4/5/18
Our plan today was to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Perhaps the most famous and most popular single day trek in NZ. It crosses a stark, treeless, alpine, and active volcanic landscape. It's a one way hike, and shuttles charge $35 per person for the transfer, so of course we were going to hitchhike. It turned out there wasn't many cars on the road, other than shuttle companies, so we started walking, knowing the road eventually intersected with a busier road. We walked about 3 miles before we were picked up by a nice woman who runs an Air BnB and was transferring her guests to the trail head. So we lucked out b/c she even took us up the dirt road to the trail head. When we got to the trail and started hiking, we could see the huge line of people (looking like tiny ants) climbing up the first pass, but because we started quite late and did a long side hike early in the trip, we actually got to enjoy this beautiful, yet usually crowded hike, mostly in solitude. At the top of the first pass, we left the trail and climbed to the top of the perfectly shaped volcanic cone of Ngauruhoe Volcano. This volcano is famous for being Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings. From the top we had amazing views over the otherworldly volcanic landscape Ruapehu Volcano, and Tongariro Volcano. Mt. Ruapehu is an active volcanoes with some glaciers on it, as well as 3 ski areas. It's famous for having erupted during a ski day once. In the very far distance we could see Taranaki Volcano and Lake Taupo. It was a crazy steep climb to the top, but we were able to ski down the screen on the way back down, which was a lot of fun. The crater was pretty interesting. We walked around its rim and past some of the hot sulfur vents at the top.
When we made it back onto the trail, we hiked through the South Crater and then up to the Red Crater. I can also distinctly remember going to the red crater with my dad, and he being proud of how far I hiked as such a little kid. From Red Crater, we had views looking down on 3 super beautiful little lakes (called Emerald lakes), each a different shade of of turquoise/green. We descended down to the lakes to walk among them and the steam vents near them. We then crossed the central crater before climbing up to blue lake. Then it was all downhill back to the car. We were one of the last ones to finish and finished right before we needed headlamps.
After getting back to the car, we soaked in a hot pool before finding a place to camp.
Our plan today was to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Perhaps the most famous and most popular single day trek in NZ. It crosses a stark, treeless, alpine, and active volcanic landscape. It's a one way hike, and shuttles charge $35 per person for the transfer, so of course we were going to hitchhike. It turned out there wasn't many cars on the road, other than shuttle companies, so we started walking, knowing the road eventually intersected with a busier road. We walked about 3 miles before we were picked up by a nice woman who runs an Air BnB and was transferring her guests to the trail head. So we lucked out b/c she even took us up the dirt road to the trail head. When we got to the trail and started hiking, we could see the huge line of people (looking like tiny ants) climbing up the first pass, but because we started quite late and did a long side hike early in the trip, we actually got to enjoy this beautiful, yet usually crowded hike, mostly in solitude. At the top of the first pass, we left the trail and climbed to the top of the perfectly shaped volcanic cone of Ngauruhoe Volcano. This volcano is famous for being Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings. From the top we had amazing views over the otherworldly volcanic landscape Ruapehu Volcano, and Tongariro Volcano. Mt. Ruapehu is an active volcanoes with some glaciers on it, as well as 3 ski areas. It's famous for having erupted during a ski day once. In the very far distance we could see Taranaki Volcano and Lake Taupo. It was a crazy steep climb to the top, but we were able to ski down the screen on the way back down, which was a lot of fun. The crater was pretty interesting. We walked around its rim and past some of the hot sulfur vents at the top.
When we made it back onto the trail, we hiked through the South Crater and then up to the Red Crater. I can also distinctly remember going to the red crater with my dad, and he being proud of how far I hiked as such a little kid. From Red Crater, we had views looking down on 3 super beautiful little lakes (called Emerald lakes), each a different shade of of turquoise/green. We descended down to the lakes to walk among them and the steam vents near them. We then crossed the central crater before climbing up to blue lake. Then it was all downhill back to the car. We were one of the last ones to finish and finished right before we needed headlamps.
After getting back to the car, we soaked in a hot pool before finding a place to camp.
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