On Friday, after checking out of the hotel, we drove up to the base of the Ruapehu ski area in Whakapapa Village and took the chairlifts(2) up to the top of the ski area.
There were heavy clouds to the west but Mt. Ruapehu and the surrounding area remained sunny. We hiked around the top for a bit, enjoyed the view, and took some photos. We were struck by how stark and rocky the mountain was in contrast with our lovely green Mt. Rainier.
Here are Mardo and Sanwise climbing towards Mt. Doom in the background…..
We wanted to do a short hike or two before driving on to our night’s lodging. Just down the road was the Silica Rapids hike--about 1.5-2 hours if we just went to the rapids and back. The path was similar to the beginning of the hike the day before--up and down through grasses and scrub with good views to the mountain and down the valley. We climbed stairs and followed a boardwalk through an area of small reddish tinted puddlings. Finally we descended a hill and saw the creamy-white Silica Rapid terraces. They are quite startling in color or rather lack of color.
Apparently, the lava flows upstream result in water rich in aluminum (or aluminium, as they say here) and silicate. The sign proclaimed: “As the water becomes more turbulent, it loses carbon dioxide. This creates ideal conditions for alumino-silicate to be deposited.” Chemistry, anyone? Regardless, the rocks were all creamy white!
Back at the car, we drove on to the very short Mounds Walk--grass covered volcanic debris mounds in the middle of the plain. Olympians, it reminded us of the Mima Mounds area.
We had to take a picture of this sign on leaving and heading for Ohakune, a small town at the south end of the park. Where else in the world would you see a sign like this??
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