Day 7: Tongariro Crossing

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Mt. Ngaruhoe from the east.

Today I'm doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It's an 8 hour hike which passes between Mt. Tongariro & Mt. Ngaruhoe. Tongariro, Ngaruhoe, and Mt. Ruhapehu (the tallest mountain in the north island) form the center of Tongariro National Park, which was created from a gift by a local Maori tribe to the New Zealand Government in order that they might be preserved for all time. This is an alpine environment, so I'm well prepared -- I have polypropylene overpants, thermal pants, enough food for a day and a half, a first aid kid, a space blanket...

The walk begins and ends in different places, so I've had to get a shuttle to take me there and pick me up.

Heading to Matai shuttles from the campground, the road is slick with dew or rain, and I'm there at 6:00am, an hour before the shuttle leaves. I use the hostel facilities to dry my sweatshirt & towel, and make breakfast.

The driver reminds me of a kiwi Kurt Russel, loudly gregarious he gives us some local history and fills us in on the essential need to knows of the Tongariro Crossing. Essentials like the fact that Ngaruhoe was Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings, it's actually a parisitic cone of the Tongariro volcano. Summit hikes up either Tongariro or Ngaruhoe are optional.

On the hike up, I chat with an english guy (nottingham), an ex-enron engineer who tells me all about the intricacies of building a power station in Manilla. The sunscreen starts to run off my forehead into my eyes, so I tell him I'll see him further down the track and wipe it out of my eyes.

My quads are really burning -- I thought hiking would be a rest from biking, but I guess you really do use the same muscles after all. At this rate I won't have the time to do the 3hr return up the summit of Ngaruhoe and still meet the shuttle, so I reluctantly continue on the trail. However, I do catch a spectacular view of Meads Wall:

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which was a major filming site in lord of the rings, I believe.


Fortunately a little further up there's a marked path up the summit of Tongariro which is only 1 +1/2 hour return, so I climb up that sucker and nearly fall off the side about a dozen times, but I get to see some snow,

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and the view of the valley is spectacular. I sit up there for a few minutes and think about how awesome it would be to live in the mountains, away from the nasty mess of civilization. On the way back to the main trail is a view of blue lake:

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The weather up here is really beautiful, and I'm actually hot in my thermals and jacket. I guess I came a bit over-prepared, but hey, better safe than sorry.

back at the main trail, I run into the israeli kids from last night. We come up on red crater:

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and then the emerald lakes. I wish I had time to swim in them, they smell of sulphur and are probably geothermally hot. but I've got to move ass if I'm going to make the shuttle. I move fast enough that I slip and tear the damn overpants.

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The walk finishes in an awesome wooded area. By the time I'm out my legs are completely shattered, and I practically fall asleep waiting for the shuttle. But it was great fun! The only thing I regret is that this walk didn't take us that close ot Mt. Ruhapehu, which is a bit further south of Ngaruhoe. As it is with my legs being shot, maybe I'll stay and rest for a day and then go up Ruhapehu? We'll see...

From cycling new zealand

DOOM! (mt. ngaruhoe)