Tongariro Crossing - done!

Sunrise in Taihape

I had been so excited about doing the Tongariro Crossing since my brother and I came up with a plan a couple of months ago. He lives about an hour away from the mountain in Taihape and offered to look after my daughter for the day while I went on my walk. Fantastic! The only other arrangement was to get transport between the start and finish as it’s not a loop track; but I found a company that would pick me up from the endpoint, and drive me to the start. The great thing is that once the walk is over then I can just hop in my car and leave without waiting around.

Starting out from Mangatepopo

The long range weather forecast for the week prior had swung between cloud with late evening showers,  to fine with early morning and evening showers, so things were looking good for a fantastic day.

So at 3am Saturday morning we headed off, and by 6am we were on the outskirts of Taihape watching an amazing sunrise over fog covered trees. It looked like a clear day had dawned.

After breakfast and dropping Dakota off I set off on the last leg to the mountain - I had to meet up with the transport at 9am. Mt Ruapehu looked stunning as I headed north and I recall thinking what a beautiful day it was going to be. However ... as soon as I reached the Desert Road it started teeming with rain. I toyed with the idea of turning back and spending the day my brother instead, but thought I'd at least get to the mountain to see if the weather was any better there. It started to clear a little as I parked, and the transport driver said it was better on the other start of the mountain where the walk started. Even though I was 10 minutes early he said he was ready to go, and I could get changed on the other side so in I jumped.

Soda Springs

The other side of the mountain was a little clearer, but not much. At this point though there was really only one way to get back to my car and that was getting out there and walking. I went off to get changed and realised I had three problems:

• I was in my jeans and was planning on changing into my shorts, but they were in my other pack back in Taihape. The only other pants I had were thermal leggings which I wasn't too keen on wearing. 
• In my rush I hadn't left my heavy jacket in the car either so now I was going to have to lug that over the mountain as well
• Worse of all my hydration pack had a major leak, and there was no fresh at the start of the walk.

 Not good, but I set off in jeans with a full pack and trying to save the last of my water for the 19.4km ahead.

Approaching South Crater

Looking back over Mangatepopo
near the top of Devil's Staircase

The first major stop was Soda Springs, and the walk out there was mainly flat, some boardwalk and following a stream most of the way. The boardwalk was over the marshy, swamping land and unreal in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by spectacular hills and lava from old eruptions.

South Crater

After Soda Springs the real climb began, as did the rain. The cloud drew in as well, and there was no question that you were half way up a mountain. The devil's staircase just went on forever, well it seemed forever, and halfway up I decided to get out of my wet jeans as it was becoming difficult to move. Note here: the Tongariro Crossing is practically a non stop highway of people and trying to find a private place to change up Devil's staircase is impossible. So modesty went slightly out of the window as I got into leggings and a jacket, and carried on.

South Crater

The worst thing about the staircase is that you cannot see where the top is, and you think 'surely, there cannot be any more' but there is! And for a couple of brief moments the cloud cleared to allow a glimpse of the valley I had just ascended from. What a sight.

From here it was an easy walk across the flat and huge South Crater. Despite being early December there were still patches of snow up here which surprised me.

Ascent after South Crater

I believe the South Crater really is there just to allow people to catch their breath for a while, because as soon as I got to the other side it was another huge ascent - this time on loose shingle. The cloud was really heavy at this point, so while the map said there were sights like the Red Crater, I could not see them. A bit sad.

The solid line of people continued, even up the rough climb. Though I found I frequently had to stop for breaks on the way up, it was really hard work. At this point the cloud really closed in and it began to rain.

Once we reached to the top of this climb it was a steep descent on loose shingle - not an elegant process. There was a lady behind me who seemed to have this down-pat so I ended up mimicking her which helped - I just stomped really hard has I walked down, heel first I think, and it stopped the slipping.

Descent to Emerald Lakes

Emerald Lakes

A bit further on I overhead the same person say the Emerald Lakes where just down to our right. I was curious as to how she knew this as I could only see cloud. But at that exact moment it lifted to show the amazing twin lakes. Beautiful.

Tussock after the hut

I climbed down, and expected the water to be warm to the touch but it was freezing. The wind was still strong and the rain intensified so I didn't hang around as there was no shelter there. I decided to carry on to the hut, about an hour or so further on, before stopping for food. But all of a sudden all the people that had been everywhere since the start of the walk disappeared. Maybe they stayed at the lakes, I don't know. But all of a sudden I was on the mountain in a storm with no-one around and was freaking out just a tad that I had made a wrong turn. But the pole markers were still there as a reminder things were OK.

Native bush

While the storm and the snow were not great, being out on a mountain and feeling the powerful weather and knowing I can get myself off this mountain was very empowering. And very difficult to explain. It really felt like a 'Man vs Wild' moment.

There were a couple of crossings over ice and some rough terrain, maybe for half an hour from the summit, and then it was onto a track through tussock for the rest of the way to the hut.

Waterfall near the end
of the Crossing

Getting into shelter and out of a wind was such a relief, and the hut was jam-packed with other trampers. I found a corner to stand in and ate some food and just tried to get a bit warmer. After about 20 minutes I headed off again. The main driver was to get back to the car and into some dry warm clothes, and turn the car heater on. That was my motivation for the last hour down!

A portion of that final stage was through tussock (the rain stopped somewhere at this point), and then through some amazing native bush. Despite visiting the bush in New Zealand numerous times this place was beautiful and absolutely blew me away.

And then before I knew it the end was there. I was so rapt to have made it, and even more happy to get dry and warm at the end. The Crossing would be an amazing walk on a great day and I will have to go back. At least one of those summits have my name on it.

Some pics from Taihape where we visited the next day:

Weird land formations at the
back of Taihape

Rangiteiki River