Hauhungatahi's eastern side and marshlands . Photo NC.

Looking slightly north of due west, down Ruapehu's slopes into Hauhungatahi Remote Experience Area. The sharp treeline is visible in the centre left. The bogs visible here at the base of Hauhungatahi continue north (right in the picture) and west into the waterlogged Waimarino Plains that stretch towards National Park township.
Vegetation there forms a patchwork of forest and swamp. Flax is a common ground cover, with mountain beech, mountain toatoa, silver pine and bog pine in the better drained areas. The impeded drainage that causes bogs is often a consequence of a sharp change in soil texture, as when a coarser tephra lies over finer ones.