Tongariro Alpine Crossing:

After leaving Hawkes Bay, we made our way back to the Lake Taupo area. We didn’t spend much time in the Lake Taupo area, and only stayed one night on the south shore of the lake. Our reason for returning to this area was that there is a really popular hike (or tramp as they call it in NZ) called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We had taken a detour down to Hawkes Bay for a few days so that we could avoid the weekend traffic that this hike often sees, and so it was a Monday when we did the hike.

The Day of the Hike:

For a few details on the hike, it’s around 20 km’s in total length (and is one of the great walks of New Zealand) and it’s a one way through hike so you need to set up some sort of shuttle to get back to your vehicle. If you don’t have two vehicles, however, you can hitch hike back to the beginning, or you can go through a shuttle service like we did. We decided to get a shuttle from John and Gillian at The Tongariro Crossing and it cost us $35 each. This allowed us to drop our vehicle at their office location and they drove us to the trailhead and then picked us up at the end of the day. For us, this made sense because it meant that at the end of the hike we didn’t have to worry about finding a way to get back to the trailhead when we were worn out and tired. In hindsight, it was absolutely worth it, and I can’t speak highly enough about the service and helpfulness and friendliness of both John and Gillian.

We did the hike on October 17th and it turned out to be a great time for it. At this time of year, there is still a very small amount of snow at a few places along the trail, but the lakes at the top had just thawed about a week before our arrival. This meant that we were lucky enough to go in the very small window of time that exists each year when there is both snow along the peaks, but the lakes are also thawed so that you can see their colour. This made it pretty cool, and the pictures that we got were a little bit unique because of it.
 

The other benefit of doing the crossing at this time of the year, is that it’s far less busy. Because this hike is one of the most popular in NZ it sees a ton of traffic in the summer months. We were told that on some days in January and February, there can be as many as 3000 people each day that do the trail. At some points, this means that there is an endless stream of people walking single file along the trail and sliding into each other on the descents. In the middle of October, however, we were only two people out of about 300 that did the trail.

The risk, however, is that the weather can often be worse and more unpredictable as it is spring time. We were extremely lucky on the day that we did the hike, however, and had really great weather. As we were driving to the trailhead, there was very low cloud and fog and visibility was very limited.

There was also a very light rain and we started out the hike slightly discouraged. After about an hour, however, the fog began to lift and just as we were beginning the very first steep setting of the climb, the cloud peeled back suddenly and we got our first glimpse of Ngauruhoe. It was a pretty incredible moment and we stood for quite a while watching as the valley around us was slowly unveiled as the fog swirled around and eventually disappeared.

For the rest of the day afterwards, we had sunshine and blue sky. People often warn you about the wind near the top of the climb but, while it was quite windy for a few hours as we crested the high point of the trail, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the day or taking in the views.

I was worried starting out the day, because of the previous 8 or 9 hikes that I had done (between Iceland, Scotland, the Faroe Island, and Canada) almost every single one was spoiled by high winds, rain, or fog. I was beginning to think that I just simply had bad luck and with the way that the day was starting, I figured that this was just one more to add to the list. So I was especially excited when the trip turned out to be exceptional and everything worked to our benefit.

Details of the Hike:

About the hike itself, it really was incredible. We started at the trailhead of Mangatepopo and hiked to the Ketetahi end point, which is the easier direction and would be my preference if I was to do it again. The hike takes you up and over a pass between a few volcanic peaks (Tongariro and Ngauruhoe…which is known for being the filming location of Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies).

This means that (with the exception of the last few kilometers) you are out in the open the entire hike which allows you exceptional views the entire time. The trail itself isn’t overly steep, difficult or muddy, so the only real difficulty is the length as it is quite a long walk. The views, however, make it worth it tenfold.

Along the way you pass along the base of Mount Ngauruhoe, walk along flat craters and lava fields that look like the surface of mars, and eventually find yourself at the peak where you can look over the edge into the red crater.

You can do two side trips to the peaks of Mount Ngauruhoe (about 4 hours return) or to Tongariro (about 2 hours return), but we didn’t do either. In total, it took us roughly 7 hours to complete the hike (we started at 8:30 and finished just after 3:00) but we spent a lot of time stopping to take pictures and sitting to eat lunch. And, while our pace wasn’t altogether slow, we weren’t going exceptionally fast. Therefore you could definitely do the hike in far less than 7 hours, and the 8 or 9 hours that people often quote seems far too high from my experience.

Once you reach the red crater, you begin the descent. Along the way you pass the lakes and the further on, you walk along the shores of blue green lake.

Shortly after you get your last glimpses back into the crossing and of the peaks, before you start the long descent down the parking lot far below.

It really was a fantastic hike, and very well deserving of the designation of one of the great walks of New Zealand. So people say that it is the best hike in New Zealand and one of the best in the world and I would say that that isn’t necessarily an overstatement and it is incredibly beautiful and very unique.