Tongariro Crossing
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National Park,
New Zealand
Friday, October 26, 2007
An early night last night in preparation for an early morning and a long walk. I do not mind early nights at The Park though, the beds are too comfortable to care. It is also an exceptionally cheap hostel if you stay for three nights - you get the third noght for free, which made it only $16 per night for me.
I am still not fond of early mornings, but they are definately better after a good night's sleep. the bus left for the start of the route at seven thirty and we set off for Mangatepopo. Rob, someone that we had met at the hostel, would be walking with us today and we all started the walk at a leisurely pace. The first hour of the walk is a very easy stroll along a valley floor that winds alng a steam in between Ngarhoe (Mt Doom) and Tongariro. Somehow, me and Rob ended up way ahead of Helen, but she said that she liked to walk like this on her own, so we left her to it - we would meet up for lunch. We carried on and soon hit the Devil's Stair, and appropriately named rocky and shingley part of the track on which I often found that each step took me virtually nowhere because the stones that I stepped on would slip under my feet and carry me back down the hillside to pretty much the original starting position. It took a while to climb, and Rob, who for some inexplicable reason, was having an easier time than me in terms of sliding stones, went off ahead. He waited at the plateau at the top of the stairs, asking me if I wanted to try for Ngarhoe summit. I said no, it would have been silly to go up there because there was still snow and ice on the summit and we did not have crampons or ice equipment. We would also have missed the bus.
We carried on across the plateau after a photo session, and remarked on how desolate the landscape was between the two summits. The we reached the ridge which would take us up to the Tongariro summit walk before climbing on to Red Crater, and to the highest point of the walk. If you are relatively fit, or at least used to hill walking, this section of the track is not difficult and there were a series of rocks about half way up that offer a diversion from walking by offering the opportunity for mountain goat style pictures. Rob was worried that I was going to fall off the edge of the cliff when I went out for mine, which shows just how effective the image looks, because I was not near the edge in reality - just on a particularly steep gradient. He was also worried by the amount of sliipery grit that had to climb over, but I explained that it os only unsafe to let me loose in domestic situations, as I will almost certainly burn, stab or jam myself in the kitchen.
We continued on up the ridge, which was markedly easier than the Devil's Stair, although it too contained the volcanic grit that was so slippery on the Devil's Staircase. At the break in the ridge we were confronted with the option of walking to Tongaririo summit but again, this was still snowcapped, and added a few extra hours onto the walk, so we just had a snowball fight instead.
A short while later we came to Red Crater and the highest part of the crossing, which confronted us with howling winds as well as spectacular views across the National Park - all the way to the New Plymouth volcano, and down to the Emerald Lakes. We just had to go down another grit and gravel slope (which was very steep) to reach the lakes. Of course, I managed to select the mor e difficult of the two tracks to get down, though I did not know it when I started my descent. It became apparant at the point where it would have been more difficult to go back, just like it always does. In the end I decided to treat the bank like a sand dune and hit my feet down so that they sank into the gravel and gave me some anchorage on the slope. It worked quite well, but I still fell twice, though it was not far because the slope was so steep. My attempt to get down was not aided by the vicious wind that was blowing across Red Crater, and that tried to knock down anyone who was moving, there was even a point, at the top of the ridge where we were walking at a sixty degree angle into the wind in order to maintain a forward motion.
It was also difficult to find a sheltered spot at the Emerald Lakes to eat lunch. I was quite pleased about this, because the sulphourous smell of the lakes was blown away, as was the smell of my egg sandwiches. I like to have egg sandwiches when I walk, they make a very satisfying lunch. It was very pleasant to sit by the lakes when the wind was not blowing full strength, and as it only really gusted over this section of the walk it was not a problem to sit and eat there, although I was starting to get cold toward the end of our half hour break. Helen rejoined us about twenty minutes after we had sat down. We watched her come down the slope and she was one of the very few who did not fall once on the way down.
Pretty soon after we took to the track again we found that we had to cross a snowfield to continue the walk and I found out how much I love my waterproof boots - I did not get even a little bit wet. Obviously there was call for another snowball fight and Rob quickly surrendered when we ganged up on him. That did not stop Helen though, and soon she and Rob were coming close to shoving snow down eachothers back. I just stood back and laughed. No one was brave enough to make a snow angel though - we were still halfway up a mountain. We trudged through the snow, observing where the geothermal activity was closest to the surface by the brown patches of clear ground in the middle of the shin deep snow. A reminder, if we needed one, that these volcanoes are very much active. It was an interesting effect to see and I am told that there are places on the crossing where you can actually feel the heat rising out of the ground. We made a short climb off the plain to the ridge that stands above blue lake, which was still iced over, and where the wind became vicious once again. Having failed to blow us off the track at Red Crater, we were now assailed with sheer force and with massive amounts of grit, which was picked up and flung in our faces. It really stung. I suddenly became very grateful for my deep hood which offered preety good protection from the flying debris, though the wind trid to snatch that as well.
Blue Lake, though iced over had several breaks in its covering which offered an amazing contrast between the intensely blue water below and the snow covered ice which was pearly white. The distant views from this point of the crossing were a little hazy but the fractured lake more than made up for it. I think it could not look better than it did with the cracked surface. Fighting against the wind we continued on to the beginning of the descent down the edge of a v-shaped valley which showcased a view across to Lake Taupo, which appeared much more gigantic than it had in my skydive, this made me feel better for the people living in Singapore. Like the views from Blue Lake, there was a haze hanging over the view across to Lake Taupo, which gave it a slight grey tinge that was not as stunning as the crystal views we had seen from Red Crater. This was a shame, as this would have been the better view, but it did not prevent us from enjoying the scenery at the beginning of the descent, nor marvelling at the size of the Taupo crater, which the lake fills. I am certainly glad that this particular volcano is extinct.
The path along the side of the valley was very easy to walk along, and again, there were several snow drifts to walk through, which added a little zest to the trackas we began to wind down into the valley. Once the final hut on the walk came into sight we stopped for an afternoon snack, sitting on some tussocks at the edge of the tack and looking out across Lake Taupo and feeling the heat rise from the ground. We were also sheltered from the wind, so it was a very pleasant place to sit for twenty minutes, soaking u the spring sun and feeling good because we had done all the hard bits and the only way was down from this point.
We wound down the track, making a brief stop at the hut and passing hot springs on the side of the mountain. The walk was an easy one, other than the DOC steps, which often equated to giant leaps down to the next section of the track - and they are there for safety... Shortly after leaving the hut, was descended into the forest and wound along the course of a stream that was starting to swell with snowmelt to the carpark at the end of the crossing. We were about half an hour before the bus was due so we just found a space in the sun and sat in relative warmth, with no wind, to wait for the shuttle back to National Park Village. Once back, I had a blissful shower and another early night. I have discovered that a prime rule of backpacking is to take advantage of any pleasant dorms and thick mattresses that you come across, and to take the odd day off. Tomorrow, I intend to do nothing other than relax.
