Misty Mountains
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2006
1
304
374
Trip End
Mar 15, 2007
Tongariro National Park,
New Zealand
Monday, January 8, 2007
The 7:15am depart to the start of New Zealand's best one day walk certainly upped the better be worth it feeling with the thought of the 6-8 hour hike ahead.
Starting off with Dan and a Belgium girl we were soon ascending up into the clouds reducing the visibility of what must usually be spectacular views of the volcanoes which today were completely obscured. The path rose sharply up a steep climb to the start of a side track to Mt Ngauruhoe which any other steep lump we would have kept on going but Dan and I headed towards it simply to say we climbed Mt Doom.
Emerald Lakes
Well, partially climbed, it turned out as the cloud and mist got steadily worse barely able to see 5 meters making it almost impossible to follow the non-existent track upwards. Deciding to turn back we picked up a lost fellowship on the way down having taking the wrong turn. Wondering how they could miss the clearly signposted tracks we soon had that answered on returning to where the path split almost missing it ourselves with the cloud having got worse.
Pressing on we descended down into a crater following the marker posts along the way with nothing else to give us reference as to where we where as we continued along in a white bubble all around.
Feeling like we were in another world we started to climb again to the highest point around a crater rim with only the smell of sulphur giving away its location. A lunch stop besides one of the emerald lakes which also almost walked right past saw us begin the long downhill section all the way to the end.
Maybe just to rub it in but a woman at the end had her husband's camera who did the walk the day before showing me the blue cloudless skies all around in the pictures.
