The Tongariro Crossing

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This is the most famous (and I'm guessing most popular) one-day hike in New Zealand.

I got up bright and early on the 12th to take the bus from Taupo to Tongariro National Park to do the famous Tongariro Crossing. However, when I got on the bus, we were told that the weather was lousy and that the company had cancelled the hike for the day. I decided to stay another day at the National Park and try the hike the next day, as the weather forecast was favorable. It rained most of the day anyway and the peaks of the mountains looked brutal.

The next morning it was bright and sunny outside. We got up and got shuttled to the beginning of the hike. There were a lot of people at the trailhead and I knew that it would be a crowded hike. The hike started out going uphill on a well maintained trail and boardwalk. It was an hour hike to Soda Springs. It was an easy hike prior to this point, but we could see that the hike would get steeper shortly. The next hour or so was the most difficult part. It was a pretty steep hike up to the South Crater. It was a nice flat hike through the South Crater and we were able to regain our strength for the final push to the top of the Crossing. The last section was not too bad though. At the top of the Crossing is Red Crator. Then the trail continues along the top of the crater side and goes by Emerald Lakes. These light blue lakes are really sweet looking and the gas coming from nearby makes the scene surreal. Then we had a long hike down. It took much longer to go down than it took to get up as the trail was slowly descending the mountain. It felt great to get back to the trailhead on the other side after the 18 km hike! We were all glad that the weather was good for us and that we had waited another day at the National Park. It was a much better day for the hike.

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Photos

Tongariro National Park
The weather over the mountain the day before the hike.

Lousy weather in Tongariro National Park
Shot showing the rain and weather the day we wanted to do the Crossing.

Beginning of the Crossing
Mass of people getting ready to start the hike for the Crossing.

Group shot at the beginning of the Crossing
Us getting ready for the hike.

Trail sign at beginning of the Crossing
Going to Ketetahi road end. The hike is over 18 km long and 1000 meters of elevation gain and loss.

Trail map at beginning of the Crossing
Map of the trail and area.

Hiking the Crossing
A shot early along the trail on the way up the Crossing. Look at all the damn people.

Mt Doom
Shot of the mountain next to Tongariro. It is Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies.

Hiking the Crossing
Shot looking back down the mountain on the way up the Crossing.

View along the hike
Shot of me while looking down the mountain.

South Crater
Shot of the looking forward on the Crossing trail at the South Crater.

View along the hike
View from the top of the Tongariro Crossing looking back from where we started.

Geothermal Activity on Tongariro
Shot of the geothermal activity on Tongariro. Steam coming off the side of the mountain is not too far from us.

Red Crater
Shot of the top of Red Crater. Check out the contrast in colors.

Lunch
Lunch at the top of the Crossing with the hiking group.

Emerald Lakes
Shot looking down at Emerald Lakes during the hike.

Group shot at Emerald Lakes
Shot of the group along the descent of the hike of the Crossing.

Hiking the Crossing
Action shot of the top of the Tongariro Crossing hike.

Ketetahi Hut
Shot of the hut along the descent. Large groups of people doing the Crossing. Check it out.

View along the hike
You can see Lake Taupo in the distance. Shot taken from the hut along the descent.

Me at Ketetahi Hut
Shot of me taken from the hut along the descent. Beautifil views.

View along the hike
Shot of the group hiking in the grasslands on the way down. This was the worst part of the hike.

View along the hike
Shot of the descent of the Crossing. The terrain changed abruptly from grasslands to forrest. Pretty cool.

Group of people at the end of the hike
Shot taken at the end of the Tongariro Crossing. This shows again how many people do the hike. We are all awaiting pickup from our shuttles.

Trail sign at end of the Crossing
Shot of the trail sign at the end of the Tongariro Crossing. We hiked from Mangatepopo.

Tongariro National Park
Shot of the Tongariro from the bus ride back to our hostel after our succesful hike of the Tongariro Crossing.

Comments

[Daddy Don]

More wow
Nice picts. Reads like an interesting hike. Probably not many old folks like us on it. Enjoy your blogs. DD

[Reebs]

too many people
this trip looks so cool. too many people on that hike for my taste. it's really great you are posting this stuff for everyone to see! Wish I had this sort of log from my past trips!