Tongariro Alpine Crossing and Mt. Doom

The drive to Mt. Doom

A couple of days ago, Andy and I decided to hike to Mt. Doom (and we are still sore).  The only way to see Mt. Doom was by hiking through the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which runs between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom).

About to start our trek

This Crossing has been called the best one-day walk in New Zealand and we can see why.  The scenery is stunning and screams "Lord of the Rings."  Throughout the hike, we kept making comments like "That looks like Rohan," or "This looks like where Gollum tried to catch a fish" or "Can't you just picture Gandalf riding over that hill on a white horse?" We half expected an orc to jump out at us from behind a boulder. (note: listening to The Two Towers soundtrack on the way over might have had a part to play in all this.)

As we got higher and higher, we had to hike through mud and snow, but the scenery made it totally worth it.

Mt. Doom

Dead marshes?

Parts of the crossing were closed to the public because of the eruption on Mt. Tongariro last month (the first in over a century), but we only made it up to Soda Springs anyway before deciding to head back. It was at this point we realized we were not dressed appropriately to go any further (we were trekking through the snow in tennis shoes while passing tour groups and other hikers in boots with clamp-on cleats). Our entire hike there and back took us about 4.5 hours (probably because we kept stopping to take pictures). Great day!

We are now headed back to Auckland to return our camper, which will conclude our time on the North Island. If time permits, we hope to explore the city a bit before flying out. Will write more when we can!