Trail genre: Adventure/Discovery
Trail point starts from: Mangatepopo
Trail point ends at: Ketetahi
Total trail nights:
Total trail distance: 18 kms
Tongariro Alpine Crossing spans the length of 17.5kms and took us about 7 hours to complete the whole trek. The crossing treks on steep volcanic terrain around Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Tongariro.
We started late, about half past 10am, the last group to leave on that day. We ignored the weather warning forecast that expected snowfall under 1,000m and imminent heavy shower at noon and strong gusting wind that would trail us all the way to the peak of Tongariro and possibly beyond.
Mangatepopo to Soda Spring
We booked a...
... van that dropped us off at Mangatepopo. It was looking sunny bright but we could see dense dark cloud enveloping the sky not far behind us. This first section is fairly easy trekking along the Mangatepopo stream and certain parts include walking over the edge of old lava flows.
The last toilet is at Soda Spring. We paid a brief visit before we continued with the first gradient challenge.
On this section, we saw 2 hikers turning back.
Soda Spring to South Crater
The steepest of all, climbing from 1,200 to 1,600m in just 50m distance (my guess). It was a climb on a steep staircase, which is also known as 'devils staircase'. We overtook a couple who was resting on the way for breath. At this point, the visibility had significantly reduced with the thick fog setting in. Supposedly on a fine day, Mt. Taranaki, another volcano should be visible on the far western horizon. We didn't have the luck.
We started to pass the snowline and entered into snow zone. It wasn't fully covered with snow yet. We were excited and stopped to snap pictures with the snow.
Before long, there was a fork in the trek which divided the trail to Mt. Ngauruhoe (2297m) and our destination. We plodded along and soon came to a snow plain which we walked on for about half km on snow. We had to wear our sunglasses to cut out the glare. We veered off-track to avoid melted snow which had become puddle. Some parts were knee high when we stepped on it and we had to drag our foot in and out of the snow, step by step.
We bumped into a couple and a group of other trekkers turning back for fear of bad weather (strong wind) and slippery condition ahead.
South Crater to Red Crater
From the plain, we continued with a short and steep climb on an exposed ridge. We started to smell the sulphuric gases. The ground consists of lava soil which dislodged when stepped on. Some parts were really challenging. We walked on a narrow ridge of which a mis-step would see us fall disastrously into the ravine on either side.
Not surprisingly, we took longer than the expected duration especially with the added challenge of each step sinking into the snow.
Red Crater to Blue Lake
We have just past, Red Crater, the highest peak (1886m) of the climb. Now descending on the loose scoria. We planned each step carefully in manouvering ourselves on moving scoria. The descent was very slippery with no grip at all. We slipped a few times.
We saw Emerlard Lake but was not at its most beautiful, too foggy.
We passed a sign dividing Mt. Tongariro (1967m) and our destination. Not before long, we were into another short climb. We bypassed a group of trekkers, laughing hillariously and enjoying their chats on the snow, in the middle of nowhere. At the end of the climb, we saw Blue Lake.
Blue Lake to Ketetahi Hut
This is a zigzag and a long-winded descend. We walked miles and miles before we passed the Hut.
Ketetahi Hut to Ketetahi Endpoint
From the Hut, we trekked past a hot spring sitting on private land.
Further down we passed 2 more streams and we continued with miles and miles of meaningless track with no much spectacular view to offer.
Before we reached the Ketetahi Endpoint, we went through a thick rainforest. Surprisingly, this track is not widely mentioned on any source on internet. At about 840m altitude, we were caught in a dilemma on which direction to choose. The path we were on was badly washed away by earlier rain. Water were running down everywhere. We had to stop to consider our options. Obviously we chose the right track and saved us a fortune from paying for the rescue.
As a whole, we really enjoyed the trail. It's one of the best trails we ever trekked so far. However, it's worthy to mention too, the so called "marked trek" have lost some of its signposts and we resorted to guesses at some points. Some of the places that should have trekker warnings but were not there. So, really, climb at your own risk.
Roy Bickmore :
We were there in the last fall. But we didn't have much luck. The weather was pretty bad. We detoured to Mt. Ruapehu on first attempt and detoured again to Upper Tama on second day attempt. The seismic activity was advised on high alert for Ngaruhoe and Tongariro which another reason we didn't continue.
Well done on the achievement ..
Wes :
Hey Lease, it has been a while. Glad to know you did Tongariro. Keen to rip into Milford in next fall
Trail known as: TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING
