Legs and Borders

If there was one reason to hike the North Island it would have been this. Going through Tongariro Alpine Crossing was amazing. After yesterday's (almost) day off forced by the weather, I had a surplus energy I decided to spend on an early ascent of the Red Crater (1868m) but first there was few miles of roadwalking to complete. Sunrise was very pretty but most of the sky was still covered by clouds. Around 7:30am I stepped onto Tongariro Alpine Crossing trail, well maintained, very popular with day hikers and people doing few day circuits around this volcanic extravaganza. The area smelled of rotten egg, sulphur being carried by the streams which made them unsuitable to drink and had warning signs to avoid any confusion. Trail went steadily up not revealing anything spectacular yet but the landscape was already much more interesting than on any of the previous sections. Tongariro and Ngauruhoe were still active volcanoes, last eruption happened here in 2011 and it closed the trail ...

"Life is something to do while we can't get to sleep" Fran Lebowitz Only a short hike today, could call it a near zero day as I finished at 9am. Reason being the weather. Next section is a climb to the Red Crater which measures 1847 metres (6059 feet), it's the tallest peak we go through in North Island with stunning views if the weather allows to see them but the forecast for today was snow, rain and heavy wind. I've hiked in this sort of conditions before and it's some of the worst memories I have while outdoors. With this in mind I've opted to stay in a reasonably priced (30$) warm cabin at the Tongariro Holiday Park few miles before the climb begins. I've called Mandy to double check the booking I've made in four days time for a boat pick up along the Wanganui river and she confirmed that it is all good, Bridge to Nowhere Lodge doesn't run a boat there everyday but on Sunday they will have a pick up available. I need to keep a reasonable pa...