Advertisement
Published: December 29th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Mount Doom
It seems not even the fires of Mount Doom could trouble fearless trekkers Jude and Lina. The Tongariro Crossing was a really big day for us on our round the world trip- so big in fact that I've had to split the blog into two separate sections. If you're sitting comfortably, I shall take up the story again when we had just reached the highest peak of our trek at 1900 meters... We stayed on the main path and gradually made our way up towards the amazing Red Crater - a huge volcano that we could peer right into. Its slopes were lined with the most vibrant brown and red coloured volcanic ash which served as a reminder that this was an extremely active volcano that had erupted as recently as 1996 - eek! Past the red crater, the path took us downhill a little until we reached a big open space where we found ourselves right in the heart of the volcanic ridge. Scattered about us far and wide were thousands of small lumps of solidified lava, probably spewed out by the volcano during the last eruption. It was an alien landscape that looked eerily like the surface of Mars.
After a about kilometre we started heading uphill again and the going was just
as steep as it had been before. Once again, the difficult climb was well worth it when we were greeted by the sight of greeny-blue thermal lakes steaming away over the other side of the ridge. Getting down to the lakes was pretty hairy as the entire side of the mountain was covered in deep scree that swallowed our feet until we were almost ankle deep in gravel. The only way to get down was to pretend we were kind of skiing but instead of snow it was all small loose stones beneath our feet. Glynn raced on ahead, closing followed by Lina who seemed to be really enjoying this bit of the trek. At first it seemed really scary going down, especially as we all fell on our arses at least twice, but even I started to have fun after a while!
We stopped for lunch by one of the emerald lakes and tucked into our packed lunch of sandwiches and juicy kiwi fruit while trying to brace ourselves against the icy cold wind that whipped around us. Lina expertly carved a Batman logo into one of her kiwi fruits using just her spife (that's a spoon/knife combo
Volcano Valley
How's that for a view? tool by the way!) much to the delight of Glynn. It was so beautiful by the lakes that we could have sat there all day if it weren't for the chill in the air. When another trekker we didn't like the look of tried to tag along with us, we made a big deal of walking around the lake until he eventually went on ahead, leaving our mini fellowship intact.
The next leg of the trek took us along another volcanic plain until we had another climb up to the aptly named Blue Lake. This lake was bigger than all the emerald lakes but not nearly as unusual so we didn't linger there for too long. Looking back across the plains we had just traversed though, we were stunned to see we had just walked right alongside a burnt out lava flow that wasn't really visible at ground level. It certainly made us appreciate just how truly volcanic this whole area is and of how lucky we are to have the opportunity to walk in these potentially hazardous lands.
As we rounded the Blue Lake, the terrain began to lead downhill at last with the tracks winding us
Volcano Valley
Not to mention this view too... past active thermal areas with rotten egg smells wafting across the fields from big cracks in the rocks. We crossed numerous little streams of fresh, ice-cold water that trickled down from the melting snows on higher ground. Occasionally we did see the remnants of snow drifts caught in the shadows that were just too far from the path to reach safely. It was a pity as we were all busting to have a snowball fight!
The scenery around us changed dramatically as we headed over the other side of the ridge. What was once the barren, rugged and rocky landscapes of Mordor transformed into grass and gorse covered fields that wouldn't have looked out of place in the European Alps. In the distance we could see our next checkpoint, the Ketetahi Hut, but none of us believed the sign that said it would take us 2 hours to get there; it just didn't look to be that far away. Well we walked.....and walked....and walked....and walked and although the hut seemed to be getting closer, the path was so twisty that what would have been about 1km as the crow flies must have been at least 4km long!
Although
Rockin' All Over the World
Jude and Glynn, rockin' out on the rocks! the path was far easier to negociate than the rocky slopes we'd had to climb on the way up, somehow it seemed to zap all our remaining energy. There were steps built into the track at uneven intervals that were often so high that we had to jump down and eventually our knees began to really feel the strain. It was just under 2 hours before we reached the hut and treated ourselves to a well-earned rest. We gratefully refilled our water packs (we had 6.5 litres between 3 of us and it was only just enough to get us this far) and sat down for a good 20 minutes before setting off again feeling remotivated as well and refreshed.
This was to be the last leg of the trek - the home strait. We could see the car park in amongst the distant trees and felt sure we could beat the 2 hour suggested timescale for reaching it. For about another hour of the trek, the path continued to wind its way through the alpine landscape as it had doen for the previous 2 hours. Then we made it to the edge of the forest and into the
Sliders
Jish reckons he's worked out the quick way to get down. Would you follow this bear? trees. At this point we were all hopeful of reaching the car quickly so Glynn marched off ahead. Lina kindly kept me company as I tried to muster enough enthusiasm to continue walking when every bit of my body was sending me signals to stop.
The walk through the woods was really lovely and having some shelter from the cold wind was a welcome relief. We passed a few hikers who were heading up the track in the opposite direction to camp at the Ketetahi Hut for the night and were slightly unnerved to be passed by a man kitted out in full hunting gear with a big rifle slung casually over his shoulder. I haven't come so close to anyone with a gun since my hunt saboteur days at univeristy and I didn't like the way it made me feel. Thankfully Glynn was waiting for us around the next bend to check that we were ok as I think the rifle thing had spooked him a bit too.
On through the forest we went and began to follow the course of a ferociously fast flowing stream. We ambled over small rickety bridges and deeper and deeper into
The Mountaineer
It's not Everest Glynn! the unknown. Two hours had passed since we left the hut and I was starting to wonder if we would ever make it to the car park before our legs gave out on us altogether. Then, just as we rounded another big bend in the woods, we saw a grinning Glynn leaning on a wooden bollard in front of the Ketetahi car park where Lina's car was waiting for us! It was just gone 6pm and it had taken us a grand total of 10 hours to cross the Tongariro. Wow.
Apparently most people complete the crossing in 7-8 hours but I have to say that I haven't met one person who's done the crossing that enjoyed it as much as we did. Because we didn't have to catch one of the shuttle buses at a set time to get back to Taupo, we were able to savour every view and have a little fun too. Perhaps that explains why we saw so many people walking flat out along the way. Well, I don't care if we were slower than everyone else because we really did have the most incredible experience and it's a memory that will stay with
Brrrrrrrrrrr
It's so c-c-c-oooolldddd up here. Maybe Lina and Jude aren't really cut out for mountain climbing after all. us forever.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.113s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 11; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0429s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Linda
non-member comment
Stunning!
Sounds like you definitely did the best thing with the transport logistics. If you had felt you were being hurried along too much it might have been a different sort of experience. The crossing itself looks absolutely stunning I would’ve loved it I can tell.