marylonghorn: The Tongariro

Last week I completed the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is famed to be one of, if not the, best one-day hikes in the world, definitely in New Zealand. (Side note: New Zealanders refer to hiking as tramping. So, if I happen to mention that I went on a tramp, or had a great tramp, please know I refer to something completely appropriate.) :-)

The Tongariro National Park is a world heritage site, passing over active volcanic terrain that can best be described as "moon-like." There are two summits, Mt. Tongariro, and Mt. Ngauruhoe (also known as Mt. Doom for Lord of the Ring fans!), both of which can be climbed as side trips while doing the crossing. The tramp is 19.4km (12 miles) without doing the summits, though there are several craters to climb during the crossing.

From my place in Taupo, it is about an hour's drive to the crossing, which is situated on the other side of the lake. Since New Zealand weather is notoriously unpredictable, it is difficult to plan a "perfect day" to do the crossing. Unfortunately for me, though the weather was supposed to clear last Tuesday, it actually never did, and I completed the crossing in drizzle, cold wind, and fog. Because of the fog, as you can see from the pictures, at times it was difficult to see more than a few meters in front of me. For this reason, I did only the crossing and neither of the summits, since there would have been no view from the top. The first hour of the tramp was enjoyable. After that, I was soaking wet, hiking up hills, stairs, and ridges in freezing cold wind, which was unpleasant at times. The last couple hours on the way down, the fog was better, and I enjoyed some beautiful views.

The first hour of the crossing was pleasant enough, with constant drizzle but an easy walk.

There were hundreds of stairs taking trampers up the Red Crater.

I could only see a few meters in front of me at times because of the heavy fog. If you look closely, you will see a group of hikers up ahead on the trail.