Blog 9: Mt Doom (Fate Mountain)

In the middle of the Tongariro National Park you can find Mt Ngauruhoe which is Mt Doom (Fate Mountain) from Lord of the Rings. As fans of the Lord of the Rings we had to do the hike up to the cone of the volcano, called Tongariro alpine crossing. This hike has a length of 20 km and starts in an altitude of 760 m. The highest point, which is the Red Crater, is located at an altitude of 1886 m. 

For the hike we woke up at 6 in the morning, drove from our camping site to the end of the hiking track and took a shuttle to the starting point. During the first hours the track was steep and it was cloudy and rainy, so we didn't see much of the surrounding area. It was also quite cold, as you can imagine from our clothing in the pictures. Luckily, the weather cleared up and we had a fantastic view from the top of the volcano. It looks just as impressive as in the movie! However, we didn't have a ring with us to throw into the summit ... The Lord of the Rings location of Mordor, home of Sauron, was also filmed in the surrounding area. Nerd alert!