Hiking in an Active Volcanic Zone

5-4-2014

     Tongariro National Park is a very cool place on the north island of New Zealand. For one thing, it's home to a few tracks that lead right through an active volcanic zone. We walked the Tongariro Crossing, a day track about 20km long that winds around a few volcanoes and right through the middle of the active volcanic zone. There are active steam vents, volcanic lakes and springs, and volcanic craters to walk through and around. It's really neat. There are side trails up to the peak of Mt Tongariro and a side trail (although really it's more of a suggested route up a scree slope) up to the peak of Mt Ngauruhoe, aka Mt Doom, which is the other reason this park is so cool. You can climb up Mt Doom! The main trail goes around it and passes over towards Mt Tongariro about half way up Mt Doom, so even without doing the side trail, hikers get right up close to it. We decided against going to the top because our calves were already burning, and a half mile or more of very steep scree slope just didn't seem that appealing. Especially not in trail running shoes. 

     Even without summiting anything, the trail was still really neat, and lots of fun. Thomas and Carrie had walked this trail a few times already so they knew where all the best lookouts and picnic spots were. Plus we got to hear Carrie's first hand account of what it was like to be on the trail when an eruption occurred. She was at the closest point on the trail to where it erupted as she could get, too, when it happened. Luckily, the eruption was all smoke and ash, with no boulders flying through the air as per normal. And no lava, which is good because when lava does flow, it sweeps down fast and there's no escaping it if you're in a lava flow area. 

     Of course, I learned all this on the trail, as certain features piqued my interest and I asked questions and read signs. Carrie is a school teacher and she's taken the kids to learn about the volcanoes, so she was a wealth of information. She pointed out a bunch of black boulders and rocks that were more recent additions to the slopeside. She said it was cool to see just after it had happened because there was snow on the ground and all the black rock debris really stuck out. 

     There used to be a hut open to stay in overnight on the Tongariro Crossing but a few of those boulders smashed right through it and now it's closed. Deemed unsafe, because it's in an active volcanic zone. No kidding. Luckily it was winter when it happened, a far less busy time, and no-one was in the hut. One rock had smashed through the ceiling, the top bunk, through to the bottom bunk, and through the floor. Another one had smashed through the ceiling and floor in the common room, and another in the entryway. It was a small hut. There were only 3 bunks and the common room was small. It was a good thing nobody was in there. 

    I tried taking pictures of the wreckage but getting a good perspective with the camera was hard. I took a lot of pictures of the steam vents, the Emerald Lakes, and Mt Doom. I also tried to take as many pictures of us as a group as I could, since the boys were both wearing orange and both me and Carrie were wearing a bright maroon color. We accidentally matched, it was pretty funny. 

     Now we're staying with Thomas and Carrie again for a few days, visiting one more time.