When it was created, Tongariro National Park was only the 4th national park in the world. More recently, it was listed as one of 25 UNESCO mixed natural/cultural World Heritage Sites. Most people have never heard of it, although millions of people have seen it many times because Peter Jackson used it as the setting for Mordor and Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. It would be the 16th UNESCO site that i've visited, and i had something specific i wanted to do there.
The main road through the park winds through lava fields and ends on the flanks of Mt. Ruapehu where there is a ski resort.
We arrived before noon and went directly to the visitor center to get oriented. I was surprised to encounter a ranger who had exactly the kind of snobby park service attitude as the types of rangers i can't stand in the United States. It made it even worse that he couldn't accurately answer simple but important questions. Questions i would imagine he must get asked all day long, like how much elevation gain there was in the super popular hike i wanted to do.
The beginning of the hike is right at the base of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom). It is deceptively easy for the first mile.
I was there to hike a portion of a much longer trail called the Tongariro Crossing. The smaller portion is 1o.5 miles (16.9km) and one way. You can pay for a shuttle service pick up/drop off at either end of the trail, but we were too late to catch one, by several hours. Also, Maree's back was killing her. She just wanted to lay down, so we figured we'd get a room somewhere and then i could do the hike while she rested. It took a while to get a room, the area is pretty undeveloped and most accomodations are backpacker/hostel style. Then i wanted to drive to the other end of the trail with Maree so we would know before hand where it was that i needed to be picked up.
The desert landscape was covered entirely in very interesting vegetation i had never seen before.
I finally walked away from the car after 1pm. The late starting time actually paid off for me in the long run, just as it does in Alaska. I was hours behind everyone who was going the same direction as i was, and before i was even halfway done with the hike i passed everyone walking the opposite direction who had started on the far end of the trail early that morning. So for more than half of the entire hike i seemed to be about the only person in the area.
The hike begins in lava fields covered in all kinds of vegetation i had never seen before. It goes right up to the base of Mt. Doom and then ascends very steeply a dusty wall of old lava. That was generally the hardest part of the whole hike.
If i've never said anything was a martian landscape then i am officially making the announcement, minus the plants. Unless they were actually Tribbles.
It took waaay too long for me to get up that wall. I wasn't properly nourished, the sunlight was 100 degrees hotter (and less filtered) than what i was used to, and i was drinking water like crazy because of the humidity and the black lava rocks that made it feel even hotter. I was also getting discouraged by the look of all the hikers that were coming down the wall. For starters, they were all bleeding. That's never, ever a good sign. Many of them were also staggering and falling down, but i noticed they were wearing some of dumbest footwear they could have possibly chosen. I even sliced open my own boots on the sharp glassy rocks at one point.
Arriving on the top of the headwall the temperature dropped about 30 degrees and everything changed dramatically. I found myself in the bottom of a completely flat basin about a mile long with Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) directly to my right. Vegetation was sparse and faded off to nothing after a short distance. You might say it was a Martian landscape, but it felt to me like what i imagine some areas of North Africa are like.
Mt. Doom is so alpha, dude, because it looks like it actually has blood coming out of the top of it.
Maybe it seems silly, but i was fascinated with all the rocks on the ground, as you can tell from all these pictures of rocks laying on the ground. They seemed to be riding a wave of time right between chaos and complexity.
By the time i got to the highest point at 1886m (6,187ft) on the Red Crater, i'd used up all my water and food, except for an apple. Traditionally i always save an apple for the descent. All the available water on the hike is poisonous, so i was going to be thirsty by the end of it. At least most of the rest of the hike was downhill. The way i was going was a total elevation gain of 871m (2,857ft) but with a downhill loss of 1,128m (3,700ft). I can't believe anyone would choose to go the opposite direction.
I think that the lower area in the background may have been used in one of the movies, with a different set of mountains behind it. It was a much larger area than it looks here.
The Red Crater was steaming like crazy all over the place, and i was able to experience the discomfort of walking into invisible clouds of 100+ degree sulfur gas. Since i was completely out of breath there wasn't much i could do but try to run through it to cleaner, cooler air. It did offer incredible views in every direction. You could even see Lake Taupo a mile below.
By this point i was most of the way up the other mountain and some low clouds blew in out of nowhere. You can see the trail that goes across the flat basin.
Two people stand on the summit of the Red Crater.
The brilliant red color is caused by the high temperature oxidation of iron in the soils.
This sexually suggestive, psychedelic death zone is the remains of an emptied lava dike that originally was inside the volcano.
Another view from the summit of Red Crater. Notice the three mineral pools. It's hard to see in a picture so small but there are numerous steam vents around.
This is the largest mineral pool.
The smallest of the mineral pools. Some people say it looks like the eye of Sauron. Dorks.
A funny thing about New Zealand National Parks, is that when you come to a trail sign the destinations are not posted in terms of distance. Instead, the signs tell you how much time it will take to get to the next destination. That's an interesting way to do things, but it raises the question of exactly whose legs they were using to measure the time with. I passed two signs. The first one is on the top of that big wall that took me so long to get up near the beginning. According to that sign i was making reasonable time even though i thought i was going too slow. It must be hard. I took a lot of pictures after that, but at the same time i was moving much faster, so when i saw the next sign i was confused. That sign said i was only halfway done, time-wise, even though i was pretty sure i was 2/3 of the way done with the distance.
I liked this pool the best because of the insane red algae that grew like grass and the steam coming out of the surrounding slopes.
I think the first sign must have been wrong, because when i climbed out of those volcanic craters i could see the parking lot where i was supposed to meet Maree in an hour. It was VERY far away and i was clearly mistaken about the distance already covered. There was just no way i could get there in that amount of time, and the sign that said it would take 2.5 hours seemed pretty accurate. Maree would kill me if i was that late, so i had no choice but to run.
My last view of the interior highlands, where i took a break. You can see the trail across the second basin, a lava flow below red crater, Mt. Ngauruhoe behind that, and even a little bit of Mt. Ruapehu way in the back.
I ran all the way down that mountain. I ran farther than i've ever run in my life, even though i was already dehydrated and had no water, and was wearing boots and carrying a heavy pack. It was like army running. The only way i was able to keep it up was because the trail had become ideal for running downhill. It was just the right grade so you didn't hurt your knees or ankles, and it had great traction. I only had to slow down for areas where there were steep stairs. Luckily had no water to slosh around and weigh me down!
Exiting the basin/crater areas i was reaquainted with life forms. Simple ones, like moss and thick lichens sparsly covered the ground. A large portion of Lake Taupo is visible behind the next set of mountains. I had to meet Maree at the end of the road in the circled area, 3,200ft below me (and i had no idea how many miles by trail) in one hour. Yikes.
In not too long tussok grasses began to make an appearance.
During my marathon decent i still noticed a pretty amazing thing. With every mile of running i entered another ecosystem. The interior of the craters had been devoid of life, except for strange algaes that grew in the mineral pools. Just outside the craters the ground was covered in lichens and mosses. Not long after it became covered in tussoks which eventually gave way to subalpine shrubs that i'd never seen. Vegetation steadily grew bigger and thicker as i descended, until eventually i was in what appeared to be a full on jungle!
The grasslands area continued for a long way. Notice how well made the trail is at this point. I have descended enough that Lake Taupo is no longer visible.
Ahead was a privately owned hot springs that you had to have permission to go to.
I tried to take pictures of each little biosphere as i encountered it, but i missed at least one or two due to time constraints. The forest was phenomenal looking. It was crazy that i couldn't stop to look at it. There were giant ferns as big as cars and for a while i was running by a rushing stream of totally clear water (due to it being poisonous). It was also the first time i've been in a thick dark forest that had absolutely no predators to be afraid of, not even mosquitos.
A bushy chapparel type of area.
By this time there were actual trees.
Going from a high alpine martian lansdscape to "jungle" in just over an hour on foot will blow your mind.
I made it to where Maree was waiting only 1/2 an hour late. I still think one of those signs is wrong, because she said everyone coming off the trail looked at battered as i did, as if it was far harder or longer than they had expected it to be. As if they saw a sign that informed them that they were doing great, so they used up all their supplies in celebration.
We immediately went to the nearest middle of nowhere restaurant where i had one of the best hamburgers i've ever had. They put beets on it and those added a sweet tangy taste. I also enjoy the New Zealand ketchup which tastes more like tomatoe sauce with seasonings in it.
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