Trekking over 'Mount Doom'

  Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Waikato, New Zealand Wednesday, January 14, 2015

We had seen this volcano when we were in New Zealand last time but as you need a whole day to climb it (and it turns out - a whole day to recover) we didn't have enough time to do it then and had to make do with some snaps of it in the distance. So here we in 2015 and parked up down the road in a campsite trying to get a good night's sleep before setting of early. The bus was due to leave at 5:30 am - yes you heard right - 5:30 am so we set off to the Discovery centre to meet the bus. You may ask why we would need a bus when we are in a camper van and could just drive up to it. The trouble with that is that the beginning of the trek is 20km away from the end. This bus service runs a shuttle in the afternoon ferrying people from the end back to the Discovery Centre so worked out more convenient for us. We arrived at "Mount Doom" as Lord of the Rings" fans will know it better as, just as the first rays of sunlight were beginning to streak the sky. It made for a fantastic sight. We had researched the 20km (15 mile) walk and knew the average walker took 8 hours so planned to finish around 2pm. The bus driver was telling us "oh yeah you can do it in 51/2 if you want to but most people take 6". We shall see Mr Bus Driver! We set off to start with the ground was really level but steadily gently inclined so it was easy going and we were enjoying ourselves. We were both carrying 3 litres of water and food so our backpacks were also fairly heavy too. As we progressed along this track the sun steadily rose and we stopped so many times to watch it and take pictures we thought we had better add another couple of hours on if its going to be this beautiful all the way! Ahead of us we could see the track looming above us and it was steeper and steeper. We both knew it was going to be a very hard walk but were determined the views would be worth it. Well it just got steeper and steeper. Everyone else on the bus was passing us except a couple of American girls and 2 German pensioners. We had to stay ahead of them if we wanted any credibility at the end of this! We made it to the top of this track passing the 5 km marker on the way - yeahy - only 15 more to go. At the top the track opened out into a massive crater and the top of the volcano still loomed above us but it was stunning.  Like being on the moon! And we were on level ground again - even better. Our legs had a chance to recover - but only for a short while as the track soared above us once again. This time the pathway was not well laid and we were climbing up gravel and stone. It was really really tough going and absolutely killed our legs. We stopped for a rest and had some our food. By now it was about 9:am and we were ready for breakfast. Actually Jody had stopped for a munch a few times but don't tell Bryan! By now everyone on the bus had passed us and we resigned ourselves to being the slowest. It wasn't a race but in our heads our competitive spirt still lurked even though we had very shaky legs by now. We continued on up to the very top and again we just had to stop. The trek to this point had been utterly exhausting and the tracks again just stone so very hard to dig your feet in without slipping. But not just that - the views again were breathtaking (Jody didn't have very much breath left by this stage so there wasn't much to take!!). http://youtu.be/gAZj5rKtTmM The peace and quiet up there and the views were amazing. Not sure if our photos convey that very well as they certainly don't do the scene justice. At the top here were also some Red/Amber/Green warning lights: You are entering an active volcano. If the red light is flashing - go back the way you came - NOW. No way were we going through all that just to go back down - but luckily the lights were green. From the top of this Red Crater as it's called, we could see some of the Blue lakes and the Emerald lake beneath us. Such a splash of colour in such a barren landscape was just beautiful. The track down to the lakes was just sandy gravel. And very very steep. How on earth people doing the walk the opposite way around manage to climb up that way we will never know. The only safe way to get down was really to just roll with it. Let the shifting sand take you with it. A bit like going downhill on skis. Even so it was still hard work and our boots were filling up with bits of grit as the sand was covering our feet as they sunk into the soft sandy gravel. We made it to the lakes and you could see the frustration on Bryan's face. Everyone who knows him will know he is like a labrador dog - if he sees water he wants to jump in it! As these were volcanic sulphuric lakes it took a lot of doing to persuade him it wasn't such a good idea. Not only that he would stink when he came out and Jody didn't want to sit next to him on the bus going back stinking like the lake! The lakes were stunning and we spent about an hour just taking in the scenery, taking photographs and just enjoying being there. Then inevitably it was time to move on. It was now about 10:30am and we were about half way here at 10km. With another 10km to go we were hoping it would be a quicker 10km than the first as it was all down hill from here. How wrong could we be??? To start with it was fairly gentle downhill footpaths. The scenery opened onto moorland type shrubbery which got thicker and thicker the further downhill we went. Our km markers had stopped now and we had no idea how far we had walked. We knew that there was a hut on the path going down and had been warned we still had 2 hours walk from there. We could see the hut way down the hill but the path to it was like a snake n ladders board and was going to take us a long time. Now is when the pain kicked in. As our feet were pointed permanently downhill, we found our toes were touching the front of our boots and it was our toes that were painful. Our legs were also beginning to turn to jelly. We passed the hut at about 14 km and it was 12 noon now. The track continued down hill and it was getting hotter. Hot enough to need sunscreen and take off jackets and tops. Eventually the track became woodland but again seemed to go on for miles. Every time you turned a corner there was more pathway stretching out in front of you. Would we EVER reach the end?? Well of course we did eventually and those last few steps were the best - and the hardest to take because our legs wanted to give up as soon as we saw the end. But WE MADE IT!! With just a 15 minute wait for our bus we were on our way to hot showers. Phew!! Would we do it again?? No way Jose - not ever ever but we are so glad we did it at least once   [gallery columns="4" ids="10098,10101,10104,10109,10111,10113,10116,10118,10120,10122,10124,10126,10129,10133,10134,10137,10141,10142,10145,10148,10151,10153,10155,10156,10157,10160,10163,10167,10171,10173,10176,10178,10185,10190,10195,10200,10205,10213,10218,10225,10230,10234,10236,10250,10255,10265,10268,10278,10283,10289,10295,10301,10311,10328,10334,10340,10346,10355,10363,10371,10381,10389,10403,10415,10425,10430,10439,10452,10464,10475,10481,10487,10496,10502,10512,10521,10529,10534,10540,10545,10552,10562,10570,10575,10585,10592,10595,10600,10608,10615,10618,10624,10638,10646,10654,10665,10671,10677,10682,10688"]