So Fri night after work (well afternoon really, because we decided we had worked enough around 1pm), we drove to National Park Village, which is at the base of Mt. Ruapehu. There we organized we organized lunch and transport for the next day and set about mentally preparing for the trek.
The Tongariro Alpine crossing is a 21 kilometer trek which takes you through (as in between) the peaks of Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe. The trek begins in the Mangatepopo valley which is though to have been carved out by glaciers and then filled in with lava from eruptions (the volcanoes are still active). Towards the base of the ranges where the trek starts to ascend, you get to the soda springs. The water is full of minerals, especially iron oxide.
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| Sunrise! It was just above freezing but warmed up quickly |
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| Mt. Ruapehu |
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| Mt. Taongariro |
The next part of the climb was I think my least favorite. It was crowded due to the narrowness of the track in relation to the number of people, and it was LOTS of stairs. While in some ways I appreciated the sophistication of the track, I also realized that my legs got tired much faster from walking up stairs as opposed to just an incline. However, it was a beautiful clear day and we could enjoy seeing Mt. Taranaki to the West. Having previously seen Mt. Ruapehu from the top of Mt. Taranaki, it was cool to reverse the view :)
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| Mt. Taranaki |
Once we got past all the stairs, the terrain flattened out a bit due to a lake, which is currently nearly dried up. It was a fun stop though because I got to see where Troway spent a week camped out in the snow during a high school adventure trip.
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| Semi-dried up lake |
The next leg of the climb was the steepest and had some sections which required single file climbing. Portions of it were narrowly along a rock ledge with a chain to hold onto. Probably not so extreme for a serious climber, but extreme enough for someone who grew up with no mountains to climb!
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| Mt. Tongariro |
From there, we climbed to the highest point of the trek (1886 meters or 6,187 feet) to a gorgeous view of the Red Crater and our first glimpse of the Blue and Emerald Lakes. Its color comes from oxidation of iron in the rock, according to the Dept. of Conservation information page.
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| Lava formations |
The next challenge was to descend to the Emerald Lakes. The color is these lakes is also caused by minerals. Despite the steaming areas around the lakes, the water stays cold enough to freeze in winter. The Maori call these lakes Ngarotopounamu (greenstone-hued).
Another 20-30 minutes of undulating terrain took us to the Blue Lake, which was a good halfway-ish point to have lunch. The Maori call this lake Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa, or Rangihiroa's mirror. Te Rangihiroa was a local chiefs son who was said to be an early explorer of the volcanoes. His sister was named Te Maari, after whom another crater is named.
The next leg of our trek was winding along the edge or the ranges. The last two-ish hours was through the Alpine slopes at a constant descent, with the final section through a hardwood forest to the lot where the buses come back to collect you at the end of the trek.
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| Big pumice stone :) |
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| Bigger pumice stone! |
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| Steaming mountain |
We managed to complete the entire trek in 6 hours, which was quicker than we had anticipated. We were tired at the end, but it was definitely worth it and I would enjoy doing the trek again, especially to explore some of the side treks which we did not take time to see this trip.
Headed home to meet my niece next week!
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