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Published: December 7th 2007
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Our fun climb
This is a very small portion of what I later learned is called "The Devil's Staircase" So, we are now back at our hostel after what I consider our most challenging hike yet. And fittingly enough, this was our hike up to Mount Doom (really called Mt. Ngauruhoe). I'll get back to some of the stuff we did before this in my next post, but I think I'll describe this hike while it's more fresh in my mind (and body).
So...incoming detailed description of hike - skip this post if you don't care (short version - it was hard, mildly dangerous, and at Mt. Doom).
So the hike we did is called the Tongariro Crossing, and is claimed by the Lonely Planet to likely be the best day hike in New Zealand. Anyways, it goes between 2 volcanic mountains in a national park dominated by 3 volcanoes. The landscape was made up mainly of small shrubs and volcanic rocks. The first hour or so of the hike was mainly flat and had views of Mount Doom and a lot of other rough, rocky terrain which was pretty cool (very much Mordor). After the first little stretch we came to a very long climb which was made up of small sections of path and a lot of rock climbing. There wasn't really 1 path up the mountain but there were tall posts pointing out where we should be in general so we had to find paths and pick our way up to climb up these rocks. This wasn't very scary on the way up, but thinking about coming back down later certainly was and it was a very long time without anywhere very comfortable to stop so we climbed all the way up and were panting and dripping with sweat by the time we reached the top. The view back down over the valley we were in before were great though, but the top section of Mt. Doom was no longer visible due to clouds.
From there the trail went for about half a mile of perfectly flat land across a crater shaped area surrounded by the mountains. By this time the clouds were very thick about 200 feet above this flat plane so we couldn't really see the mountains around us (very sad). After this relaxing flat stretch we came to another long stretch of steep uphill which we didn't really see coming due to the clouds cutting off the view of the climb about 1/8 of the way up. This climb was not over rocks but rather hard ground covered in lots of little pebbles, therefore very likely to slide down at times. Some very narrow stretches of path with steep cliffs full of volcanic rocks on the sides, entirely nerve-racking - but with great views off the other side of the mountain. Once we were up this and again thinking of the danger of the trip back down the hill we had a little stretch of easy going until the last climb up to the highest point we got to. This had a really cool red crater off to the side but we were surrounded by fog and there was a little wind and it was rather intense to hang out up there for long.
Then we got to go down the other side which was scary at first then quite fun after we got used to it. The ground on the other side was very loose and covered with gravel so that every step you took you slid down about 6 inches to a foot past where you set your foot down. It was very much like walking on soft sand down a steep hill (except that instead of being surrounded by more soft sand it was surrounded by steep cliffs of volcanic rocks). This area was usually at least 10 feet wide though so the fear of falling off the side wasn't really there and once used to "skiing" down the hill it was pretty fun. This hill led down to "the emerald lakes" which were just that - 3 small lakes very emerald in color, but not entirely clear or clean looking and smelling a decent bit like sulfur.
We went on for about 15-20 minutes after these lakes but the fog was so thick we couldn't really see anything to our sides and when we came to another good sized uphill stretch we decided to turn back. This led to that large hill which was fun to come down but amazingly tiring to climb back up. By the time we reached the top I was very very glad that there would not be any more uphill because those muscles as well as the balls of my feet were entirely spent.
The trip down the hard-ground path was not as bad as I had thought it would be. This might be because I got used to the sliding feeling already so the small slips on the way down were not a very big deal. With that being said it was still a long period of extreme mental and physical focus. It had been misting lightly for a while now but as we crossed the flat plane before the rock climbing area it started to rain a little more (I couldn't help but laugh at the adventure this might bring). This brought on the important decision of stopping for a rest to regain strength while eating something which might risk the rocks getting very wet or pushing on down the mountain without rest or food but beating the heavy rain. We pushed on and made the trip down the hill which also wasn't nearly as frightening as I thought it would be on the way up. Parts were still quite intense and much was certainly jarring on our legs, but it was also a lot of fun hopping from rock to rock picking out our paths on the way down. Luckily enough we chose to push on because the rain came in stronger after we hit the bottom and we made the rest of the walk back to our car eating while we walked and getting very wet. We were a little bummed at the lack of views due to the clouds (I've heard you can see some of the other NZ mountains that are really far away on clear days) but it was still a cool hike and a good adventure.
Alright, that's all I have to say about that.
Well, this is not the day I started this and the computer in this internet cafe isn't registering my camera so pictures will have to wait.
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