Mt. Karioi Summit Climb

I have little doubt that by the end of 2020 most of us felt the need for a break. I was right there with you, especially as work seemed to get busier the closer we got to the end. I am fortunate to work for a company that closes for a couple of weeks over the holidays. I opted to extend the break a bit and took off a few days early. 

Summer had arrived, flowers were in bloom, the sun was shining and I just felt the need for fresh air. I also wanted to go somewhere I had never been. I settled on venturing towards Raglan, which is a coastal town a couple of hours North of here. It is small and a bit out of the way, and is primarily known for being a fantastic surf destination. I was not the least bit interested in surfing, but figured I could find some alternate outdoor activity. After a bit of digging, I stumble on the Mt. Karioi summit climb. I have a friend that lives in the area who enthusiastically agreed to join me. 

Mt. Karioi is an extinct volcano that is just outside of Raglan. It does not have the traditional cone-shape of a volcano like Mt. Fuji, but was certainly still a challenge to climb! The summit is 750 meters high, and the views were well worth the effort. We opted to do the summit climb from the coastal side and return the same way. The track continues down the other side of the volcano for those who want to carry on but we did not have transport back to our vehicle organized so thought we would save that for next time. 

We were climbing a fairly steep track right from the word go. The first stage was through the back of a farm, so there was a bit of a breeze but the sun was quite warm so the heartrates got up pretty quickly. We persevered though and got into a wooded section after the first half hour. From there it was more up than down but had some flat or slight descending sections. There was one ladder to navigate, and two sections where chains had been installed to allow you to safely get up a bank. Right at the end we found ourselves needing to do a bit of rock climbing to get right to the summit!

The summit featured a helicopter pad, which make an excellent picnic spot for having lunch and re-hydrating. There were also stunning 360 degree views, I'll let the below photos do the telling :)