On the edge of the Rangipo Desert. Photo NC.

Coming from Mangaehuehu Hut (west), there appears to be no transition before entering the Rangipo Desert. The water-dripping and heavily forested landscape seems to change in only a few metres into the utterly barren and waterless Desert. The effect is most spectacular.
Solitary remnants of previous ground levels, the scrub-capped pedestals of ash as represented in the lower image are an indication of the extent of erosion in this landscape.