The Tongariro Crossing in the central north island attracts on a nice day 700 people. Amongst them, as we were to find out, were some who didn’t completely realise what 20 kilometers tramp with 700 vertical meters meant.
We being the great Swiss alpinist decided to add a 2 hour walk-in to the whole deal. It was an easy tramp through rolling hills covered in green and brown tussock grasses. The track was in parts covered with a horizontal ladder through the marsh, in other parts the ladders had been left out and we spent our time jumping back and forth over the mud and water on our way to the start to the Tongariro Crossing.
Because of our 2 hour extension and slightly later start time we found a nearly empty Crossing footpath. For the first hour of the six hour trip we meet the rest of the later starters, who consisted of other Swiss and a few Kiwi hikers. Moving along the first part of this track was similar to a city walk up a slight rise, that stopped quite suddenly at a sign warning the unprepared for what they should be prepared for. At this point the queue began and the consequential overtaking. For the 700 meter climb we got lucky and the early morning cloud burnt off, giving us a good view of the steep cone shape of Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom).
Just before the last climb we crossed a large desert like flat that looked like a great place to have a market, sell a horse ride or push some Lord of the Rings merchandise. The climb up and over the crossing summit showed off the highlights of the walk, with a view into Red Crater and the smoking shorelines of the Emerald lake. Possibly my favorite part track was when I turned around to see the snowed caped Mt Ruapehu lined up behind Mt Ngauruhoe and the Red Crater in front.
By the time we were on the way down we had caught up to the main bunch of walkers. There was a steady line of figures from the top, down through the forest leading to the car park. Some were looking a bit worse for wear at this stage. Slow movements, limping and crab walking down the last 10 kilometers wasn’t an uncommon sight. The decent was nice but maybe a bit boring compared to the heights of the mountain. After reaching the car park Simone and I hitched a ride, which was really easy in the area, back to Whakepapa. We got the car and drove back to pick up the others.
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