides and roaring snow-fed torrents. Farther ..down, were the tussock steppes • that had ; Wen . crossed tarlier in the ascent, and in . 'he far, distance was the broad expanse of . I>i»h and plateau. The great Waimarino forest loomed large towards the western ..Vizon, whilst to the south the extensive Karioi and Waiouru Plains could be seen . K «embling a long, low-hanging cloud. The townships of Ohakune, Horoplto, Ranga- , J 1 ). and Raetihi, mere-specks as it ap- ,: peared, were also descried dotted about in !' , *~9v midst of bush clearings. Higher up, I . ,®n. either hand, were the vast fields of conj - solidated snow- and ice, whilst above the .\™' rugged peaks of Ruapelui were seen ri e / c ' n 8 the .-ky line at their altitude of over 9000 ft, ON TIIE SUMMIT. The end of a four hours' climb from the ta Mp Saw the party at the top of the great . • ei ridge, whence a short walk of three or four minutes along the crown of the ountain brought them; to the actual sumoverlooking ho famous crater lake. , e scene here was*one of indescribable and grandeur. The immense ice ? snow fields extending down all sides '<■•■> e mountain, formed the feature of the picfure, and above the snow . the several grim serrated heat-scarred peaks of the Peat volcano of the past were thrown out 0 d relief. Below the topmost peak -anT f Perpendicular drop of about 200 ft,. ' fi 1H l*^ 003 — c this a -"doping of snow u | d ° Wn to the crater lake, some 300 ft Th° W highest, 10 ")'' of the mountain, e fake is about for times the of the Waimangu geyser lake, and the , dirty gray in colour, but hardly . ar 1 y as (hut of Waimangu. The walls d some 50ft in depth, and are quite per.te J™ 41 ' c lower portion being com- ' 'of A ° volcanic rock, and the upper;part I ' qc rO7,Pn snow an 4 ice. Time did not permit I ife#*-- the lake, which on this occasion

was quite placid, and showed no sign of the bubbling motion which other visitors are eaid to have observed on its surface. Above was a. clear, blue sky, and all around was the bright, sharp atmosphere,/which : only mountain tops possess. About -quarter of the distance down the mountain side a dense bank of white billowy clouds had collected, and the experience of being above instead of below the clouds was one of the most interesting of the day's events. The clouds, of course, blotted out everything below, and the magnificent view, extending over a very large portion of the. island from the West Coast to Rotorua, which is obtainable on clear days, was denied to the visitors. Even adjacent Ngauruhoe" was not visible, and Ruapehu, in all its snow-mantled glory, was for the time being without a rival, as the recipient of the devoirs of the worshippers at Nature's shrine. ' »

A short distance below the summit of the mountain a curiosity was discovered by a member of the party, in the form of the entwined skeletons of a hawk and young rabbit. Evidently the hawk had captured the rabbit on the lower slopes of the mountain, and was flying away with, it when it was beaten out of its ,course by a strong wind, and was eventually dashed to death or disabled on the rocks. On the summit of Ruapehu several flies assembled around the party at. luncheon time, and, as already stated, mosquitoes and. butterflies were encountered at high points on the mountain fide. ~ " "

An hour was spent on the mountain top, and '.their the visitors, after partaking of a light lunch and being photographed, began the descent to the camp, and subsequently, to Ohakune, halting awhile on the edge « thn glacier to obtain a further view of its beautiful . pinnacles, , the hungry, widemouthed crevasses, and other features of-in-terest, with, which this remarkable formation abounds. . " .• > '