I was awoken by an array of alarms this morning as we decided to get up at 4.45 for a 5.30am start today to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. When mine went off my phone fell down the side of the bed which made an active start to the morning! I was actually quite surprised by the amount of people who signed up for this activity, as our group filled a small bus load! The reason we had to be up at half 5 was because we needed a bus transfer to the start of the crossing which was an hour and a half drive.
After a rather sleepy bus journey we arrived at the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing just after 7 just in time for the sunrise which was impressive. The company organising the bus gave the option to hire many things, and I hired a thick jacket for $10 which could be refunded if I didn't use the coat as if I wore it I would have to break a band. The woman was selling it as an insurance policy! It was pretty cold and windy when exiting the bus with the mountains surrounding shrouded in cloud, although apparently the sun would burn much of it away. I opted to just stay in a hoodie to start with.
Following the Mangatepopo stream along boardwalks we began to get impressive views of the valley behind as the sun rose, although you could barely see the mountains in front as they were cloud. I started off walking with the British girls on the bus but I soon made the decision to tank it on because I wanted to climb the mountain further ahead. Before long I passed basically everyone who had already stopped for rests, and I headed up the fast rising devils staircase which was pretty rocky. In general the path was just cloud which made me damp, but every so often the sun would come out and give an impressive view.
By about quarter to 9 I arrived at the turn off for Mount Ngauruhoe which was listed as a 3 hour detour from the main 19.4km track. Described as extremely dangerous, I opted to climb this active volcano which was used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. It was pretty easy to start with following these blue poles with these two Dutch guys I went skydiving with yesterday, but before long the cloud became stronger and we couldn't see the path. After clambering up these rocks as the path became ash and loose rocks which gave way, we stopped for a break to assess the situation. I sat there munching on my scotch fingers!
In the end the two Dutch guys decided to go back, but luckily I bumped into a group of British and we continued upwards along this narrow ridge of fixed rocks. By the time we reached the top of these rocks the path became ridiculously difficult as it was just loose volcanic stones which gave way. In the end we just took it slowly and with a bit of teamwork we reached the top. You couldn't see a thing though but the achievement was amazing as we jumped around in joy at reaching the 2291m summit. Whilst up there a couple of people reached the top, but in all just 7 people made it with many giving up along the way. Just 3 of us were from kiwi experience.
We didn't stay up on the small ridge for long as it was freezing, and just cloud with a sheer drop one side, making my $10 investment in a jacket a pretty good one! Coming down was the fun part as the ground gave way. It was easier however to almost run down the loose volcanic sediment than clamber down the rocks, although this created lots of rock falls. One rock even hit someone on the leg but they were ok! In the end it took just half an hour to get back down and by the time we reached the bottom we had our lunch whilst we were sheltered.
The next section took us back along the main alpine crossing through this flat arid land before heading up along the red crater ridge to reach the summit. This was a pretty challenging section although it was pretty well kept and nothing comparable to the mountain we just climbed! The fact oaps were walking the main trail puts it into perspective. By the time we reached the top we passed the turn off for mount Tongariro although we couldn't do this after strict instructions from our bus driver not to do both mountains due to time.
After leaving the red crater summit we headed along this ridge with winds blowing across, although our descent was easy compared to the mountain. En route we passed the emerald lakes which stunk of sulphur, and also were a pure blue colour when the sun was out. By now I was only in my hoodie again and we traversed along this well kept gravel path getting views of the great Lake Taupo in the distance. The path then zig zagged down to the Ketetahi shelter where we met with the Dutch guys I started climbing the mountain with. We got views of the volcano emitting large amounts of sulphur from here.
With just around 4 miles to go here and just under an hour until the first bus left we decided to go for that bus. Walking fast downhill we soon entered a woodland environment, which was really warm by now and I was just in a t shirt! Before long walking turned to running as we went through the undulating forest and exited the volcanic risk zone. In the end we made it to the bus 20 minutes early, although the five of us got the last five places on the first bus!
When arriving back in Taupo I jumped straight in the shower, washing my feet which were literally black! I then bought plenty of supermarket supplies, and after a quick WiFi session in burger king I went out to this more posh burger place for a proper burger with a few people from the bus. Before long we went to the hostel bar which was really quiet, although it was $5 drinks! We just discussed what we had done which in terms of climbing the mountain was the toughest terrain I have been on due to its instability. The actual hike was pretty moderate though and I can see why it is such a popular route with the views and natural landforms along the way!
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