Today’s hike was a one-way, 20 km trek across two volcanoes with a bit over 2000 feet of elevation gain. Since it’s a one-way trip, nearly everyone who does it takes a shuttle, and as he dropped us at the trailhead just after 7am our driver cheerfully told us “Sorry guys, that’s as far as I’m allowed to take you, you’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”
By far, the most scenic section of the trail is the volcanic crater at the top with its blue-green pools, and with the weather forecast suggesting that there might only be a couple of hours cloud-free at the summit, I decided to power up as fast as I could. With temperatures in the high 30s / low 40s I ditched my jacket and hiked at a brisk pace in just a long-sleeved shirt. I sweat like a pig at the slightest exertion, so climbing up stairs and over rocks there was a cloud of steam surrounding me as I made me way up, but emitting clouds of steam on a volcano has a certain logic to it. Luckily I got to the top in about two and a half hours with mostly-blue skies and had an hour to enjoy it before clouds started pouring over the summit and obscuring the scenery. Underscoring how important good weather is for this hike, as I was leaving the crater and clouds were reducing visibility to just tens of meters, I overheard someone else saying to his partner “Is this supposed to be the highlight?”. I owe the karma gods big time for my luck on this trip.
Having gotten to the top during today’s tiny window of clear weather I took a few photos, had lunch, roamed around a bit, and then had a leisurely stroll for the remainder of the hike. The hike overall was a fun one. You start with views of Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom for Lord of the Rings fans) and hike up the bottom slopes of that volcano. Since it’s a popular trail, the Department of Conservation seems to do everything possible to dissuade people from continuing, including numerous “turn around if…” signs and a large sign at the top of the first steep climb that says “That was the easy part, it’s MUCH harder ahead”. Despite admonitions against continuing, the views get better as you climb, and after passing Mount Ngauruhoe and ascending to the top of Mount Tongariro it’s other-worldly hiking across a giant volcanic crater, with steaming fumaroles, lakes and pools that are colors that shouldn’t be possible outside of cartoons, and moonscapes of flat, rocky plains. The downhill was scenic as well, with views for miles out over the massive Lake Taupo and the surrounding countryside. I didn’t have perfect weather today, but it was pretty damn good for most of the hike and made for a grand adventure.
After the long and leisurely hike down it was only 2:30pm, so I figured why not do another short hike (I’m an idiot), and after hiking with hundreds of other people on the crossing figured an easy 6 km stroll around Lake Rotopounamu might be quieter (it was). Tomorrow it’s sadly time to move on again, but it’s only a short hop over to Rotorua, which is New Zealand’s most famous geyser and thermal area.
What a hunk – and I don’t mean the mountain!
Damn! You make it sound like a cake walk! Were your feet NOT killing you by the end of it?
HA! Definitely not a cake walk, and my shins were complaining during that long steady downhill over the last half of the trail (who decided endless switchbacks were a better idea than stairs???). My hero on the trail was a guy I saw near the summit who was hiking the full, multi-day circuit, had a giant backpack on his back, and was wearing pink crocs. Everyone was out of breath at the top, struggling in the loose rock, and this guy was just cruising up the mountain in his crocs like it was no big deal.