We woke up really tired and decided to take the 8AM rather than the 7AM suttle to the trail head. We jumped on the shuttle, and within twenty minutes we were at the trailhead on a crisp, fairly overcast day. We took off through sub-alpine brush as we worked our way to the foot of Devil's Staircase, a steep climb up volcanic rock to the saddle between two volcanoes. We climbed for an hour or so pretty much straight up over loosely defined trail.

We landed at the saddle smack dab between Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe (also known as Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings films).

Due to weather and time restrictions, we couldn't summit either of the volcanoes, so we could only finish the rest of the hike as planned. At the top of Devil's Staircase, we took some pics and then began crossing the desolate South Crater to the base of the steep ascent up above Red Crater.

At the base of the ascent, the weather turned, and already a bit chilled (wearing everything we brought except one outer shell), we started to get a little concerned. We only needed 45 minutes to ascend and less to descend, so we stopped the pics and began to climb.

Clouds rolled in quicly, and the winds picked up to 70 km/h. The going was slick, with ice crystals nestled beneath slippery mids. We clung to the rocks as we climbed and hit the summit of the entire hike (only 2000m), which should have afforded us beautiful views of the volcanoes and craters, but instead we could barely see 50 meters in front of us because of the fog.

We waited on top for a bit, hoping for a miraculous shift in weather, but it never came. We descended a steep slope covered in dirt and loose rocks (it felt more like the leftovers in a fireplace, mostly ash and soot), slipping and sliding our way back down towards a lookout over bright green water-filled explosion craters called Emerald Lakes. After the lakes, we crossed our final crater before one final quick climb to the northern face of Mount Tongariro.

We spent the next two hours descending on switchbacks down the mountain, passing amazing mineral-laden rocks, thermal vents, and alpine flora.

A light steady rain began, but as we descended the temperatures began to warm up a bit and the winds abated. We stopped off at the DOC hut for a quick lunch before we took off to beat the weather. We passed more sulfurous clouds and fabulous rocks of all colors (red, orange, yellow) before we entered a fabulous beech forest with native flora. Accompanied by a meandering stream, we made it to the car park just in time to catch the next to last shuttle back to Bessie, our trusted camper van.

We popped into the visitor's center to take a look at what we would have seen in good weather, and the staffer there said he was surprised they let us up at all. He said the rest of the week's hikes were cancelled by the DOC staff, and he told us that last year an American couple climbed in weather like today, and the lady died of hypothermia. Apparently, the couple was repeatedly warned not to go, and they did not have the right gear - a very sad story. Why people don't listen to rangers at national parks, we have no idea.

Anyway, we explored the rest of the visitor's center, saw photos of the views we should have seen (they would have been magnificent), and capped off the visit with our first opportunity in New Zealand to pet a real (although dead and stuffed) kiwi bird.

We decided to take off right then and there and get to our next destination, Lake Taupo.

Next up: What's higher than 11,000 feet?