We finally did NZ’s most famous day-walk, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is on almost all lists of the best day-hikes in the world. It passes through an otherworldly volcanic landscape used for the Mordor scenes in Lord of the Rings.
With some flexibility in our timetable we picked a fine weather day to do the walk. Nevertheless, a rogue weather system brought in unforecasted low cloud just as we arrived at the most spectacular section. Bloody mountain weather! I still got good shots however, if not the very best possible.
Track notes at the end. Unless you start before daylight or walk it in winter you’ll be joined by hundreds of others, so it’s not a wilderness experience. Just set your expectations accordingly and you’ll still enjoy this very unique and spectacular walk.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing: The Scenery
Ascending to the Craters
But don’t get me started on what that lava tube looks like.
And subsequent to posting this on Facebook a friend pointed out this looks very much like a dragon, with the head, long snout and eye on the right, wings and haunches in the middle, and leg bent on the left. Pretty cool.
Beginning the Descent
Track Notes
There’s plenty of information online about this walk, including on the DOC site. I won’t reproduce that information here, but here’s a very short summary of the walk.
The vast majority of it is fairly easy terrain. The start is easygoing before a couple of climbs. The first is to enter South Crater, and the second to visit Red Crater, a fabulous landform that looks like the gates to hell. This is the high point of the walk, at 1868m. There is then a short but steep descent to the Emerald Tarns on loose scree. After that you cross the wide expanse of Central Crater, pass by Blue Lake, and exit from the volcanic terrain. The descent through heath vegetation is long and less interesting, but finishes in pleasant forest.
Depending on your transport arrangements you will either wait for your shuttle bus at the track end, or else walk down the road for 10 minutes to the private car park owned by one of the shuttle bus companies.
Challenges
So many people do this walk that it can feel a bit tame, but but don’t underestimate it. The main bit that gets people into trouble is the short descent from Red Crater to the Emerald Tarns, which is a very loose and almost powdery scree. I’m very used to walking on scree – it’s all over Canterbury where I had been living for four years – and I was pretty blasé about it. Perhaps because of this I did slip at one point and aggravated an injury I had picked up a few walks earlier, but had forgotten about. It was fine but a reminder not to lose concentration on this sort of terrain, even if you are experienced. (In fact, a few weeks after we did the walk a man fell and died near Red Crater, so the worst can happen.)
Also beware of the weather. It’s a proper alpine environment and the wind can blow cold and strong even on a nice sunny day.
