As the weather had taken a decided turn for the better (for once) and we didn't having any pressing time constraints we decided to see if the bad weather system that had been firmly anchored over Tongariro at the beginning of the week was showing any signs of moving. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Saturday through to Monday the weather was ideal for walking the crossing. Needless to say we wasted no time in heading back down south, back through Rotorua, back through Taupo and back to the freebee campsite to get an early night because at 7am the next day Katie would finally get to walk the crossing!
When our alarm went off at some unholy hour the temperature inside the van must have been in the minus figures but we didn't let that put us off and soon we were ready and packed into a small minibus with other equally goretexed trampers. The minibus drove us the 10 or so kilometres to the start of the trek and would be there at the end to pick us up at three, four and five o'clock.
The previous week and a half''s bad weather had acted like a huge stop barrier for people wanting to do the walk and this first day of perfect conditions brought them out in droves. Other shuttle services were pouring out the people like cattle going to slaughter and this 7am service was the first of 3 dropping people at the start. The track itself passes through vegetation zones ranging from alpine scrub and tussock to places at higher altitude where there is no vegetation at all then on the decent you walk down through the lush podocarp forests towards the end of the track. The guides say that the track is achievable in one day but is "exhausting and shouldn't be taken lightly" Also in addition to the track there a a couple of side treks and adding one of these into the walk means that you are really pushing it to complete it and get back in time for your transport. We didn't let this worry us and pressed on. The first part of the trail up to the Mangatepopo saddle was a part boarded part rough volcanic boulder hike and it took us about one and a half hours to reach the first of the side treks. We were standing at the foot of the 2287m Mt Ngauruhoe which was used by Peter Jackson as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings films. Mt Doom really looks like how a child would draw a volcano with 45 degree sides, a wavy top and a little bit of steam coming out of it. Getting to the top and back meant an extra 3hr return. I really wanted to climb this sleeping giant but hadn't mentioned it to Katie in case she felt pressured to climbing it when she wasn't feeling up to it. This goes to show how little I know when Katie says "are we going to climb it or not?" and starts to lead the way. I'll let Katie explain the ascent and decent of mount Doom in her own words…
The ascent was unmarked, the idea being that you just headed for the top, but there was an easier route over firmer rocks that we soon found after struggling on the loose slope for the first section. Clambering up over sharp black and red volcanic rock was hard going requiring concentration so when we'd made it to the ridge at the top I was surprised to find out we'd been climbing for a full two hours! The ridge circles the crater and we walked around the edge soaking up the spectacular views on every side, and sitting resting. We had clear, unobstructed views of all the other peaks dusted with snow and crater lakes which were various shades of blue to green. We could see right out to and across Lake Taupo about 60km away and the forest in between.
Aware of the amount of distance we still had to cover before the last pick up at five, we didn't linger too long and started our descent. There was not set route down, it was a case of find your bit of slope and head down it. This meant skidding and sliding in deep volcanic gravel (if you picked the right spot) or slipping on harder, not so deep volcanic rocks on your soon-too-be-sore backside (if you didn't). We soon learned which route was most likely to keep us on our feet and had a bit of fun with our descent slalom style! 45 minutes later we were at the bottom, shaking out our boots and brushing ourselves off. A spot of lunch on a nice rock and it was getting time to press on.
The next section of walk was flat across the valley before ascending to the "Red Peak" of Mount Tongariro's several peaks. The rock in this area really was a deep red and made for some great photos so we soon had a system where Paul would walk ahead, take photos, by which time at my slow and steady pace I caught up and we'd move on. From here we got a closer look at couple of the crater lakes which were steamy, stinky sulphurous and although less appealing, still amazing to see. From hear we crossed the main crater of Tongariro before a short climb over the ridge and the start of our descent on the other side. The entire descent took us about three hours and the majority of that was on open alpine slopes full of low lying vegetation. Further down we entered the podocarp forest. At around this point we realised that we had 20 minutes to try to catch the 4pm bus and although we had only 3km to go, this would apparently take us 45 minutes. We decided to pick up the pace and push on to try to make it. Entering the forest we soon discovered why it should take so long, the ground was very boggy, and the steps treacherous. Not as treacherous however as the double-walking-pole wielding trampers we were trying to jog past, who seemed only too pleased to try to stab or trip anyone who dared set a swifter pace than them! We made it through the forest unharmed, out of breath and too late for the bus, we'd missed it by a couple of minutes. Finding a patch of grass, the boots came off, the water and snacks came out and we stretched ourselves out to wait for the 5 o'clock bus. A fantastic days walk.