Having climbed a number of volcanoes in Ecuador some years back I vowed to be somewhat more circumspect when future opportunities arose. And indeed, I was until I got to New Zealand last December. North Island has a number of volcanoes, mostly active, and so to get high you need to climb a, you guessed it, volcano. Since I was hoping to climb Mount Cook when I got to South Island there was little choice if I wanted a modicum of acclimatisation in advance.
The Tongariro Crossing, one of the more popular day traverses in New Zealand, gave me my chance since it passes both Mount Tongariro (1,967m) and the higher Mount Ngarauhoe (2,291m). So, leaving Jill sleeping in a luxury hotel at Whakapapa, well nearly since she did have to get up and drive me to the start at 6.30 am, I started the crossing in nice clear weather. It was probably something to do with the early start, but very soon I seemed to be in front of the pack and was looking at the steep chossy NW face (that is if volcanoes have faces) of Ngarauhoe. Supposedly there were wands marking the 'track' but these soon disappeared, probably on account of the mobile scree, and I was making my own path. Now at 35 degrees or so fine volcanic scree tends to be hard going, and I should have known this! Undeterred though I ploughed on, my boots gradually filling with fine dust, and with upwards motion just discernible.
Still, the view was good and progress of sorts was being made. Fortunately, just as going up became nearly impossible (volcanoes tend to get steeper nearer the top, but they can still have plenty of fine scree!) a judicious traverse to a dyke (the geological kind of course) made the going easier. The impressive fuming crater with its fine views was eventually reached, but it was not long before the notorious bad weather common to this region started to move in. In fact it was raining and visibility was down to 50 or so meters by the time I reached the col. Even if I had wanted to turn back this was no longer an option, since Jill was to meet me at the end of the Crossing and she would be less than amused if I failed to turn up!
So in increasingly poor conditions I ploughed on. Since I was wet and had some spare time I also took in the second summit of Tongariro, but there was nothing to see there, except a couple of New Zealanders eating their lunch in near zero visibility. A little more acclimatisation I thought as I ploughed my way back down to the track and began the long descent via the Ketetahi hut to the roadhead. Typically the weather cleared up as I descended and Jill was almost sunbathing when I reached the car!
Well another two volcanoes chalked up. The question is will there be more?
Derek 16th March 2002