The Tongariro Crossing and Mount Ngauruhoe

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Wake up to very low cloud but dry…hoorah! About 15 of us from the hostel pile on the shuttle at 7.15am and by 8am are walking into the mist and haze that is this famous landscape. Everyone has a different pace so we naturally all split down with Alex, Graham, Will and I all walking together. The beginning of the walk, to the soda springs was quite an errie feel, thanks to the fact you couldn’t see anything around except the outline of big mountains either side of you. After soda springs we reached an area known as the ‘devils staircase’, and an hour later when we reached the top we knew why, wooden steps in the mountain alternated with steep paths, sure took it out of us.

At the top of the ‘devils staircase’ I assume you have amazing views, though we weren’t privileged to these, only some rain, but the area felt so dramatic I think the cloud just added to the impact. We reach the South crator, where you can see the long flat plain stretching out in front of you, almost like a desert, and with mounts surrounding you. Here Alex and I decided to head up Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom from Lord of the rings), which we all knew would be a real challenege, especially in the cloud, so the other two carried on with the crossing.

Ngauruhoe is in addition to the crossing and there is no path, I think to discourage the vast majority from walking up it. I am glad Alex and I had agreed to walk it together, as we both said, neither would have attempted it on our own. The 600m climb was all scree and near vertical slopes, so it was a case of two steps up, one slide down! It took us around 1hr 45minutes to reach the top, and it was a real challenge, with Alex and I sheltering from the biting wind behind a large rock at one point before the gaining enough warmth to push to the top. We beat the cloud to the top and were rewarded with breath taking views of the inside crator of the volcano. The black and red colours lining the inside of the crator are fantastic, having never seen the inside crator of the volcano, it really was something special. We took a few photos and walked round the edge of the crator, battling the ferocious winds.

As we think about heading down the cloud envelopes us, and the crater is completely hidden, and a group of 4 people that just made it to the top can see nothing….after all that climbing!

Heading down is far more fun, as you just take really long steps and slide down. Well it took quite a few ‘tactical sit downs’ (falls) to master the step/slip combo, we it was highly amusing and we got there in the end. I have no idea how, but we reach the base of Mount Ngauruhoe where we started at the small sign post, as visibility doesn’t extended beyond your hand in front of your face.

With Mount Ngauruhoe conquered we feel very smug and continue on the crossing seeing how far we can make it before returning to the car park in time to get the shuttle home. We figure out we can make it to the red crator and possibly the emerald lakes if we are quick. So we head up to the red crator, which is a another climb, which are legs aren’t too happy about after Ngauruhoe. But again, once at the top, we get great views of the whole Tongariro National Park as the cloud had lifted, and the fabulous red crator.

From the red crator you can’t see the emerald lakes, but we were told by some people we passed, if you follow the scree track down you get amazing views. So once again we slid/walked down the steep scree slopes, and the vivid turquoise emerald lakes appeared before our eyes. Its already 1.30pm and with time ticking by, we only stop to dip our hands in, take some photos before the final major ascent, the scree slope. As we hadn’t had time for any food and rather weary, this was a real challenge with Alex really really struggling, but we made it to the top!

We then have a fast paced walk back down from the red crator, and are running really tight on time for the shuttle, so we decide to jog across the flat open plain, which takes around 10 minutes. So with no food in us, very achy limbs, around 1,300m above sea level and in hiking boots, this is defiantly intense endurance training.

Our efforts are yet again rewarded as we reach our time check spot we made ahead of schedule, so can enjoy the rest of the walk at a nice relaxed pace. And now all the cloud is lifted and we can enjoy the views that were previously masked by all the cloud on the way in. And we make it to the shuttle dead on time at 3.30pm, for its departure at 3.45pm. So we completed the whole crossing and Ngauruhoe in 7.5hrs, when the estimate to do just the crossing is 6-8hrs!

When we reach the hostel I stretch out, shower and then eat what was my lunch, a mega portion of quinoa, vegetables and tuna. After a quick walk of the block to move my legs, Alex rents the movie ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ and a couple of us settle down in the TV room. It turns out that Graham, Will and the rest of the people that did the walk but didn’t go up Ngauruhoe completed the whole crossing like us, but couldn’t see anything. The cloud was so thick they didn’t get to see the red crator or emerald lakes, I felt so sorry for them.

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