Since it was rated at as a difficult hike (though I don't see why, like most other courses in NZ, the trail is well-groomed), I brought my hiking poles this time, but only ended up using them for the first portion of the hike, which is all uphill and actually the most difficult part (I ran out of breath several times along the way - in part because I was trying to keep a good pace going). The poles came in handy for helping as I leaned on them while I caught my breath, but in actuality, not having the poles would have made no difference at all. But after the initial uphill portion (takes about 1 - 2 hours to complete), it's completely smooth sailing from there - mostly flat or downhill, with a few uphill parts sprinkled here and there. I think I got really lucky on the weather too. During the drive there, the sky looked kind of grey, but at the national park, after leaving the start point, the sun was out - I really couldn't ask for better weather without pushing my luck.
The hike also did not take anywhere close to 7 - 8 hours. I got past the uphill part a lot faster than expected, and got to a crossing point where there was the option of taking an optional side route up to the Tongariro summit. While I was deciding whether I would have enough time to try it (because there was still plenty of time to finish the trail), James caught up to me, and we decided to attempt it. I don't think we actually got all the way to the summit, because it was supposed to be 1.5 hours return, and we did it in 45 minutes and stopped to do some picture taking, but we couldn't see any continuation of a trail after a certain point so we thought we got there hahaha (well the view was still awesome where we stopped). We ended up doing the rest of the hike together, and we did another optional side route to see the third of 3 "Emerald Lakes" (which you don't get close to on the main route), stopped for a bathroom break and lunch break when we got to the huts, and we really took our time doing the final downhill portions because we had so much time left - and we still finished the hike in under 7 hours (ie. we spent over an hour waiting for the minibus to pick us up). We weren't even that fast - the German guy in my room finished the hike in under 5 hours and waited at the end point for over 3 hours!
I know, you must be wondering at this point, where are all the photos? Well I wanted to finish most of everything I had to say about the hike before I got to the photos, because they are just gorgeous and then you wouldn't be paying any attention to my little blurbs hahaha. There is a reason why the hike is the most popular full-day hike in NZ, and rated as one of the best day hikes in the whole world - the scenery is AMAZING! Words really don't do it justice, and everything about the landscape (from the ground to the rocks to the vegetation and to even the weather conditions) changes so drastically across the entire trail. The great beauty and unique colours and sights are thanks to the activities of the 3 highly active volcanoes that the trail passes through. Stopping to take in the sights is obviously a definite must (even if you're not taking any photos), and even if you don't believe in God or have any spiritual beliefs, the scenery will make you contemplate how such stunning natural beauty could have been created without the existence of a supreme being. Honestly, there are some portions of the hike where I couldn't help but feel like I was on an entirely different planet because I couldn't even imagine how extraordinary the landscape would be. There are going to be a lot of photos in this post (but keep in mind it's only a few of the many photos I took - over 600 in total):
At the start point.
The initial portion of the hike (mostly flat). Stunning eh? There were rocks and vegetation I had never even seen before. Well, there's even more to come!
Soda Springs in the distance (this is where the ascent started).
The hardest part of the hike, the ascent.
At the top of the first ascent (there were more uphill sections to come). The sky is completely whited out because the sun was so bright, but there was a very thick white fog (probably clouds) it had to shine through. Honestly, the fog was so thick that visibility was limited to a metre or so for some portions.
Notice how the terrain has changed so much already? This part was flat - really good to slowly catch your breath before the next uphill. The big mountain (best view in the 3rd photo) is Mount Ngauruhoe, an active stratovolcano (though it hasn't shown any signs of activity in the past couple of years). To get to the summit is an optional 2 - 3 hour return trip rated as very difficult and only for very experienced climbers (there's absolutely no posted trail to the top).
More uphill hiking, through a portion called the Red Crater (the view of the actual Red Crater is on the other side, only visible later on during the hike).
Where James met up with me. When I looked down at my watch, I couldn't believe how early it was (we had a lot more than 5 hours and 25 minutes left to complete trail), so we did the side trail to the Tongariro summit (1st photo shows the beginning).
Along the side trail to the Tongariro summit.
Where we stopped on the side trail to the Tongariro summit. We had an awesome view of the Blue Lake (and was actually the only time we got to see it). 2 of the 3 Emerald Lakes can be seen in the 4th photo.
Heading back to the main trail - it suddenly got really foggy during some parts of the route (an example of how quickly the weather changes up there). I found the red dirt and rocks very interesting - I could almost imagine myself walking on Mars haha. That's James in the last photo (I had no intention of the photo turning out that way, but it looks pretty awesome eh? hahaha).
The magnificent Red Crater - unbelievable I would ever see something like this. And the ground was surprisingly sooo warm (a very comfortable, soothing warm to the touch).
Views of the Blue Lake from the highest point of the main point (directly after the Red Crater). The clouds had moved in - literally changing how clear the view was from second to second.
View of the (3) Emerald Lakes (the main route doesn't pass by the one farthest away in the photo).
The clouds lifted briefly for the most clear view I could get of the Red Crater.
Views of the Emerald Lakes as the descent started. The descent was really fun - the ground was so soft that me and James basically slid down the path hahaha (though I found out I ended up jamming my left knee at the end of the hike since I kept using the left leg to slow the slide every so often).
A heat vent.
More views of the gorgeous Emerald Lakes.
The ground was smoking (sulphur vents)!
More views as we made our way down, with close up views of 2 of the 3 Emerald Lakes (and a view of the 3rd one in the 10th photo).
Getting up close and personal with the third Emerald Lake (we got really close to it). I snacked on one of my protein bars and just enjoyed the amazing view while James was hopping around the rocks on beside the lake hahaha. Almost all hikers aren't even aware of this side path to the lake, because it's labeled as the direction to the Oturere Hut (for multi-day hikes; the path continues on, shown in the 9th photo), so only those with intentions of doing multi-day hikes and want to head in this direction would take the path (we had one guy actually pass by while we chilled out). But thanks to my awesome navigation skills (hahaha), I had a good feeling the path would lead to the lake, and I was right!
Back on the main trail, passing through a section that was completely foggy/cloudy the entire way. There were views of glacier residues to my surprise (1st, 10th, 11th, and 14th photos)!
Continuing the descent, now back under the clouds. Notice how drastically the vegetation has changed? Surprisingly, there were even hot sulphur vents here too (last 6 photos, all actually of the same one vent haha)! We kept getting passed by runners in this section - I can't believe people run the track, it must be some intense training!
Continuing on after our brief stop at the Ketetahi Hut, where there were some toilets we could use, and I finished off the rest of my lunch (good ol' protein bars...). The different vegetation here (which I've never seen before) continued to amaze me.
The last section of the trail; again, the vegetation was completely different here (it's amazing how suddenly it changed!). Walking through a forest after being in the open air for so long only emphasized the sudden transition - it almost felt like we were suddenly in a rain forest hahaha. Near the end, me and James felt like the hike wouldn't end because it seemed to keep going while we were expecting it to finally finish haha. The last photo marks the very end of the trail!
Chilling out at the finish point (there's info boards because some people choose to start the hike here and end it at the other end).
The ride back into town, which was supposed to last 45 minutes to an hour, passed by in an instant - everyone was passed out hahaha (except for one guy who told us later how we all had our mouths open and how our heads just bounced up and down along the bumpy parts of the road)! I was in no mood to do any walking once we got back to the hostel, or anything else for that matter (hahaha), so it was a good thing I had made leftovers of the ground beef and had some mixed greens remaining. All I had to do was boil up some fettuccine for a quick, easy dinner, then I slapped on the remaining processed cheese for a nice twist - a much needed warm meal.
Enjoying a well-earned, easy drinking Tui beer (good thing I had picked them up the day before to save me the walk haha).
Well, I ended up going to the supermarket anyway because I had a craving for something sweet hahaha (at least I got to rest my feet for a bit though). I think the chocolate was well earned! I've personally never seen the Cadbury chocolate bars come in this size before (and "hokey pokey" in the description grabbed my attention right away haha)!
That night, none of us had any energy left to go out and check out the bars (plus it was Sunday anyway), so we just chilled out in the TV room again with some beers, watching some NZ TV. And yet another surprise, James actually found the camera the British couple had lost the day before on the minibus during the ride back into town! They were really upset they had lost it, so I was really glad he found it and passed along their info to him so he could send it to them (since they already left) - I wouldn't wish it on anyone to lose photos of such amazing and hard-earned memories!
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