Walk 6 - Tongariro Northern Circuit 'Great Walk' |
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Day 1 - Whakapapa to Mangetopopo
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Clouds obscured the peaks of Ruapehu behind us and Ngaurahoe ahead, as we climbed steadily up through the gap between the scoria cone of Pukeonake on our left and the old volcanic vent of Pukekaikiore on our right. Cresting the ridge we reached the glacial Mangetopopo Valley, where a short descent across an old laval flow brought us to the comfortable hut of the same name in time for a late lunch.
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This gave us time to explore the valley and surrounding lava cliffs, where streams had cut their way through old lava flows and low alpine herbs had started to colonise and add life to the crumbling volcanic rocks. |
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Day 2 - A perfect day for the crossing
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Crossing the crater floor, we came to our second major climb of the day, a 250m ascent of the rim of Red Crater, at 1886m the high point of the crossing. |
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From the top, a look downwards along its eastern flank revealed the jewels of the mountain - three small lakes filling old volcanic explosion pits and gleaming a brilliant emerald colour in the sunlight. A sliding descent on the steep scoria slope of the crater brought us to the edges of these beautiful lakes - no better place to stop for lunch than here and to lay back and admire this superb volcanic landscape; sulphurous steam rising from fumeroles on the slope of the black and red crater above the emerald lakes contrasted against the snowy mantle on Tongariro and the Central Crater. |
It was hard to move on, but move on we had to. Crossing the soft melting snow of Central Crater we climbed up to a ridge holding in the dark blue waters of Blue Lake, brilliantly contrasted against the snow-covered lake shore. |
From here the track rounded the North Crater and passed through a north-facing gap to descend slowly down through tussock covered slopes, offering superb views to the north over Lake Rotoaira and distant Lake Taupo. A final series of zig-zags brought us to Ketetahi Hut, not far from the steaming Hot Springs of the same name. This would be our comfortable and pleasant home for the night, though it would be a few hours before the 10 hut "residents" could finally relax, as a constant stream of day-trekkers passed by, stopping to rest on the deck and investigate the hut and any occupants who might be having a cat-nap on their bunks. |
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An early start saw us retracing our steps of yesterday steadily back up the gentle 300m ascent from Ketetahi Hut to Blue Lake. This was the one disadvantage of staying at this hut. The advantage was that it offered us one more chance to admire and stroll across the magnificent landscapes of Tongariro, and at a time when no day-trekkers had yet arrived. |
When we reached the Emerald Lakes we turned south onto a new route, soon reaching the south gap leaving Tongariro. Below us, stretching from horizon to horizon lay a jaw-droppingly surreal landscape - black, black and more black - a valley filled with jagged lava flows and eroded basalt formations on a stony soil virtually devoid of vegetation. This had to be Mordor, and we named the descent into it - a narrow loose scree path winding its way down between the sharp, contorted rocks of an old lava flow that dropped steeply 300m from the gap to the valley floor - Sauron's Staircase. |
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With each passing crest, the vegetation seemed to gain ground, until eventually, instead of wandering across a sea of gravel, we we walking along a narrow stony path winding its way through a garden of low shrubs, alpine herbs and tussock grass. |
Descending the garden slope, the path suddenly disappeared into a beech forest and descended quickly to a bridge that crossed another fast-flowing mountain stream. The green and shade of the beech forest was a welcome change after the long trek through the fascinating, but exposed lava- and gravel-scapes. The long steady climb up and over the beech-covered ridge was less welcome, but it brought us out to magnificent views of Ruapehu, and a quick descent of the other side saw us on the verandah of Wainohonu Hut, nestled in a shady grove just above Wainohonu Stream. That night we slept well to the soft babble of the stream beneath. |
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Day 4 - Wainohonu to Whakapapa
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Our last day was a bit anticlimactic after the sensory overload of the previous two days, and probably just as well. For the most part, the track climbed steadily up through low shrub - tussock vegetation towards the Tama Saddle, the clouds playing cache-cache with Ruapehu to the south and Ngaurohoe to the north. A short early detour enabled us to visit historic Old Wainohonu Hut, its red corrugated iron walls standing out against the green of the beech copse in which it stood. This was one of the first back-country huts when built in 1904 and is now part of the historic estate of New Zealand. |
Eventually we passed Lower Tama Lake and crossed the dry river beds of the saddle. Cloud was building up and, with the cold westerly, seemed to indicate an imminent change in the weather; it was good to be descending toward Whakapapa and the end of the trek. However, we had one last stop, to have lunch at the base of Taranaki Falls. |
One last river to cross |
A bask in the last bit of sunshine watching the water pour through a narrow gap in the black basalt cliff before plunging 30m down into a boulder-strewn pool was a great way to end the walk, with only a short 40 minute stroll on to Whakapapa and the end of the circuit. Our spirits were high and a soak in the thermal pools of Taupo would soon restore our tired bodies. |
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