Cresting the rim, we forgot about them immediately as we were greeted by the glorious panorama of the summit plateau of Ruapehu; a broad black gravel and ice filled bowl, rimmed by the dark silhouettes of the other crater high points - Glacier Knob, Tukino Peak, Te Heu Heu and Cathedral Rocks. to the southeast, the rounded form of Dome Ridge hid the main peaks of Ruapehu. We headed along the razorback crater rim toward it and Dome Shelter, at 2660m the highest point of the walk.
Panorama of landmarks around the rim of the summit plateau of Ruapehu; The Fair Nello, Te Heu Heu, Cathedral Peak and Dome Ridge
Views extended across the breadth of the North Island; as far west as Taranaki, standing above the bank of cloud 130 km away, and 120 km across a cloudless sky to the mountains of the east coast and the Pacific Ocean.
A different perspective of the black ice and gravel filled bowl of the Summit Plateau as cloud moves in from the west