Well my big adventure last week was driving up to Turangi and doing the Tongariro Crossing. This was mainly in preparation for the trip I'll be doing with Mike in about 6 weeks - (a) to try and get fitter for it, and (b) to check out part of the route.
It turned out only two of us were going - my boss's wife Linda and me. We started from the Mangatepopo end at about 8:15, along with a bunch of other people. In places it felt seriously overcrowded and I did get more than a little annoyed with all the ignorant tourists (mostly German...) who clearly were not prepared if the weather had decided to pack in. Many did not have boots, only sneakers; and some were even wearing jeans!!! Madness.
The first part of the walk is relatively flat from Mangatepopo to Soda Springs. We stopped for about 10 minutes for the last toilet break before the end, then it was up the Devil's Staircase, which apparently they have done some major work on in the last few years by putting steps in. 383 steps (plus or minus a few, as I lost count a couple of times). Despite not having done any walking of this magnitude for a while, we managed to make good time and arrived at the top at about 10 o'clock. From there it was another flat walk across the southern crater.
On the other side is the point where the adventurous could decide to ascend Ngauruhoe if they felt insane enough. Since this is what Mike said he wants to do, I tried to imagine myself walking up there, and failed. There were points along the track where you'd look at the mountain and think, gosh that's huge. Then other points, nah, it's not that bad. I tell you, standing on the saddle at the base of it, it is enormous. They reckon 3 hours return... 2 1/2 hours up and 30 minutes down. Anyway I've decided not to think about it, but to let Mike decide on the day. When we get there, I'm fully expecting him to say, 'Whoa... maybe not!' (And we will have been carrying full packs too - although obviously if we do decide to climb it we'll leave them at the bottom.)
Anyway there were some impressive views from the saddle, but we weren't at the top yet. I offered to double pack up the hill as Linda was struggling a bit with her new boots.
From the top of the crater rim, one can choose to walk around to the summit of Mt Tongariro, touted as a 1 1/2 hour walk. I was somewhat keen to do this, having been there before on the Outdoor Pursuits Centre course (albeit in winter). But since we still had a bit of a climb to do, and cloud was starting to roll across the tops, we decided not to.
After another steep climb and skirting around Red Crater, we had a swift descent down to the Emerald Lakes. There were a few too many people at this point to really go for it in the scree running.
From here it was another walk across the central crater, around Blue Lake and then beginning the descent to Ketetahi Hut and the road end. The hut looks to be very well-equipped and I'll be looking forward to staying there in 5 or 6 weeks' time. The only nagging thought is having to walk all the way back up the zigzags and across the crater to descend on the other side to Oturere, but the ascent won't be too steep. The day after doing the crossing I felt like I could have walked for another 8 hours that day, which is a good sign. Although with full packs, and if we choose to climb Ngauruhoe, it could be a different story. Anyway - cross that bridge when we get to it. All in all an enjoyable trip and I am looking forward to the 3 day version in late February. Hopefully we can enjoy similar weather - I'll start praying for it now!
Red Crater at Mt Tongariro, with Mt Ngauruhoe shrouded in cloud behind it. The track can be seen climbing to the right of the crater - scree running territory, if only there weren't so many tourists...
