The Tongariro Alpine Crossing!
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2007
1
6
Trip End
Mar 08, 2007
Tongariro National Park,
New Zealand
Monday, February 18, 2008
We weren't exactly sure what to prepare for in terms of climate, and timing to complete the hike but we knew it was going to be quite the challenge. The Tongariro Crossing is actually rated New Zealand's BEST one day hike. Now imagine, New Zealand is an absolutely amazing jaw - dropping country, so to nominate it the # 1 Day Hike is quite optimistic on the Department of Conservations' behalf. It's an 18 Km Hike through and UP both active and dormant volcanoes, and average hiking time is 7 hours. IN addition, to this hike, we planned to conquer Mount Ngauruhoe - a 2287 M active volcano, which from here on end, I will refer to as MOUNT DOOM ( I have no idea on how to pronounce and I can not expect you to!!!) Keep in mind that this volcano is not included in the hike, and is a climb at "your own risk"...since there are no paths or trails, you're litterally crawling up a steep mound composed of volcanic ash and rock on your hands in knees. No one told us this in advance of course....
It's still pitch black outside, and realize that we'll be starting our hike before sun rise. It's very difficult to choose the appropriate clothing considering it's freezing before the sun comes up and scorching hot when the sun comes out mid day. Nonetheless...thanks to LULU, I wore my "multi-purpose" active spandex pants. They've served me soooo well throughout this entire voyage.
We quickly packed up our lunch, our change in clothing and each 3 L of water . We scoffed down a pre made fruit salad for breakfast, not exactly the breakfast of champions but we were due to embark our shuttle at precisely 6:00 am. Fifty minutes later, the shuttle dropped us off at Pukeonake, the starting point of our hike. Being the competitive bunch that we are, we had to be the first ahead of the entire shuttle group. No time to prep for the hike - we jumped off the shuttle and power walked our way to the first marking point on our Tongariro Map and guide.
commencement of our 20 K hike
The sun was just starting to come up and glitter on it's selected choice of rocks in the east. Although, still quite foggy and hazy, the views were absolutely amazing as we cross through running streams. The fog slowly dissipates and, almost like a theater curtain slowly opening up for the show's last act, lay before us what we refer to as "Mount DOOM" - The 2287 M Volcano that we had confidently decided to hike up.
Sun just rising
We reach the base of the Volcano, 1 hour after from the start of our hike. National Park signs warn us that the hike is at our own risk and there are no guided paths. We look up the Volcano, and convince ourslelves that it's REALLY not that steep or high. By the way, officials of the National Park, estimate the climb to take a minimum of 2.5 hours and the hike back down only 30 minutes. The Five of us are overally optimistic and think we can conquer the volcano within 30 - 45 minutes. YEAH RIGHT!The hike up the volcano begins with a gradual gradient with rocks and grass...almost deceiving the hiker on what's to expected, just a few hundred meters to come. The climb gradually becomes steeper with coal- like rocks and within 30 minutes, we realize we've barely even made a dent on our climb. It's starting to get windy, but we're sweating profusely...1 hour later and we're only half way up. As lightheaded as I felt, I still had enough energy to soak up the views. At this point in altitutide, we were already above the clouds with literally "breath taking" views. In the distance we could see the Emerald Lakes, turquoise blue lakes located 1800 M high encircling two active volcanos.
The climb becomes excessively more difficult as we're on our hands and knees trying to grip on any NON moving solid rock. We're mostly hiking up volcanic ash, where every step we take entails our foot sinking in at least 1 foot of ash and due to uncompromsing grip, every step we take means sliding two steps back. My calves and glutes were burning at this point, and while my hands were bleeding from gripping on sharp volcanic rocks as if my life depended on it, I also realized that it was luck of the draw because some of the larger rocks were not quite stable in the volcanic ash, and large boulders would tumble down, possibly hitting the climber below me ( namely Jazz and Kevin) and that also meant that I had to dodge the oncoming tumbling boulders from the climbers above me. (Craig and Donald).
Jazz & Kevin climbing steep volcanic ash.
The winds were getting stronger and the hike was growing steeper. We were absolutely exhausted but at this point, the motivation was all mental. It was getting personal...just between Me and Mount Doom. As exhausted as the climb persisted, I couldn't help but think about the steep unstable climb down...absolute Suicide! We're finally closer to the top, and we could begin to see smoke oozing out of smoldering hot rocks...
Getting closer to the crater
of course the volcano is still active! My legs are like jello and can barely even maneeouver around the red -volcanic rock, but the hike must continue to the highest peak, and we MUST be the first ones to conquer Mount Doom on Feb. 18th, 2008. We finally make it to the crater...it felt like we were walking on the moon...the views were absolutely phenoemenal..
Kevin eating his morning snack on top of crater
Two hours and 15 minutes later we were literally sitting above the clouds and looking down on Mount Doom's neighbouring volcanos. This is where we decided to park ourselves down for a VERY well deserved lunch!
Jazz sitting on top of the clouds
Incredible...The winds were blowing however we nestled next to a cluster of steaming HOT rocks, protecting us from the ghastly winds and the views were again..just breath taking...Twenty minutes into our lunch, we had to share Mount Doom with a few other hikers, and we dreadfully decided to make the hike back down, as our bodies were getting the chills from cooling down.
Excellent Vies
The hike down did take about 30 minutes, but it consisted of falling flat on my arse and immersing my feet into at least a couple of feet of ash and just sliding down like I was skiing. The guys loved it, but I hated it...I had enough rubble in my shoes, to create my own miniature "mount doom" upon anchoring at the bottom ..( I guess I should have refrained from wearing my mini little gym sockets)
Making our way back down
Nontheless, we made it back down absolutely exhausted but it felt great and rewarding to have my feet stable on the ground. The only problem was that we still had a 7 hour hike ahead of us and that entailed hiking up another 1900M volcano! (the neighbouring volcano we looked down upon from "Mount Doom"
Feet back on the ground!
Now keep in mind that The Tongariro Crossing is the #1 Day hike in all of New Zealand, so you can imagine the traffic on the trails. (actually this made the Mount Doom hike all the more special, since there were seldom hikers willing to take on the challenge) So as we're starting to make our way up the next Volcano, Red Crater, our legs feel like jello and can barely hike up 10 meters without taking a short break. The most memorable part of that specific segment of the hike, was an All Girls high school class on a field trip, hiking the Tongrariro Crossing They were just ahead of us I managed to pass the entire class of 30 girls on the steep climbing. Unfortunately, Jazz' legs didn't seem to cooperate, and was stuck, 28th person in the single file, high school girls' line. I was standing at the crater of the volcano, peering down at Jazz struggling with the high school girls..and I couldn't help but laugh at loud...and he considers himself to be the top athlete of his rugby league!? hahahah.
Jazz in back of Girls' line (NZ highschool daytrip
We finally reached Emererald Lakes, and once again...absolutely outsanding. The only flaw at this point, was that there were wayyyyy too many people on the trail. Nontheless, the beauty far outweighed the dilemma of saturated peeps.
Steph & Emerald Lakes up Close
We're making it up to our last ascent, Central Crater and approaching Blue Lake,
White crater lake
where I spot the most amazing, awe inspiring, motivating hikers...a father carrying his 3 year old son on his back and a young mother with her new born baby on her front and a huge load on her back. Jazz had to give me his backpack because his legs and back could barely support the added weight, and here was a woman carrying both her new born baby and a backpack twice the size and weight of that on Jazz' back. (well I was carrying for him now)
Mother and her baby hiking the crossing!
After this peak, the remainder of the hike was back downhill, and we decided to speed our pace up a notch, in order to catch the 4:30 pm bus. We rested and snacked at a lodge just 1800 M above sea level, and 2 hours away from our bus. We only had 1 hour and 15 min to make the 4:30 bus....the remainder of the trail carried on through a rain forest with streams running parallel to the trail. Once again, pure, natural beauty. I wished I could have held on to those views forever. Luckily I have my D80 Nikon!
Hike down
We made it 4:30 on the nose where our shuttle bus was waiting for us. We plopped ourselves on the bus...and felt like I got slapped with a sudden wave of exhaustion.. We arrived at the hostel exactly 12 hours post our departure in the morning. .I haven't been able to move my legs for the past two days. Amazing what one can accomplish in one day. A thought just occured to me...while most of my friends were sitting at their desk, working.. I was sitting above the clouds peering over towering mountains and active volcanos!
