A Journey through Mordor

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I got to National Park after a few bus switches and the bus driver forgetting to pick someone up and having to go back a while to pick him up. Silly man. But where I stayed in National Park was cute - it was a ski lodge, and my room had four beds, but I had it to myself. They were so comfortable, and had big cozy blankets. I bought food to make dinner Friday night, but it's a very small town and the only groceries are at a gas station, so I bought instant rice, sweet and sour sauce, and an enormous bag of frozen vegetables to make a stir fry. I did that and met a couple with two kids from the Netherlands - the kids were hilarious. They were incredibly talkative even though their english wasn't perfect, but they were funny to talk to. I didn't do much that night - I wrote and read, as well as talked to the girl who worked there before going to bed early and gearing up for my hike.

Mt. Doom
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Saturday morning I got up and it was freezing. I did not want to get out of bed. I did, managed to get myself dressed and my bag packed up before I had bad coffee and bad instant oatmeal (awesome). The bus came to pick us up to do the Tongariro Crossing a little bit after 7:00. The Tongariro Crossing is one of the best day-hikes in the world, as well as the filming site for Mordor in Lord of the Rings. I wonder what drew me there....  The first part of the hike was a windy track through nice rolling grassy hills and then through a lava field. It was beautiful, and I had an absolutely perfect day. We got to the base of the first part of the real climb (I say we because there were 2000 people on the track) and went up the Devil's Staircase to South Crater. The Devil's Staircase was all large volcanic rocks, and was very much like where Frodo and Sam scrambled through much of their journey through Mordor. For those who aren't major Lord of the Rings dorks I apologize now. But the whole time I was thinking that they did it without shoes on (they didn't.. it's not real... but it's fun to think about!) and then when I ate a granola bar I thought "Lambas bread! and more lambas bread!"  Right. So at the top was South Crater and the view back to where we came was just incredible - Mt. Taranaki was just visible in the distance. From there, the climb up Mt. Ngauruhoe, or Mt. Doom in LOTR, started. I didn't do it because the entire mountain is gravel and it added another 2 hours or so onto a 7-8 hour hike. I didn't have it in me. I kept going across South Crater and up to Red Crater, at 1886 meters (6223feet). This was the highest point of the climb, and much of it was up a scree slope (gravel) with no sure footing. The view from the top was amazing on all sides. The side we were walking towards had the Emerald Lakes and the Blue Lake visible (why not green and blue or emerald and sapphire?) and then right below the summit was a giant bright red crater with a vertical fissure that looked like a sideways mouth. The summit is also an active volcanic vent, which is cool - if you touch the ground you can feel the heat. I took way too many pictures. Anyway, the views were amazing. The way down the other side of the summit took a little getting used to since the whole thing was gravel. Basically you have to dig your heels in and let yourself slide at every step. I went slower down the slope than I ever thought humanly possible and at the bottom my shoes were full of rocks and dirt. I stopped at the Emerald Lakes for lunch. The lakes are actually green and they reek of sulfur. From there I set across Central Crater to the Blue Lake. About halfway across the crater I decided I wasn't going to make it to the next hut before I had to pee, so I went waaaaaaay off the side of the trail and peed behind a rock, which looked a lot like where Sam and Frodo hid under the cloak at the base of the hill above the Black Gate (ooooh I'm a dork!). I think I mooned someone in the process. In a volcanic area though there aren't any trees or shrubs to hide behind - when you gotta go, you gotta go. I went by the Blue Lake and then back out into the greenery of an alpine area. From the top I could see Lake Taupo, as well as the bathrooms at the next hut below. Sadly, the path snaked for another 45 minutes before I actually got to the bathrooms, which was mean (I drank a lot of water!) but I survived. I set off almost straightaway from that hut for the bottom. Either I still have the infection in my leg or it left a bunch of scar tissue in my knee because downhill was incredibly painful. By last section I was limping. But the track went down through alpine grasses, then shrubs, and then into rainforest type bush. It had almost every type of hiking imaginable.

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I finally got to the bottom at 3:45, so it took me 7 hours and 45 minutes to do the 17km (10.6 miles). It was far. I got back to my lodge and fell asleep in my dirty clothes on my bed almost immediately. When I did motivate, I realized how stinky I was, so I showered and took myself out for a fabulous dinner, the highlight of which was a honey-spiced summer ale as well as my baked brie appetizer. Yum! I passed out almost instantly when I got in bed.

Sunday morning I got up and had breakfast before trying, with the owner of the lodge, to change my bus tickets so I would get to Napier earlier than 10pm. I packed up my bag and she said that it should be a problem - there was a shuttle from National Park to Taupo at 3:30 that got in at 5 and a bus at 5:10 to Napier. So I went on my merry way and wandered around the tiny little town of National Park, where there is nothing to do, so I did nothing worth writing about. I went out to lunch at the train station which had an excellent restaurant and left there when it was all of a sudden full of people who came off a train. I read in the lodge until it was time to go. The owner called the bus company to make sure they were on time, and they weren't, so she had to drive me to Taupo. I felt sorry for her... it wasn't in her plan for the afternoon to take me, but I was sort of scared of her, so I didn't really have a choice when she said ok we're going. It was fine though - we got to Taupo and I waited for my 5:10 bus to Napier.