We had been wanting to walk the Tongariro Crossing and Mt Ngaruhoe for a couple of years now and with the weather looking good we decided to go for it. We had an early 5am start to make the most of a long day tramping. It was a fantastic day of walking and we were shattered at the end. This has got to be one fo my favourite day walks in the world.
It wasnt long until we reached Mangatepopo Hut
The sky was really clear with views as far as Mt Egmont
Over 100,000 people walk this track a year which explained the hundreds of people walking it today
Michelle, Juddy and Karen half way up the devils staircase. It earns its name as it is a tough climb
We turn off the track to climb Ngaruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings)
It was 3 steps up, 2 steps down as we climbed up the scree slopes of Ngaruhoe. All the tourists followed each other and kept screaming out 'Rock' as these massive boulders nearly wiped a few people out
After 1.5hrs we reached the summit just as some clouds closed in around us. There was a double crater at the top
Looking out towards Ruapehu with a blanket of cloud below
We made it to the summit at 2287m
Edge of the inner crater
It took 1.5hrs to get up and only 15 minutes to get down as we ran down this steep scree slope. It was so much fun
Looking back up at the route we had just run down
Walking along the flats of South Crater
The lake of South Crater
Looking out East on the ridge up to Red Crater it looked like we were on the moon
Top of the ridge with Ngaruhoe and South Crater behind me
The side track to the Tongariro summit was too tempting to miss
The ridge to the summit
Tongariro Summit at 1961m
Red Crater
The Emerald Lakes were really spectacular
The water looked so blue and warm but it was freezing cold
The remains of an old lava flow in Central Crater
Blue Lake
Lake Taupo in the background as we passed by North Crater
We descended into a geothermal valley through red tussock
We zig-zaged down to Ketetahi hut
Looking back up over the hut
Walking through the last bit of scrub and tussock before we dropped below the tree line
The last section of track is through native forest
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