In Frodo's footsteps

After our departure from Clive shortly after Christmas, we wanted to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing before New Year's Eve, before we would take the ferry to the South Island on 01.01.17. This day hike through the Tangariro National Park leads through the volcanic landscape that Frodo has already hiked through and offers the opportunity to climb Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings. Arriving at Tongariro National Park, we packed our backpacks hastily in the evening before our 19.4km long day hike was supposed to start the next morning. A few days earlier, we had booked a shuttle that was supposed to take us to the end of the trail at 8:00 a.m., so that we only had to walk back to our car. The trail was supposedly doable in 7-8 hours, but since we had already had bad experiences with such time estimates, we didn't want to rely on them. As the actual Crossing did not lead to the individual peaks of Mt Tongariro or Mt Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom), and an additional 1-2 or 2-3 hours were scheduled for that, we decided to do the Crossing in one day and climb Mount Doom on the day after. After all, we are not the fittest sneakers. So we started our walk without any time pressure with thousands of other people. We did not expect this whole thing to become such an exaggerated mass pilgrimage. Especially in the first two-thirds of the trail, the masses of people marched through Mordor in single file. Nevertheless, when looking at the landscape, one could immerse oneself in the film. In addition to Mount Doom, one could also get glimpses of huge old lava fields, crater lakes, and sulfur streams. The landscape here was simply stunning and unique, we had never seen anything like it! Thanks to the clear weather, we could even see Mt. Taranaki in the distance. After the first 6-7 kilometers were relatively easy to walk, the first ascents started soon, but they were also manageable. However, going downhill gave me more problems ;). But we managed that too, although we were slightly exhausted by now. This wouldn't get any better with the next kilometers, so the last 3km felt like 10. We were just glad that we didn't also march up Mount Doom. With heavy legs and sore feet, we finally arrived at the car in the afternoon and made our way to our campsite. At that time, we could not have imagined climbing an active volcano in two days. But despite muscle soreness and blisters on our feet, we set out on our way again after a day of rest. We already knew the first 7km, but then the turn-off to Mount Doom came. Since there was no marked path here, every willing hiker had to find their own path up. However, we were surprised that almost as many people took this climb as did the Crossing. So we crawled up here in single file as well. And if we thought the Crossing before was exhausting, we soon realized what was really exhausting. Accordingly, I was completely exhausted and irritated when we finally reached the top. And when an incredibly slippery snowfield blocked our way to the crater rim, Toni had to almost drag me along. But the view into an active crater compensated us directly for all our efforts.

But now we were faced with the problem of having to go down the mountain again. Not only was there a danger of slipping, because the entire slope consisted of rubble, but also the danger of being hit by exactly this rubble that the person behind us kicked loose. So we not only heard the exclamation "Rock" followed by sometimes huge rocks shooting down the mountain more than once. Fortunately, no one was hit, and after we had found a technique to climb down, we made good progress. Despite everything, we were incredibly exhausted but also relieved when we were back on the trail and could start the return journey, which was still 7km long. After three exhausting but also incredibly impressive days, we left Tongariro National Park with the goal of Wellington. After all, New Year's Eve was just around the corner.