Queensland Term Abroad

View south back over valley we've walked up. We're at the cloud level.

Morgan, Brooke, and Becca take a breather at the top of Devil's Staircase. Image courtesy Brooke Denslow.

View to west

The edge of the world. Image courtesy Brooke Denslow.

Christy's ready to cross South Crater (which is, in reality, a cirque.)

View across South Crater

East view, down Oturere valley, with large aa flows evident. "AA" (pronounced "ah-ah", it's Hawaiian in origin) is a geologic term describing blocky, irregularly surfaced lava flows. It's also a great scrabble word. Those flows are kilometers down the slope.

The trail continues west (and UP) past these large eroded blocks and on up the ridge in the background. We all sheltered behind these rocks for a brief rest.

East-looking view from the rock outcrop shown in the picture above.

Tongariro's Red Crater. We reached it via the ridge visible in the upper right two pictures up.

Another view of Red Crater. Note angular variation of layers

The hollow vertical feature is an igneous dike, a planar conduit for magma. The interior has been eroded away, leaving a hollow.

View northeast from Red Crater. Note truncated deposits in valley wall opposite. Where's the vent that produced these flows?

View to Northeast across central crater. A large aa-type flow is clear on the crater floor. Occupying another crater, Blue Lake shines in the distance.

We're coming down the opposite side of Red Crater. This view looks backward up the trail.

My trusty companions, Christy and Alyssa, pose on the descent. Emerald lakes in the background.

Emerald Lakes occupy small blast cones on the flank of Red Crater. Note steam venting from slopes to right of lakes. For scale, note the size of people at lower edge of leftmost lake.