Tramping the Tongariro Crossing

It was a stunning full day hike through the other side of the three massive peaks of Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.

Mt Ngauruhoe - This intimidating volcano served as 'Mount Doom' in Peter Jackson's interpretation of the The Lord of the Rings.

It seemed that everyone in Taupo was buzzing about how they managed to climb the Tongariro track. Tongariro was the world’s third listed heritage park, Yellowstone being the first. The crossing trip itself rivals some of the more illustrious tracks on the south island. Steph and I were eager to accept this adventure since we ran out of time to do any of those south island treks. However we have also accepted our weaknesses. We are very much fair weather trampers (hikers in kiwi speak) without huge endurance levels since we have been sitting on a bus for much of the last few weeks. I personally need to be heavily rewarded at the end of a climb with some pretty spectacular views. And with all the buzz around, the expectations were growing larger and larger.

Steph wore 6 layers under her jacket to take on and off to deal wirh the many weather extremes we were about to pass through. At the starting line it was only one thing, COLD.

At 6am we boarded the bus that brought us around the lake and to the northern starting point of the track by 7am. We set off from this central plateau, a desert that receives 1000 mls of rain per year but dries out really quickly and the strong winds. This prevent plants from growing over 2ft due to fierce winds. North faces pulled over our heads, we could barely hear each other yell.

The Devil's Staircase

Our eyes were focused on Mount Doom. Then all of a sudden arid bush shrubs abruptly turned to jagged volcanic rock as we approached “Devil’s Staircase”, the biggest physical challenge. Now I wasn’t trying to prove youthfulness by climbing Mt Doom on this last day of being 30 before turning 31. But I must say it made us feel more than a little tired and tested.

As for the rewards, we were in luck. Tongariro is known as the world’s best one day trek because of it’s extreme diversity. The scenery completely changes every 20 min - the plants, terrain, views, climate. At the end you feel like you’ve been through a living encyclopedia of plants in one day.

The crooked black volcanic rocks on the devils’s staircase, were behind us. The vegetation began showing one side windswept with icy frost. Next we crossed the first crater on what can only be described as a moonscape under a thick blanket of cloud. It was a little strange to think what we were walking over. Ruapehu apparently erupts the most often. The last eruption in these parts was two years ago. We were given an evacuation strategy - basically run down the hill. Run for your life. Nonetheless, the absence of wind made this walk incredibly peaceful.

Trail through the first crater, blanketed in clouds.

The next climb boasted even more demonic red volcanic rock as we ascended into more clouds, wet and cold to the bone. The terrain turned to icy mud and dense fog. Then we were on a straight along the summit. The path was no more than 2 meters wide from cliff edge to edge. I think all our vertigo was masked by the clouds. We were starting to question whether the weather was going to ruin our promised “coast-to-coast” views by the Taupo locals. We sucked on a few chocolate pineapple lumps to keep us going through the tough bit. Then the loose gravel caused us to fall stumble a few times. Steph was getting frustrated. I reminded her of our other carrot at the end of the stick - bangers and mash at the local pub in town.

The Summit

And then all of a sudden, everything began to brighten up. The clouds lifted. The sun started to shine through. And through the mist we started to see the turquoise pools of sulfer we were approaching. We walked across the second crater, again thinking this is just something from another planet. After passing a massive lake, we began the walk down through stunning alpine scenery and the rewards were immense - Coast to coast views as promised.

The last 5ks was all down hill for pure enjoyment of the stunning scenery everyone had raved about. We stopped to eat the lunch from our packs at one of New Zealand's many tramping huts. These are a service provided by national parks and serve as simple cabin shelters for the many hikers across the country. We were thoroughly impressed. The view from this camping chateau was priceless.

Our final home stretch was past a few hot springs spewing steam and sulfer smells. The landscape changed a few more times - as if to remind us there are still three more chapters of flora and fauna to learn from this impressive course on mother nature. We ended up in lush forest with streams, loud birds, and more different types of fern than you could count. We were overwhelmed and just a little tired at the finish line!

Happy Trampers