After hiking through the Mangatepopo Valley and over the top of a ridge, we arrived in the South Crater, which looked very much like a desert, and was beautiful and quiet. The sun had come all the way out by now, increasing the desert-like atmosphere, although it was still rather chilly, especially when the wind picked up.
We climbed up to another ridge, and could see another crater on the other side.
And... drum roll, please... amazing views of Mount Ngauruhoe! Beautiful!
Kirsten maintains that it is much prettier in winter with snow on it, but I think it's plenty impressive anyway.
Note: Mount Ngauruhoe (and other bits around Tongariro National Park) is where they filmed the Mount Doom/Mordor parts of Lord of the Rings.
Ngauruhoe and I are friends now.
You can choose, while on the Crossing, to take a side trip to climb Ngauruhoe. It adds 2.5 hours to the 6 hour, 19.4km (12mi) hike, because it's very steep and gravely. Apparently, you slide down almost as far as you step up every time, and it takes about 2 hours to get up and only half an hour to get down. Kirsten and I are determined to climb it sometime soon, but decided against attempting it on our first try.
Hiking on up the rocky ridge, we reached the Red Crater, so named for the impressively red colour of the oxidized iron in the volcanic rock. Also notice the hollow lava tube with the white walls, which was created when molten magma drained out from below and the outside solidified.
A nice man offered to take a picture of the three of us at the highest point on the Crossing, announcing that we'd worked very hard to get there, and needed a picture to celebrate.
Note: I am standing all the way up on tip-toe, while Patty and Kirsten are slouching, and I'm still not as tall as them. I need shorter friends.
Also from the top of this ridge, you get your first view of the Blue Lake! And below, the big black thing is a huge lava flow, resting where it finally got cool enough to harden.
Speaking of lava and eruptions, which is appropriate when hiking all over volcanos... yes, these volcanos are still active. There was an eruption in 2012, but there has been little activity since. There are warning lights every so often along the trail, and if they turn red, you have to go back down the mountain. In fact, they suggest that you run. They did not turn red while we were there.
On the way down the ridge are the Emerald Lakes. They are so amazingly sparkly and beautiful because of the sulfur and other minerals coming out of this geothermally active area. You can also see a steam vent on the righthand side, which was a bit stinky, but how could you mind in such a beautiful place?
The Māori name for this lakes is Ngarotopounamu, which means greenstone (jade) coloured lakes.
Patty loved looking out over them.
We climbed down the rest of the way off the ridge, and set off through another desert-like crater. Excited from all the lovely things we'd seen, we were chatting away, telling stories, and after a while I spun around in the midst of an exciting part of my story, and saw that we should have been looking backwards the whole time!
Check out this amazing view!
In front to the right is the Red Crater (the highest peak to the right is where we stood to take many of the above pictures). Behind that is Ngauruhoe, and behind that, looking tiny only because of distance, is snow-capped Mount Ruapehu. Wow! We were all delighted, but none more than Kirsten, who had finally gotten a view of her favourite mountain.
Zoomed in view of Ngauruhoe and the Red Crater - thanks to Patty for the amazing photo. Her camera captures amazing detail and colour, and she took this shot perfectly!
Soon after we turned away from these views and kept walking, a nine- or ten-year-old kid passed us by and said, "Did you turn around and see Ruapehu?" Nice to know that someone knew what was going on and was looking out for us.
A bit further, and we got to the Blue Lake. It is full of minerals as well, and quite acidic. Like the Emerald Lakes, it is tapu (sacred/off limits) to the Māori, so you are not allowed to touch it or eat near it. None of us could get a picture of it that communicated how huge and beautiful it was, so you'll have to use your imagination.
A little further along the ridge, and then we got to this grass-land area, and to a slowly downward sloping series of intense switchbacks, eventually ending up at this little hut. Although this part of the hike was beautiful, and the gradual incline pleasant, I needed very badly to use the bathrooms at the hut, and was therefore a bit frustrated when the path lead us directly away from it as often as it lead us closer to it. We did make it, eventually, much to my body's satisfaction.
The view in the other direction from the above picture included this huge jet of mineral steam, which was pretty amazing. The wind direction was such that we did not smell it, for which I am thankful.
This area is called the Te Maari craters, and it is the location of the 2012 eruption. There is a sign when you enter it that warns of the high geothermic activity, and encourages you to keep your stops to a minimum and be prepared to leave quickly.
Further down the trail, we came across this stream, which originates at the Ketetahi Springs. Its beautiful blue colour comes, like that of the lakes, from the minerals and the acidity.
I love the combination of the intensely blue water and the surprisingly red rocks.
The last hour or so of the hike is through NZ native bush, and was lovely. It had gotten rather hot throughout the afternoon, so some shade was quite welcome, and the woods were beautiful.
At the end of the hike, which took us about 8 hours total, we were all tired, but happy. None of us were hurt or pathologically exhausted, and we all felt okay. Thanks to biking to work, my legs are pretty strong, so I was less tired than I thought I would be, although I did get a weird pinch in my Achilles tendon that worried me a bit. It went away even before we finished walking, which was good.
We got the shuttle back to our camping hut, then I drove us back to Whanganui from the mountain while Kirsten and Patty rested and sometimes slept. Then we had a relaxing dinner and rested our bodies. I did a lot of stretching that evening, and was barely sore at all the next day, which was awesome! Patty and Kirsten were sore, but neither one as badly as they thought they'd be, so I'd say we all fared well.
If you'd like more information about the mountains or the Crossing, try one of these websites:
Thus concludes my stories and pictures for this time, with one notable exception...
For those who share Kirsten's unique taste, I have improved my picture of Mount Ngauruhoe so that you can fully appreciate it.
what a lovely place to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI agree!
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