Turangi,
New Zealand
Thursday, January 18, 2007
We headed out of Lake Taupo to Tongariro National Park were we stealth camped outside of the trail head for our next days hike. The next morning we woke up early to get a good start on Tongariro Crossing, 17km trek around volcanoes. This hike was amazing and difficult! We hiked up and around in a totally exposed environment with wonderful 360 views of the surrounding area. Dave and I hung together, me huffing up the volcano's edge, while Brandon, Galen, and Luke made the climb to the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe, or Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings. It took them all of an hour and 50 min. to get up and 20 min. to get back down...no trail just rock slides....crazy people! After 6 or so hours of hiking in the blazing sun, the trail found its way into the shade of the forest. Dave and I made it out in about 7 hours and the boys finished up a few hours later to a birthday celebration for B Caskey. After beer and cookies, B's favorite, we presented him with a jade koru necklace and we were off to town.
Tongariro Crossing: 5 out of 5 high fives! That's right...it was that awesome!
