Tangoriro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand 2009

The North Island of New Zealand was the first place I had visited that I thought I could possibly create a permanent residence in the future, Sweden was the second. I arrived at the Auckland International airport to a barely rising sun at 4:30am. I couldn't believe that I was finally there after a grueling 12 and half hour flight over the pacific ocean, (terrifying for me and the woman with the oxogen mask on next to me) and not a wink of sleep. Exhausted and probably looking frazzled, I made my way through customs and the doors to the waiting area to see my then boyfriend standing there with a huge smile on his face. Out in the parking lot a surprise was waiting for me, our house on wheels for the next month. I couldn't wait to begin the adventure that was to be my life for the whole month of April. On our way to the first rest stop and napping location, I stared out the window, admiring everything that lay ahead of me. The entire island was waking up and I was there to witness its first look on the day. The islands main production of livestock, sheep, were calling out to their friends and family, beginning their day job of grazing bright and early. Cars flowed into the city as people filed into their respective buildings for the 9 to 5 grind. The slight cloud cover made the sunrise look exotic, I was definitely aware that I was not in Manhattan Beach anymore, that thought alone made me smile knowing I was on vacation, finally. I could already tell it was going to be a trip that I would never forget and be forever grateful of the experiences I would come across in the coming days. 

Since we were only going drive/camp around the North Island and had only a month, we decided to stop at the most important and memorable areas of the island. One of my most memorable moments, mentally and physically, of the trip was the ever challenging 19 kilometer Tangariro Alpine Crossing in the Tongariro National Park. My boyfriend at the time warned me that this was going to be a challenging hike for the both of us, but anyone who knows me, knows I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to fitness, I always try to finish what I've started. I was ready, excited, it looked like a long hike but we had all day so what was there to stop us. We began the hike at the Mangatepopo car park. What is interesting about this 19 klick hike is the terrain changes from arid desert, over mountain tops, to damp thick forest climate at the end.  We started the hike with sun protective clothing on, bottled water, and trail mix in tow. The beginning was steady and easy to tackle, the trail was previously cut out and not to steep. That all changed when we reached Soda Springs, the first rest stop on the trail map. Once we arrived there, all we saw in front of us was a rather steep incline. Perfect, was my only thought. Looking up at the top of the South Crater (which wasn't really the "top") we began our ascent. I would be lying to say that it was a piece of cake, it sure as hell was not. Luckily, there were steps put in by the DOC that helped…a little. I felt like I was on a never ending stair master. My knees, hip flexors, and toes were beginning their "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" stage. 

After reaching the top of the South Crater, took a short rest, and snapped some pictures we soldier on to the top of the Red Crater (the top top). There really wasn't a clear path to take so I followed my boyfriend, who was racing up the hill at an incredible speed. I tried to take the steps he took, losing my way every once in a while, realizing I had taken a wrong turn and doubled back to try again. Seeing as there were steep cliff like drops on either side of the "trail", I had to maneuver myself up against a boulder or cling to the ground when other determined hikers passed going the opposite way, as to not accidentally lose my footing and go a tumbling down the mountain that I had struggled up thus far. The wind didn't help my nerves about how high we were getting either. Once I peaked, sweating and out of breath, I could start breathing easy again, everywhere I looked was beautiful. The peak looked down on the Red Crater, that was, wait for it, actually the color Red. I held my camera over the edge of the cliff over look and snapped away.  I can be afraid of heights sometimes, especially when there is no protective railing to break a fall. I felt like we were on top of the world up there. It was a clarifying moment. Starting our descent, we came across an over look of the Emerald Lakes. The water in these lakes were so vibrant and eye poppingly beautiful. Each lake was 3 different shades of green, blue, and brown. After not seeing a lot of people on the trail it was odd to see so many on the peak, snapping pictures and eating lunch.  Wasting little time after reaching the peak we headed back down with one final incline and then it was all down hill from there on out. As we started down, I realized we were no longer walking on solid ground. Sheet rock covered the trail, great. As I slide almost entirely on my ass, doing a half split just to entertain the on lookers around me, my partner was pretty much running/levitating down the steep hill to Central Crater which was our next destination on the map. He only fell once, looked like it hurt though. 

Once We got to Central Crater, it flattened out for a nice walk to the next incline, another steep one, which I yet again had to cling to the mountain side while people passed going the other direction. The name of the next stop was Blue Lake after that it was home free and down hill…which was just as hard as up hill. I tried not to depend on my toes to brace myself but I couldn't help it. My thighs and hip flexers basically told me to go screw myself and my toes were starting to burn. We walked down through some gorgeous scenery, over looking the valley and the tail end of the hike which ended in the forest. We could also see and smell the steam seeping out of the hillside from sulfur vents. The next part of our hike was sort of a blur. We were supposed to be at the car park at the end of the hike at 4pm to get picked up and taken back to our car. We got to Ketetahi Hut, the last stop before the finish line at 3pm…it was supposed to take an hour and a half to get to the car park, we didn't have an hour and a half. Thats when we looked at one another and began to run. Side stepping and jogging down the steps embedded in the trail, we passed surprised hikers along the way. Once we hit the trail leading into the forest my legs were jello, I couldn't feel the pain anymore, I prayed that I didn't bite it and go flailing face first into the ground. It had taken us 30 minutes to get to the forest, we had 30 minutes left before our ride left. We stopped for a few seconds by the rushing creek side to snap a few pictures, that ended up coming out blurry, oh well. At this time, my steps were heavy and labored, my legs flailed, I had no control over the lower half of my body anymore. We broke free of the trees, frantically asking where Frank, our ride was. The man we asked pointed at a van that was fast on its way down the road towards the destination of our car. We missed it. After all that we missed our damn ride. All I could do was smile, we had made it and I was exhausted. We both collapsed on a picnic table and waited for Frank to come back an hour later. As I drifted in and out of consciousness, all I could think about was what an accomplishment it had been completing the trail, the fact that we ran the last part, and how good a beer would taste once we got home. It was a grueling hike and at that moment I was sure I didn't want to do it again for a while. However,  now that I have had time to recover (a lot of time) I would definitely do the trail again with out hesitation.

I would have pictures for it but I need to find them, oops. Once I do I will gladly put them up!