Our trek south continues as we worked our way from Rotorua to Tongariro National Park. We spent one night in a free spot on the north end of Lake Taupo. We woke in the morning and headed up to Huka Falls, which is a powerful body of water moving over 220,000 gallons per minute. The color and clarity of the water were amazing to see. From there we headed on a trek around the park and somehow wound up at a wakeboard cable park. Tempted to make an unplanned run, we realized that time was against us as we needed to get driving to our next destination- Tongariro National Park.
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| Huka Falls north of Lake Taupo |
The Tongariro Apline Crossing is considered one of the top ten day-treks in the world. It's a 19.5KM hike over three volcanos and was park used for The Lord of the Rings shooting of Mordor.
Our hike started out reasonable but quickly turned cold and rainy and as we climbed and it continued to get more and more windy. Often people who start the trek have to turn around before the top because the wind can get dangerous. We had driven to the end parking lot and caught a shuttle to the start hoping that this would inspire us to keep going and complete the trek. We came upon a large opening of snow and the kids were thrilled to have a snowball fight and slide their way along. However, as we climbed and the wind picked up, SJ became a bit frightened and very cold as her gloves were wet from the snowballs, which meant she screamed hysterically unless carried. So dad took to carrying her, while mom and our oldest carried mom's big backpack full of gear for the ever changing weather conditions as well as snacks and fuel to keep us going.
Our hike started out reasonable but quickly turned cold and rainy and as we climbed and it continued to get more and more windy. Often people who start the trek have to turn around before the top because the wind can get dangerous. We had driven to the end parking lot and caught a shuttle to the start hoping that this would inspire us to keep going and complete the trek. We came upon a large opening of snow and the kids were thrilled to have a snowball fight and slide their way along. However, as we climbed and the wind picked up, SJ became a bit frightened and very cold as her gloves were wet from the snowballs, which meant she screamed hysterically unless carried. So dad took to carrying her, while mom and our oldest carried mom's big backpack full of gear for the ever changing weather conditions as well as snacks and fuel to keep us going.
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| G posing by the stream |
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| Happy early on.. just wait :) |
Ultimately we fought our way to the top through wind, rain, and fields of snow and ice that had us questioning our sanity more than once. Turning around at this point wasn't really an option, so we pressed on. We were thankful to know this was only a day hike and the miserable aspects of this hike had to be over shortly. Amazingly, as we reached the summit we were rewarded with the clouds clearing and the wind behind us. We picked a great spot for a wonderful lunch of PB&J and praise time, and then we continued our trek through two craters, the emerald lakes and down the backside. The whole thing took us 8 hours and 17 minutes.
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| Trekking across the crater - yes that's snow and we are in the clouds! |
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| A steep portion required some chain assistance |
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| Sky clears as we summit |
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| Pano near top of crater |
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| The Emerald Lakes |
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| View from the Emerald Lakes |
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| Crossing the "red crater" |
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| View from other side of "red crater" |
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| SJ had enough!! |
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| Crazy strong winds allow leaning |
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| Glissading down the slope |
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| G will miss snow this year |
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| Live volcanic activity on backside of mountain - area off limits |
Depleted and sore, we headed back to our campsite for showers, dinner, and laundry. This exhausting trek made for an easier transition to bedtime for the kids than we have had any night yet, but our bodies were sore for the next two days for sure!
This is amazing, Tricia! Thank you for sharing your travels with us!
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