Tongariro National Park - August 7-9, 2009

So a few weekends ago Eric got the brilliant idea to do the Tongariro Crossing in winter. A few companies offer guided winter hikes; they provide the transportation, guides, and the necessary equipment - crampons and ice axes! They also keep an eye on the weather (which can be very changeable, especially in the winter), and you don't go unless conditions are ok. Well, we got lucky and the entire weekend was gorgeous - clear blue skies and no wind made for perfect hiking weather. We were picked up from our hostel, outfitted in our gear, and hiking by 8AM.
The first 4K or so are fairly flat and easy walking, with great views of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe up ahead.
The cone shaped volcano is Mt Ngauruhoe, which is Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings. It last erupted in the 70s, but we could see a small line of smoke coming out near the top. Mt Ruapehu, the third mountain in the Tongariro National Park (and the main ski field for the north island) is the most active of the three. Ruapehu had some major eruptions in 1995-96, which closed the mountain for skiing for 2 yrs. In 2007, the tephra dam holding back the crater lake burst (the tephra dam was actually formed during the 95-96 eruptions), sending a major lahar (mudflow) down the mountain. They monitor the level in the crater lake now.
Mt Tongariro is considered to be the most sacred of the three. To prevent exploitation, a Maori chief gave the area to the Crown in 1887, with the condition that a protected area would be established. Additional land was added to the gift, and Tongariro National Park became the first national park in New Zealand and only the fourth in the world. Mt Tongariro is the peak on the left in the photo below.
At this point we put on our crampons and practiced 'stopping' with our ice axes in case we slipped. Eric and I had never used crampons before, it takes a bit of time to get used to them but they were great. It is almost all ice and really steep in areas, so you definitely cannot do the hike without them (well, we did see two people doing the hike on their own with no crampons, but I would never do it!). After a bit of a climb we got to the South Crater, a huge flat area between Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. You can climb to the summit of Mt Ngauruhoe in the summer. There is no path, you just hike straight to the top - and that's a lot of uphill!
Now the serious climbing began. Super steep slopes, and in some cases very narrow pathways. In a few spots, the path would be about 1 ft wide, with a steep drop back down to the South Crater on one side (at probably an 80 degree slope, down maybe 200m) and a wall of rock/ice on the other sides. Everyone was quiet (concentrating on not falling!), and you could hear all of the little pieces of ice dislodged by the crampons tinkeling their way down the steep slopes. Very cool.
So, after about 45 min of steep climbing, we reached the highest point of the track at 1886m (about 700m of climb throughout the hike) overlooking red crater. In the summer, you continue along the Crossing to the north. But in the winter, the guided groups just go to Red Crater and head back. We had lunch at the top and enjoyed the views. After all of the hiking (and the blazing sun), it was pretty warm - a lot of people just had on short sleeve shirts, and a few guys even took their shorts off (I thought they were a little crazy though, haha). Here are some views from the top:Red Crater is in the bottom right. Mt Ngauruhoe:The central crater is in the middle of the photo, and the north crater is at the top left. You can also see Lake Taupo in the background. Another big highlight of the Crossing is the crater lakes which are crazy blue/green colors, but they were frozen and covered in snow. We'll have to come back in the summer and hike it again!Here's a 360 degree view from the top.

The hike was about 18km total. It was an amazing hike and we were extremely lucky with the weather. We could see as far as Mt Taranaki on the west coast! We will definitely be back in the summer to do it again.
The next day I went snowboarding on Turoa, the ski field at the south end of Mt Ruapehu. The conditions were decent and their were some awesome trails (really weird though to be on a ski field with no trees! It is a volcano though, so there are a lot of big volcanic rocks to watch out for), but it was so crowded!! The lift lines were insane. Guess everyone was enjoying the perfect weather and awesome views. If I go back it will be during the week!
We also went fishing in a few different spots. They were all beautiful, but no fish!! Better luck next time for Eric. We did pass a lot of beautiful farmland (mostly sheep) and finally had the NZ experience of sheep being herded down the road in front of you.
We stayed in National Park, a very small town with a few hostels/hotels and a handful of restaurants (including an excellent pizza place with a mountain climbing theme - lots of Everest and Sir Edmund Hillary stuff!). Right across the street from out hostel were some of the best views of the mountains around. Here is Mt Ruapehu:
It was a great weekend and it is such a beautiful area. We can't wait to go back again soon!