Tongariro Alpine Crossing

My first mistake was thinking that a "trek" meant a hike that was flat. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, or the Tongariro Trek, is hardly flat. The path is scheduled to take 7-11 hours to complete and goes over the volcanos. The volcanos are actually still active, and smoke was coming out of certain parts from erruptions that had happened a year ago. The total distance is 12 miles. We completed it in 6 hours and 10 minutes! (Yes, I literally walked over these...)

As I approached these monstrosities, I was a little weary about what I got myself into. I started the trek and soon realized the course I was going to be taking. The path quickly changed from flat wood walkways into steep rocky paths. I laugh at how naive I was in the beginning thinking that the first peak would also be the last. I was living in a fools paradise. The path kept going higher and higher. At one point, a helicopter flew by at our same altitude.

My friends and I veered off the course slighty by accident and had to crawl up the side of the mountain. Little did we know there was an easier path a few feet to our right. The trickiest part was walking on the dirt. Since the whole mountain was covered in lava, it was sandy and rocky making it hard to get a grip.

In the middle of the volcanos were the Emerald Lakes. These are famous in New Zealand. They get this color from the minerals that are found in the lava. Steam was coming off of them and the air smelt kind of like rotten eggs from the sulphur. It was actually pretty remarkable to see this in the midst of desolation.

The descent was by far the worst part. It was hard to walk down on the uneven dirt and I was losing motivation quickly. Even on the way down there were still parts that went uphill. My legs hated me at this point. It took much longer than expected to make it down. Towards the end we were getting nervous that we had taken a wrong turn. My only concern was getting the hell out of there before sundown. We all started running when the panic struck but by that point the end was right around the corner. Sweet relief.

New Zealanders crack me up because so many of them have done this trek multiple times. I, on the other hand, did it purely for the view. I have already suppressed some parts of it. I'm happy to say that I did it, but rest assured, it won't be happening again. Ever.