The Twelve Mile Hike - Taupo Weekend

On Friday morning, we began a twelve mile hike between Mount Ngauruhoe (aka "Mount Doom" for you Lord of the Rings fans) and Mount Ruapehu, both of which are active stratovolcanos in the Taupo region. Normally, the group hikes the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, but since Mount Tongariro has had two eruptions in the past 8 months or so and our professors wanted us all to come back alive and unscathed from falling pyroclastic material, we did this one instead. Since I'm in the Biology 2100 class, I was with the group that did the hike at a slower pace so that we could take notes and make drawings in our "field journals".

The day began with us gathering outside of the Tongariro National Park welcome center, where many of us quickly realized that it was probably going to be a cold day. Some of my classmates ran inside to buy possum fur gloves and warm beanies before we headed out for a long and tiring, but definitely worthwhile, hike. 

Along the way, we passed some beautiful scenery, including a twenty meter high waterfall where we stopped for a bit to take pictures. At some point, it hailed for a few minutes. Alec, who grew up in the Bahamas, had never seen hail before so it was pretty funny to see his reaction to it. We hiked about three hours until we stopped for lunch. It was during that stop that Stephanie discovered that her spare pair of socks made great gloves, and when a few of us took an "adventure pee" in the tall grass. When else can you pee while viewing two amazing volcanoes in the middle of New Zealand, right?

The best views of the hike came when we had to climb a steep ridge that lies between the two volcanoes. On either side of the ridge, you can also see the Upper and Lower Tama Lakes. The path was very steep and the footing was very loose, so I can't even count how many times I almost slipped and slid down the path on my bottom. Once we made it to the top, there was an incredible amount of wind- so much so that I was legitimately worried about being knocked on my feet and sliding off the top of the ridge. While some of my friends jumped onto taller rocks for crazy photos, I took most of mine holding onto people to help anchor me down.

There was one rock that jutted out from the edge of the mountain that had a beautiful view of Mount Ruapehu in the background. It was quite the photo-op spot, so everyone was getting pictures there. I didn't really want to climb up there (that was a lot of wind to combine with a long fall if you stepped wrong), but Nick told me that he would go up with me and make sure I was fine. Long story short, I almost pushed Nick off of the mountain (sorry!), but we did get a great picture. I have to say though, that is something that I never need to do again. It was frightening. 

The hike back to the welcome center was much easier than the first half. We were able to snag some pictures from the top of the big waterfall this time and really sit down and enjoy the view. Overall, even though I will probably never consider myself a "hiking person", I am so glad that I had this experience. It was exhausting, but not nearly as much as I expected it to be. Being able to see the volcanoes from right in between them was something that I will never forget. This country has given me so much more of an appreciation for nature than I ever imagined it could. I really hope that one day I can come back and hike the famous Tongariro crossing, but maybe when it's not quite as active (although it would make for a great story).