Tongariro Alpine Crossing aka Mount Doom

 05.00 am... The alarm goes off and the 5 other people in my dorm room must be hating me.. I can feel the excitement rushing through me.. Since we drove into Taupo I have heard nothing but tales of how tough this trek can be, how quickly the weather can change, what kind of clothing you must wear, the time slots that you must make if you are to catch the last bus leaving the national park, phone numbers for search & rescue and so on.. I know most of this is meant as a warning to people that have never walked on a mountain before but it still managed to make me a little nervous.. Especially because less than 48 hours ago I twisted my ankle going down mount John at lake Tekapo and it was still swelled up and a tad purple so a single mistep could cost me, but I really wanted to do this so I laced my boots up tight and grapped a walking stick heading out of the bus setting us off at the start of the track at 1150 height meters. 

The omens were looking good thou as the weather was looking to be fine as soon as we made it above the clouds and the guys watching the little needle on the graph said that the risk of a vulcanic eruption was no worse than normal...

 So up through the clouds we went on a piece of track named the devils staircase.. Throug the clouds you could just make out the shape of the towering vulcano, looking evilly down at you

  

The devils staircase took us up and out of the clouds revealing the sun and the moutain range in the horizon. This was simply spectacular. 

At the top of the staircase it was time to separate the strong from the weak and I made a right turn onto the hardly marked path to the summit of Ngauruhoe

 

Unfortunately my climbing buddy Kiki was still feeling the effect of a fever so I had to go on alone.. just me against the vulcano..  

The ascent was tough and it was hard to find any good place to put your feet as the surface was very soft and loose. The best way was up through a petrified lava stream filled with sharp and loose vulcanic rocks that at least gave you something to step and hold on to. 

The last little stretch the ground turned red and it was 2 steps forward and 1 step back as you slid back down through the suprisingly light and crunchy vulcanic rocks. Finally at the top, 2291 meters above sea level and after 1141 meters of ascent, you were rewarded with a beautifull view of the crater and the surrounding mountains. 

Shared a fruitcake with some poms(english people) and kiwis, before starting the descent down through the soft scree where you could sort of slide and skate down quite fast but it felt a little risky so I took to the lava rocks passing the many people still going up and kindly confirming their questions that, yes it is still a long way to the top and yes it gets harder! 

Coming down from the vulcano it was now noon and I still had 4 hours of hiking left and the path was getting crowded with locals as it was a saturday. I set out a fast pace to allow for some time to enjoy the great views of the red crater, the emerald lakes and the blue lake

 

Past the lakes it was pretty much down hill all the way for about 1,5 hour without any spectacular views compared to what I had just witnessed. I praised my foresight of bringing a walking stick as all around me poeple were complaining about their kness during the long descent. 

At this point my feet were acking and my ankle complaining so it was with a sigh of relief that I stepped onto the bus and headed back to Taupo for some well earned indian take away and a good nights sleep.