On my birthday I woke up at 5am and by 7am I was walking up a mountain. Seriously. I was doing the Tongariro Crossing. It's considered on of the best day walks in New Zealand. The walk takes you through a valley between mountains and then up the side and into a crater. On top of the crater it is possible to see mount doom, real name mount nagarua(maybe), and also it's supposed to give some great views of the whole park and area. And when NZer's say day walk they mean day walk. The walk took me 7 hours and at points I was on all fours climbing up rocks.
The first part of the walk takes about an hour and is a slight incline. This slight incline leads to the devil's staircase. Let me tell you it's not called the devil's staircase for nothing. It's just a piles of stacked rocks going up the side of mountain. It's windy and very steep at points. I took my time and many breaks and after an hour I was finally off the staircase. I must admit that most of the time that I was on the staircase I was thinking to myself that I sure know how to pick a crappy brithday present for myself.
After the staircase I found myself inside of crater. It was completely flat which was a nice change. It took about a half hour to walk across the crater and I was able to catch my breath and talk to the two girls that I had walkedup the staircase with. By the time we made it across the crater a cloud had settled in on top of the next incline. The next incline was the ridge of the red crater. It was basically up hill for a half hour but the really difficult part was that now that the cloud was sitting on the hill the wind was really strong and it was really cold. The ground was frozen and the two girls I was with decided to turn around. So I walked up the ridge by myself. I was kind of nervous because I couldn't see very far in front of me and the wind does push you around. It's not like the ridge is very wide either. If two people walked side by side up it, one would eventually fall. But I made sure that I could see people in front of me and behind me so that if anything happened someone would see. I also had my cell phone and an emergency number....just in case.
After about a half hour I made it up the ridge and to the top of the red crater. This is where I was supposed to be able to see all of these great views. Unfortunately the cloud was still sitting there so all I could see was cloud and I was cold so I kept walking.
Walking down the other side of the crater was fun. It's all gravelly so the fastest and funnest way to get down is to just dig your heels in let yourself slide down. As I was doing this I could see the cloud moving so every now and then I could get a good view. Luckily I was able to take some pictures but I couldn't see Mount Doom.
Once I got down the crater I was in the spot called Emerald lakes. The entire Tongariro Park is a volcanic area and the lakes inside of the park are all emerald colored or deep blue because of the sulfur and acid that rises up from the ground. I had lunch at emerald lakes but then decided I was cold so I kept walking.
The rest of the walk was downhill. There were points where you could take a break and enjoy the view but I was freezing so I kept walking. The last hour of the walk was inside of a beach forest. There were waterfalls and other good things but it was the last hour of a 7 hour walk so I was more interested in finishing than enjoying the scenery.
Surprisingly my legs don't hurt too much. I am ridiculously tired still but other than that I am fine. This walk has taught me many things for me: I don't like 7 hour hikes (they are way too long) and hiking on your birthday no matter what your age will make you feel old by the end of it(my knees were killing me). I am very proud of myself for doing the Crossing. It was the last thing that I wanted to do in New Zealand and to be honest I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it. We all know that me and exercise aren't friends but I enjoyed the challenge of the Crossing. Bearing that in mind I will never do anything again that uses the words devil and staircase in the same sentence to describe it.
After the hike I met up with a girl that I had met on my bus. We went out for a drink, which turned into a couple since it was my birthday. It was a good time. We met up with another girl and we just sat around talking. I laughed a lot and then we went to the dance club I busted out all of my corny moves (the lawnmower, the sprinkler) and had a good time. All in all it was def a memorable birthday and I guess if I couldn't spend it with my friends and family then I might as well have climbed a mountain to pass the time.
I leave Taupo in a couple of days to venture onto the east cape of NZ. I will be passing through Napier again and seeing some great beaches. There are no more adventures for this trip, just relaxing and seeing the sites. Here are the pics from the crossing. Enjoy!
The first part of the walk takes about an hour and is a slight incline. This slight incline leads to the devil's staircase. Let me tell you it's not called the devil's staircase for nothing. It's just a piles of stacked rocks going up the side of mountain. It's windy and very steep at points. I took my time and many breaks and after an hour I was finally off the staircase. I must admit that most of the time that I was on the staircase I was thinking to myself that I sure know how to pick a crappy brithday present for myself.
After the staircase I found myself inside of crater. It was completely flat which was a nice change. It took about a half hour to walk across the crater and I was able to catch my breath and talk to the two girls that I had walkedup the staircase with. By the time we made it across the crater a cloud had settled in on top of the next incline. The next incline was the ridge of the red crater. It was basically up hill for a half hour but the really difficult part was that now that the cloud was sitting on the hill the wind was really strong and it was really cold. The ground was frozen and the two girls I was with decided to turn around. So I walked up the ridge by myself. I was kind of nervous because I couldn't see very far in front of me and the wind does push you around. It's not like the ridge is very wide either. If two people walked side by side up it, one would eventually fall. But I made sure that I could see people in front of me and behind me so that if anything happened someone would see. I also had my cell phone and an emergency number....just in case.
After about a half hour I made it up the ridge and to the top of the red crater. This is where I was supposed to be able to see all of these great views. Unfortunately the cloud was still sitting there so all I could see was cloud and I was cold so I kept walking.
Walking down the other side of the crater was fun. It's all gravelly so the fastest and funnest way to get down is to just dig your heels in let yourself slide down. As I was doing this I could see the cloud moving so every now and then I could get a good view. Luckily I was able to take some pictures but I couldn't see Mount Doom.
Once I got down the crater I was in the spot called Emerald lakes. The entire Tongariro Park is a volcanic area and the lakes inside of the park are all emerald colored or deep blue because of the sulfur and acid that rises up from the ground. I had lunch at emerald lakes but then decided I was cold so I kept walking.
The rest of the walk was downhill. There were points where you could take a break and enjoy the view but I was freezing so I kept walking. The last hour of the walk was inside of a beach forest. There were waterfalls and other good things but it was the last hour of a 7 hour walk so I was more interested in finishing than enjoying the scenery.
Surprisingly my legs don't hurt too much. I am ridiculously tired still but other than that I am fine. This walk has taught me many things for me: I don't like 7 hour hikes (they are way too long) and hiking on your birthday no matter what your age will make you feel old by the end of it(my knees were killing me). I am very proud of myself for doing the Crossing. It was the last thing that I wanted to do in New Zealand and to be honest I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it. We all know that me and exercise aren't friends but I enjoyed the challenge of the Crossing. Bearing that in mind I will never do anything again that uses the words devil and staircase in the same sentence to describe it.
After the hike I met up with a girl that I had met on my bus. We went out for a drink, which turned into a couple since it was my birthday. It was a good time. We met up with another girl and we just sat around talking. I laughed a lot and then we went to the dance club I busted out all of my corny moves (the lawnmower, the sprinkler) and had a good time. All in all it was def a memorable birthday and I guess if I couldn't spend it with my friends and family then I might as well have climbed a mountain to pass the time.
I leave Taupo in a couple of days to venture onto the east cape of NZ. I will be passing through Napier again and seeing some great beaches. There are no more adventures for this trip, just relaxing and seeing the sites. Here are the pics from the crossing. Enjoy!
A view of one of the mountains when I started the walk
Just a small part of the devil's staircase. It's blurry but you can make out the zig zag that is the path.
This is supposed to be the picturesque spot with the views but instead there was cloud, but this was the highest point and I just climbed up to it on my 23rd birthday so I wanted a picture. The people around sang happy birthday to me and I even got a cookie. Good times with strangers.
Emerald Lakes through the cloud
One of the pics I took as I was sliding down the crater and as the cloud opened for a bit.
Emerald lakes as the clouds opened a bit
I don't know if I will ever be eye level with clouds again. Depsite the lack of a view the fact that I was walking through clouds is pretty amazing to me.
Unfortunately the wind caused my camera to think that it's brand new batteries were dead so that's it for the crossing pics. It was a good day. Oh and one more thing:
I LOVE PIMENTO LOAF!
7 comments:
LOL you're too much. Happy birthday to me! Yeah taking a 7 hour walk is a little too much for me to do on my birthday. The pictures are great! Can't wait to see you soon!
Love,
Stephanie
who sucks for not having internet access around your birthday? i do! but i heart you anyway. happy birthday e-diggity. we´ll celebrate in jerz...
BURRRRPPPP!!! I love pimento looooaaaffff!!! HAHA, the blog was great, and then i get down to the end and there was an awesome little surprise!! good times! Hope you had a great time climbing the mountain on your b-day! Oh and i have to make a little revision in the lyrics that i sent you, it really goes like this...
"Ring the happy birthday bells
Ring them loud and clear
BRINGING MANY HAPPY CHEER
to our elyse dear...
many, Happy, BIRTHDAYYYYYSSSS!!"
yeah, we're freaks in the old monaghan clan, the only family i know that has an extra verse to happy birthday!! well, hope you had a great day. ttyl!
ps. check your messages, i believe we left you a drunken happy birthday message last night from dave's house after the george clinton concert!! see ya in a few!!
~Erin
"The Lawnmower?" "The Sprinkler?" What the hell are you talking about. Oh, and by the way, I will make sure to stock up on Pimento Loaf for your return. SEE YOU IN 19!!
HAHAH EWW PIMENTO LOAF IS GROSS! The emerald lakes look absolutely smashing! I would have to agree with you however that Devil's Staircase could never be a good thing! BUt congrats for doing it on your belated birfday! You're not old, you're only 23 .... I'm gonna be 23 soon so if you're old that would make me old and IM NOT OLD DAMNIT! hehe ... just think fiji's coming up real quick ... I know you cant here my voice but there is a serious sound of jealousy in it!
ok so here is the funny thing. I to went on a 5 mile hike on Sat. in Hillsborough park. John's boyscout troop went and I decided that I was going to kick off my new exercise program. I was quite proud of myself as well. Although during one of the breaks we took the scout leader commented to the boys that he heard alot of heavy breathing going up the mountain and I had to admit to him that that was me. All in all it was a perfect day and I did it. Then I read this and can't believe that you did the same thing. Your sites were way better than mine. Do you have any idea how many miles you hiked?
TTYL
Pictures are awesome. You look great and I MISSYOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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