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Published: November 10th 2007
Mt Doom in the morning!
looking alot more pleasant than in LOTR!It's beginning to be a running theme on this trip that to do fun things you have to get up really early! This is Joe writing the blog as Kim decided to opt out of todays activity! Anyway, as I was saying, early mornings are becoming more familiar and today was no exepction! So, the alarm went off at 5am.... yes, 5am and me, Tim and the Canada crew got up for our walk through the Tongariro national park. The Tongariro crossing is a 8 hour trek and is described as one of the top 1 day walks in the world. The description on the leaflet is....
Often described as thye best one-day hike in New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing provides an opportunity to experience some of the most scenic and active volcanic areas of the park. The track winds up the Mangatepopo Valley to the saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. It climbs to the Red Crater (1886m), then drops down to the vivid Emerald lakes. After passing Blue Lake, the track descends around the northern slope of Tongariro, then descends in a zig-zag to the Ketetahi Hut. So the bust left the hostel at 5.40am and we got
to the drop off point at 7am. It was a really cold morning and I was pretty lucky to buy the last pair of gloves for $5! Me, Tim and the Canada Crew set off through the valley and to the first challenging uphill climb of the devils staircase. This wasn't really a staircase, more just clambering several hundred metres up a rocky hill. Pretty hard going but I hate stopping on a hill so pressed on to the top. When I got there and looked back the guys were really far down and so I took a rest.
From here you could have the option of going up Mount Ngauruhoe. For all of you Lord of the Rings fans out there, this is the mountain that Peter Jackson chose to use as Mount Doom. Now this is a big mountain! The summit is 2287 metres and is one of New Zealands most active volcanoes (although thankfully it's been relatively quiet since 1975. The driver gave a warning about going up here as its is described as "very challenging" and there is no actual path to the top, you just have to find a way up! Luckily when I
got to the top of the devils staircase there was a group of guys from our Kiwi bus about to head up and as the rest of the guys from my dorm weren't keen on it I went with them.
Because it's a volcano, there are no trees or shrubbery on the side to break your fall, just lots of rocks and some snow. We set off up the side of Mt Doom (I'm going to call it that from now on as typing Mt Ngauruhoe is tricky and I can't even say it let alone remember how to spell it!) just before 9am. The first half of the climb wasn't so bad. It was tough as the side surface is just loose gravel and rocks so its hard to find your footing. A couple of other guys from the bus tried to follow us in their t-shirt's and shorts (we had fleeces, windproof jackets and gloves!!) but they gave up about a quater of the way up and turned back. We met some Japenese people about half way up who gave up and turned back and we kept shouting "ROCK!!!!" when a rock came tumbling down, but instead
of moving they just watched the rocks bounce a couple of inches from their heads!!
The last 3rd of the climb was the hardest. The floor was so loose that you would take a step and your planted foot would slide back almost to the position of your standing foot. It literally was 2 steps forward, one step back. You had to pull yourself up with your hands, so thank god for my last pair of gloves! It was really hard going as it was so steep. At least we weren't carring any hobbits or evil magic rings to make it more difficuly! Looking back down the mountain was actually pretty frightening as if you fell you would not stop until you hit the bottom which was a long way down! It was slow going but slowly we made progress and finally made it to some larger rocks for a bit of a break. The view was incredible and we weren't even at the top! The climb became a bit easier near the top as the rocks were bigger and you didn't loose your footing as much.
Eventually after over an hour's climing we we almost there. In
the middle of the summit there is a huge snow filled crater, with a part rocky, part snow covered ridge running all the way around. We passed some steam vents and it was really quite warm. Remember this is a volcano! After a short walk around the ridge we made it to the highest peak. It was absolutely incredible. We all had such an adrenaline high from the climb and just seeing how high up we were. We spent an hour at the top but it only seemed like 5 minutes. We took so many photos and stopped for some well earned food. We sat in silence and there was not a sound. It's the most peaceful silence I've ever heard, and without a cloud in the sky the view was priceless. Seeing as we were already up the top we thought it would be good to walk right around the ridge. It was snow covered and like a knife edge. One slip and you would fall and fall. Thankfully this didn't happen! We dropped down into the crater to try and climb up the other side. The snow was so hard it was like ice and my boots weren't
gripping well and I slid right down again. I found a way up around the corner and the guys were already there telling me to run as it was an incredible view. When I got to the top I looked over and saw the volcanic crater of the mountain. Another great photo opportunity.
We were on such a high we jumped down the snow and slid into the larger, snow covered crater we had just came from. Seeing as we had another 6 hours walking ahead of us we thought we should make our way down the mountain. This began alot harder than you might think as the ground was so loose and we were trying not to fall, trying all sorts of ways like on all 4's and sat sliding. Eventually we found the most fun way imaginable. As the ground was just loose rocks you could use your boots like ski's and slide down the side! So we skated, practically from the top, all the way to the bottom. Probably not the safest thing in the world (sorry mum!) but it was so much fun. It only took us about 15 minutes to get all the way
to the bottom! Even though you got about half the mountain in your boot's by the bottom! We made it down by 11.45 so were quite pleased with ourselves that between breakfast and lunch we had climbed up and down a mountaiin!
We joined the main trail and walked past the sulphur lakes. There are warnings all over the place not to drink the water as its full of chemicals from the volcano! We walked around the south crater and uphill again to the red crater. Walking from one crater to another you can see why this is one of the best walks in the world. The scenery is breathtaking. The photo's don't do it justice. Look to your right and see a huge red coloured crater, and to your left and see snow capped mountains. Looking down one of the valleys looked just like Mordor from Lord of the Rings.
Coming down from these peaks we were now experts. If the mountain taught us anything it was that speed is good! Edging down the side is no good, just go with gravity and run! So we ran down to the popular lunch spot of emerald lakes with
the journey up!
and this wasn't even the steepest part! you can see it was just loose rocks! people looking at us like we were crazy! After another brief break we walked past the Blue lake which looked alot bluer from the top of Mt Doom! The snow by the side of the like looked like a sandy beach. Then came the descent to the Ketetahi hut. You can see the hut from the top of the ridge but the path zig zag's all the way down. The driver on the coach on the way up said it would take 45 minutes to walk down. We couldn't be bothered with that so we decided to run. People on the way down gave us more funny looks like we were crazy but we made it to the hut in 5 and a half minutes!
We only had a brief stop as we wanted to make the 3.30 bus. It was 2.15 and the walk from the hut to the car park was a 2 hour walk. We picked up the pace and jogged for a bit, but by now our legs were pretty heavy so we kept it at a fast walk. The final stretch was an easy walk through a forest but this was the worst bit.
As you were surrounded by trees you couldn't see the end and were expecting a car park around every corner only to be dissapointed with more tree's! Finally, at 3.27pm we made it and collapsed onto the bus, slept the hour drive back to the hostel and I had the best shower in the world when we got back.
I was in bed by 9.30 that night, I'm such a party animal, but I was knackered! The walk was amazing. The views were breathtaking and being up the the top of Mt. Doom is something I will never forget! Enjoy the photos, but they really don't do the real thing justice! If you want to have a read about the park and walk check out http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/
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Sam
non-member comment
Bloomin hec.....
Serious amounts of climbing and definately worth it by the looks!! Glad girl with white stillettos didn't try to follow!!x