Tihia Again - At Night

In an rash moment recently I decided to climb Tihia at night.  Without much forethought I grabbed a pack, torch and an old sleeping bag, plus a bottle of water and a couple of muesli bars - and took off. Luckily I stopped at a garage and purchased a few spare batteries.  There was no moon and after entering the bush I realized just how black the night was.  To make things worse my headlamp batteries soon weakened and gave up.  Finally I had to change the batteries - easier said than done. Once the headlamp was off everything was in pitch black.  The old batteries were extracted by feel, the orientation of the parallel batteries determined by feel and the whole thing put together by feel. No light - damn! More groping in the dark (a male thing) revealed that there were not two but three batteries.  Luckily I'd remembered the polar orientation for the batteries in the headlamp.  Finally there was light and I was off again.  While all this was going on I could see faint glow-worms in the distance and at one stage an animal (from the noise, it must have been a deer) crashed by in the bush.

Changing Headlight Batteries in the Bush on a Moonless Night

Finally, I stepped clear from the bush and could see the lights of Turangi below and Taupo in the distance.  About half an hour later I stepped onto the summit in a cool breeze.  I found a spot to sleep and crawled into the sleeping bag.  The night was long and cold and mist enveloped the summit. It cleared to reveal a brilliant clear night with meteors streaking now and then.  I watched the night pass with the rotation of the Magellanic clouds and the Southern Cross pointers. When dawn arrived I saw how cold it was by the frost-heave on the bare patches.  The early light lit up the volcanic activity over on Te Maari craters on Tongariro. Back to Pukawa for breakfast.

Sunrise from Tihia

From Tihia: Lower Te Maari Crater - Volcanic Activity Beyond

Tihia Again - In Colour

Recently Catherine and I had another trip up Mt Tihia, the small peak at the south end of Taupo Moana.  It is a climb we've often done.  It can take anything between one and two hours to the summit, depending on how you enjoy the birds and views.  This time the weather forecast was for a fine day so we chose to climb Tihia to look at the recent eruption at the Te Maari crater on Tongariro.

The view was not to be - while it didn't rain the sky was overcast and the view towards Tongariro too hazy to see much.  Nevertheless the climb was, as always, enjoyable and the colours of the mountain spectacular, in one place emphasizing the volcanic origin of Tihia itself.  Here are a few photos taken to record the colours on the climb.  As usual, the winter intensifies the colours of the vegetation.

Dracophyllum in sub-alpine scrub

Sub-alpine Scrub

Volcanic Rock Uncovered by Erosion

Mosses and Lichens on Rock

Podocarp (Matai) Bark Flaked Off Bole of Tree