Alpine Crossing-New Zealand
Probably the most famous of all the hikes in New Zealand is the Alpine Crossing, or more correctly said The Tongariro Crossing. It goes up to the mountain of Doom (a still active volcano; real name Mount Ngauruhoe), across Mordor and eventually down to the parking at the otherside where your car or bus will be waiting. You should count on around 8 hours walking and stops, and you should also know that the walk could be abandoned because of winds or bad weather etc. We went with a guided group and planed to do just 2 hours up to the top and back the same way. We were provided with a lunch box and we took a couple of litres of water each. It was a beautiful day, sunny and still. Perfect.
Mount Doom from the road
So we set off with the group and guide up the path towards Mount Doom
Heather and wild flowers along the way.
Looking back from whence we came.
When we got to our 2 hour stop we felt fine and decided to go on and complete the walk.
On we went. Up and over the top. Spectacular scenery with tortured lava spills and strange colours of a volcanic landscape.
There is a long slipy scree decent down to some crazy colored pools where we stopped for lunch. There was an apple in the lunch box which was the most wonderful, tasty, juicy apple I have ever tasted. Then on across a huge ancient crater and up to the far rim and the descent.
By this time we were in trouble. It was a hot day and we had only 2 liters of water each ( as we had planned to do just the half of the walk) and we should have had at least 5 liters each.
I made it down to the last pee stop OK. From there it was a further 2 hours of descent to the waiting bus; boring walking with mostly steps down. Severely dehydrated, I started cramping badly and could hardly put one foot in front of the other. The guide got me a bit more water but by then it was much too late. At one stage I thought I wouldn’t manage it but, one step at a time, endlessly, I made it down. Lessons learnt: Don’t underestimate the Crossing. I was fine and fit but on such a day with so little water was a big no no. Anyway all’s well that ends well and I had no trouble that evening or the next day. We were happy to have done it but wouldn’t do it again. While the assent was spectacular the descent was long and tedious so once was enough.