Tongariro Northern Circuit 3 day walk

Hello, all! This is Kendra, with my first blog attempt…lets see if it lives up to the funny, yet still informative standards set by my parents!

We live only 2 hours from one of the most famous and beautiful national parks in the entire world, Tongariro National Park. This beautiful location is not only the 5th park created in the world, in 1887, but also houses multiple incredible volcanoes. Mt. Nguaruhoe (pronounced "New-rah-hoe-ey", and commonly recognized as Mt. Doom for you Lord of the Rings nerds out there), Mt. Tongariro, and Mt. Ruapehu (pronounced Rue-ah-pay-u). This park contains one of the most famous walks in the entirety of New Zealand - and certainly the most popular on the North Island- the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

The Crossing itself is a 19 km day trek which reaches an elevation of about 1800 m, summiting the saddle between Mt. Nguaruhoe and Mt. Tongariro. It passes through beautiful craters, between thermal pools, and across gorgeous lava flows from previous eruptions. It is an incredibly difficult, yet rewarding walk which nearly 100,000 people do every year.

Being the over-achievers we are, this wasn’t enough for us.  My dad, my Kiwi friend Alannah, and I decided that we not only wanted to complete the crossing, but also do two following days in order to   complete the Tongariro Northern Circuit. This 3-4 day back-packing tramp essentially circles Mt. Nguaruhoe, and ends up being between 30 and 40 km, depending on certain side trips and short cuts.

Our first day was the actual Crossing itself. We left our car at the end point of the hike, then took a cheap transport ride from a local, very friendly kiwi (who talked so quickly and mumbled so much that even Alannah had difficultly keeping up) to the Mangatepopo carpark. Leaving from Mangatepopo, the track went uphill gently along a stream bed toward the pass.  We stopped for lunch by Soda Springs, a pretty little waterfall.  

Then began the ascent, a very steep walk up to the saddle at the base of Mt Nguaruhoe, which was mostly shrouded in clouds.  After climbing for nearly half an hour, I, believed we had finally reached the highest point, and was thrilled to tell everyone that the climbing was most likely nearly over for the day. However, we passed through the South Crater, pictured here...

...and then encountered not just an ascent, but the famed Devil’s Staircase. Everyone else was, somewhat understandably, less than pleased about by premature announcement! However, the ascent was really too difficult for anyone to really audibly voice their displeasure, so I got a bit of a free pass! Here is a picture of my Dad on the last really steep climb.

When we finally reached the top, we were treated to the sight of the beautiful Red Crater. This indentation in the rock is stained red due to the high temperature oxidation of iron (how scientific!), and created one of the most awe-inspiring views of the entire trip. 

We then descended a very dangerous, very Kiwi-style hillside, which was basically comprised of loose dirt and rocks.  No switchbacks here, just a plunge straight down.  At various points, the rocks to our sides were hissing steam.  After slipping and sliding for nearly 30 minutes, attempting not too break ankles or backs, we reached the Emerald Lakes. These three lakes are gorgeous blue, green and emerald colors due to minerals such as sulphur leaking in to the cold, very acidic pools. This was the most visually stunning of all of the spots we saw due to the color contrasts, and we took a good rest, having completed about the first 8 km of our tramp. 

After more steep descending into the Oturere valley and a long trek through what was (accurately) described as an endless variety of lava formations we finally reached our first campsite/hut after 16 km of hard tramping with heavy packs. 

Oturere Hut was available for our use, so we made rehydrated Chicken Curry (hot food on the trail always tastes so good, but this was genuinely tasty) and we were treated to a hilarious talk and introduction by Bruce, our hut warden. 

Ahhhh....Bruce. Compared to most hut wardens (maybe even most people), the guy was hilarious, and incredibly friendly! He first made us introduce ourselves, say where we were from, and what kind of pets we owned - the most interesting likely being alpacas! He then proceeded to tell us hilarious anecdotes in order to teach us about the hut…including telling us not to feed the local wildlife (such as opossums, rats, mice, and the occasional ork, which apparently leave rather large droppings behind). His reaction to the various dangers of the park was hilarious, and had many of the physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted campers laughing hysterically. Other highlights include the “blue line” for tsunamis, hiding behind rocks during an eruption because rocks likely won’t hit the same place twice (like lightning!), and his hatred of the toilets. He made the evening so enjoyable!! 

The next day we got up late, made a leisurely breakfast of rehydrated eggs and potatoes and bacon (interesting, but edible) and were in no hurry to get anywhere due to the relatively short (only 8 km) walk to the next hut and campsite. Over breakfast, we met 3 teenage boys from Palmerston North (a town about an hour south of Wanganui) and they kindly shared their pancakes with us.  We figured anyone who would make us pancakes was also good enough to walk with : ) and so we then hiked together that whole day down to our next hut.  And, to be perfectly honest, yes this was nice for us two teenage girls. (And once we started talking about American politics, I’m pretty sure my Dad then enjoyed it more.)

We enjoyed a comparatively flat and easy walk, and arrived at the next campsite early in the day. Enjoying not having heavy packs and clunky hiking boots, we decided to visit the freezing cold Ohinepango Springs. And when I say freezing, I really mean freezing. The water was 4.5 degrees Celsius, or to you Americans, about 39 Fahrenheit.  And flowing.  Brrrr…refreshing, yes, but that not the half of it.  It hurt just getting in the water. Here is a picture of a classic NZ site - forest surrounding a fresh water spring in the middle of a thermal wonderland!  

After this “refreshing” swim, we went to a river that was about 50 Fahrenheit (ahhh so warm!) for one last swim before dinner. 

Cards and shenanigans followed dinner, with all of us teenagers deciding to go to the old Waihohonu Hut at about 9:30 at night. The hut is the oldest in New Zealand, being built in 1904, and it must have been very cool during the day. However…at night, when it’s dark, it really just felt like the start to a cheep horror film, so we didn’t stay that long.

The next morning involved packing up wet tents (yay…) and then starting early (well…9...but it felt early!) The last day of the northern circuit back to Whakapapa Village is a 15 km (10 mile) tramp, passing between Mt. Nguaruhoe and Mt. Ruapehu. Due to some cloud cover, we never really saw either mountain fully, but it was cool to watch as the clouds would variously move around the tops of the mountains and occasionally offer up more of a glimpse, such as this of Mt Doom!

The two very cool sights on the last day were the Tama Lakes and Taranaki Falls. The Lower Tama Lake was only 10 minutes from the trail, and provided a lovely scenic spot for lunch. 

The Taranaki falls are a 20 m fall only about 2 km from the end of the tramp. We scrambled around behind the falls, spent a little time at the base, and enjoyed the cold mist rising off the pool. 

By this point, everyone was very ready to get back to our cars and stop carrying weight on our backs, so it was with great relief that we saw our cars and hopped in for the long ride home.

The Tongariro Northern Circuit is clearly famous for a reason. Beautiful mountains, stunning craters, impossibly blue lakes, and incredible rock formations dominate the track, creating a diversely beautiful, yet also quite difficult, walking track. It was made even more fun by the friends we met along the way, and the laughs that we all shared over those many kilometers!