The Tongariro Crossing

A look back at the early part of the trail.
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The Tongariro Crossing (which took only slightly less time to learn to pronounce than it did to complete) has been called the best one day hike in a country full of beautiful hikes.   We certainly weren't going to miss it.   I'd been a little worried that it was too late in the season for us to do the hike (once there is snow on the mountain there are restrictions) but we were happy to hear from the family that sky-dived with us that they had just completed the hike a few days ago.  We kept our fingers crossed that the snow would hold off and heading down the road to National Park.

A view from the top of the hill. We came from way down there.
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It would be a stretch to call National Park, which gets its name from being located in Tongariro NP, a town.  There are a handful of hostels and motels, two bars/restaurants and a few streets.  Not a lot to look at but most people are there for the hike so they aren't too worried about the town.

We were worried about the weather.  Haven bought some lovely striped longjohns in Taupo (very sexy) and I was almost wearing everything I brought with me.  The bus left at 7:15am and it was COLD!  I suppose it was a blessing to go at this time of year because there were less than 100 people on the trail when in the high season there can be 1,000.

Haven enjoying a rest at the top
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After about 30 mins of easy hiking the uphill sets in.  At points you are rockclimbing more than hiking (or tramping as the Kiwis call it) and the uphill lasts for a while.  When Haven and I got to the top of the first major climb, we certainly weren't cold anymore.  I was sweating hard and down to a T-shirt.  Of course, the T-shirt doesn't last long because the wind is pretty fierce.  The whole hike up as been through an old volcanic flow and it's pretty desolate.  Once at the top we have a close up of the volcanic cone that can be seen for many miles around.

Up close and personal with the active volcano.
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The hike proceeded through the crater of an old volcano and back up the very steep other side.  Once at the top though we were at our high-point and most of the rest of the trip was heading downhill.  Of course, some of that downhill was scree running so it was more like skiing than hiking.  Over the course of the hike, we passed craters that look like they came from Mars, stunning green mineral lakes, beautiful views of the valley, alpine meadows, and then thick rain-forest.  They fit a whole lot into 10 miles and it was one heck of a hike.  We were also pretty exhausted afterward.  I think we are getting our exercise in on this trip!