Tongariro Circuit

12 December, 2022

About

The Tongariro Northern Circuit and Round the Mountain track are two walks that had been on my to-do list for well over a year. In May of 2022, I sketched up a 90km route that would incorporate both central north island tracks in a 90km loop. The walk consists of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, both Mt Tongariro(1978m) and Red Crater(1877m) summits, a 20km traverse through the Rangipo desert, as well as crossing endless streams and waterfalls. Months late in mid-November, we were well into preparation for the 6-day trek through some of the country's most rugged terrain.

Day 1

We started the day at Ski150 lodge in National Park Village where we had stayed the Saturday night. Dad cooked up a storm for us hungry hikers. Knowing that it was going to be the last "real" food for 6 days made us eat a little more than we should have...

At around 8:10 am we arrived at Whakapapa Village to start the 90km. We set off along the lower Taranaki falls track to the Junction where we turned left towards Mangatepopo Hut. This section was rutted and muddy. Bryn also acquired a new sun hat which you will see him wearing in nearly every photo of the trip...

It felt great to finally be out on the trail with the boys after nearly 4 months of planning and preparation. I think it's safe to say we were all pretty pumped to see what the next 6 days would have in store for us. We all had a pretty good idea of the trail and what to expect but there's never anything quite like actually walking it.

Just down-track from the Mangatepopo hut turnoff, we joined onto the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (TAC) track which we followed for around another 5 hours. We took a 5-minute break at the hut to refill our water bottles and have a quick snack. Looking up at the top of the Devil's Staircase from the hut was just a little daunting knowing we were only half an hour from having to climb the 300 vertical meters to South Crater.

We rejoined the TAC track for the undulating ascent to Soda Springs where we had another quick break before stepping foot on the Devil's Staircase. This climb combined with 15kg packs was not the most enjoyable... Luckily we sped up in around 20 minutes probably helped by the thought of being able to have lunch at the top.

After Isaac just about picked up someone's abandoned sh*t-covered undies, we rounded over the col to South Crater where we decided it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we continued and walked through the gigantic crater. (pictured above) On the eastern side of the crater, the track turns left up the ridge for another steep climb to Red Crater. This section is the most exposed and dangerous as it gets very icy in the side seasons. This section is one where you could get caught out having bluffs on either side of the track. When we reached Red Crater we decided to have a crack at an of-track excursion to climb to the summit of Mt Tongariro. This involved some mild rock climbing, scree slopes, and a nice grind to the true summit. We considered turning back because of the wind and exposure but Isaac convinced Bryn and I that it'd be worth it and it totally was! The views were insane. We could see everything from the Kaimai's, Mt Pirongia, and Mt Maunganui to Lake Taupo and Mt Tarawera.

We made our way back along the ridge toward Red Crater where we made the climb up to the summit. It was crazy to round over the summit peak and to just watch the track drop away from you. The descent from Red Crater is not for the faint-hearted. Scree, scree, and more scree. You will slip on this section, it is inevitable.

Once down the treacherous slope, we took a right down to the next challenging scree descent where it is switchback after switchback. This was hard going and the knees were close to failure after what had already been 20kms. As we hit the flats our pace increased, we were dying to get to that hut. Kilometer 25 killed me. Checking over every ridge and round every corner looking for the hut.

Once at Oturere hut, we sat out on the deck in the sun assessing the blister damage. I somehow managed to avoid any form of rubbing for the whole day. We unpacked our stuff onto our beds and chilled out. Backcountry Cuisine meals were for dinner and we ate them out the front of the hut with epic views out to the Kaimanawa's as well as a decent-sized waterfall.

Day 2

It was the morning of the second day. We had decided we were going to leave around 8 am and a cup of porridge and 2 Backcountry Cuisine Cooked Breakfasts later, we were back on the trail heading south this time toward our morning snack spot at Waihohonu Hut. This 8km stretch of Great Walk grade track started off with a steep descent followed by undulating terrain traveling in and out of stream ditches. We then traversed down a ridge to a tributary of the Waihohonu Stream. The track then climbed out the south side of the valley and back down to the main Waihohonu Stream where we crossed a bridge and climbed up to the hut.

After the stop, it was time to tackle the Rangipo Desert. I was excited and a little nervous about this section. I knew it was going to be hot and dry. I also knew that we had over 1000m of ascent left to do. With 15kms left, we went hard and kept a solid pace only stopping once every hour. Isaac came up with a 55:5 walk-rest ratio which worked out great for the whole trip. As we passed the Ohinepango Springs, we were tempted for a dip. It had been the clearest water we'd seen so far.

Not long after the track joined onto a dry stream bed which was all sand and silt material. This was painfully hard as on every single step we were sinking. It was close to 4km that we followed this stream bed and we were annoyed with the track builders the whole time... We then rounded over a prominent ridge where we got a good view of just how far we would be traveling that day.

It wasn't long after that we sidled over the northern wall of the Mangatoetoenui Stream where we happily descended down to the valley floor where a bridge lay. I think we were all a little surprised to see a stream that size after seeing no water for the last 7km. It was a little bizarre. We were all getting hungry so we all agreed that it was a good idea to have lunch at the bridge.

The Tukino Skifield access road was our next landmark to cross which involved a solid 100m climb from the valley floor. We were running full of food and water after having filled up our bottles and our stomachs at the stream. As we reached the road, two guys pulled over to offer water which we kindly declined as we had just refilled our bottles. As we sent off a quick update to the parents, we checked the Topo map and saw we only had 5km to go. This was great to hear despite endless river gorges running perpendicular to our walking direction. Without thinking too much we just started walking again. At this point, we had done around 19km already and I wasn't quite in the mood for a heap of uphill and downhill but that is exactly what we got thrown at us. We knew we had to cross the Whangaehu river at some point, and that the hut would be just up the other side.

It was valley, after valley, after valley. It was pretty hard work. Anyway, we made it to the Whangaehu at 4 pm. The Whangaehu River drains from Mt Ruapehu's crater lake and curves all the way around to just south of Wanganui where the mouth is. The Whangaehu River is also responsible for mudflows called Lahars which have occurred around once every 10 years and notably caused the Tangiwai disaster in 1953 killing 186 people. Despite this, the last Lahar was during the 2007 eruption which no one was hurt in.

Around 2km after the River, we sidled around a ridge to find Rangipo Hut where we would stay for the night. Once again we assessed the blister damage and then set up our beds and checked out the view.

Day 3

We woke up to an amazing sunrise above the low desert cloud. We ate breakfast out on the deck in the sun as the cloud slowly interfered. After we packed up and were ready to leave, the cloud had already lowered the visibility to 100m. This didn't matter because we were only focused on getting past the day's grind; the Waihinoa River. (pictured below) We gradually descended

for a couple of kilometers now used to the volcanic rocky track. This kept our pace up enough to catch a Finnish guy who stayed at the hut with us the night before. We passed and he caught us up so he became our fourth group member. When we came to the edge of the Waihinoa River gully, I was a little speechless. That was like the biggest, if not the steepest valley I have ever hiked in and out of. It was insane.

Getting down was pretty hard. Every single rock I stepped on moved. It was tiring getting down the 100+ meter valley wall. When we reached the bottom, we wasted no time getting across the swing bridge. As soon as we had all crossed, we were straight on to getting up the other side where the track took a sketchy line straight up a stream bed and then across-slope above decent-sized bluffs.

After a break at the southern rim of the Waihinoa River, we continued on as a group of 4 toward Mangaturuturu hut. This 8km section was increasingly more technical as we edged closer to entering the forest. We dipped in and out of the trees as we neared closer to the hut. My phone's GPS was playing up using the old trick of saying we were closer than we really were which was getting quite annoying... All of a sudden just as we clocked 12km we saw Mangaturuturu hut pop out from the treeline. We stopped for a generous 2hr break to regenerate and get through some uneaten snacks. Luckily we had Roshana who was walking the TA meaning she was going to take any snacks she could get!

Just after the hut and our lengthy break, we came across a couple of swing bridges which definitely kept it interesting. Views of Girdlestone and Tahurangi peaks became more and more prominent as we moved further around the mountain. We had now stepped foot on the Southern aspect meaning we had made it around 230 degrees around the mountain since we had started 3 days before.

We soon made it to the Blyth Hut turnoff where we had our 5-minute break before the 20-minute climb up to the hut. This climb is beautiful. It starts off in the beech forest where it follows a ridge before popping out at the stream where the track crosses 3 times, passes Lupton Hut, and climbs a scree slope to the hut. If you ever visit yourself, I highly recommend you walk about 5 minutes above the hut past the toilets. The view is mint!!

Day 4

With a low-pressure system slowly approaching from the southwest, we had our first overcast day as we ascended above Blyth Hut. We made the decision the evening before that we'd make a 20km push all the way to Whakapapaiti Hut instead of just the 10km to Mangaturuturu Hut as originally planned. This was because we saw the weather front approaching faster than initially forecasted.

We started the day with a planned detour to skip the 3km walk up the Ohakune Mountain Road. I had seen on the topo map the night before that we needed to climb to an altitude of 1450m and then follow the contour to the northwest. We crossed a small ravine and then navigated through the boggy alpine scrub. We rounded over a ridge to find the Massey University Ski Club hut up the other side of the Mangawhero River. This meant that we were only left with 50m of road walking. It was defiantly worth it!

As we dropped into the Mangaturuturu valley now on the western side of the Turoa access road, we were amazed by the number of waterfalls and bluffs. Both Isaac and I had been skiing at Turoa Ski area for years and we had never realized just how insane the bluffs are from the lower slopes into the valley. We climbed out of an initial valley and then dropped down into the main gully where we came across a school group doing their end-of-year Duke of Ed camp. After a brief chat with the group, we descended further into the valley, now getting glimpses of the hut as well as Lake Surprise which rested high above the valley floor.

Around 10 minutes later, we came across the Cascades. These rapids are amazing. They're fast, loud, steep, and very long, around half a kilometer long! As we followed the gradually steeping path down, we came to a section that was getting close to a rock climb... It would have been a solid 35-45 degrees. After this, the track followed the river down to Mangaturuturu Hut where we had lunch.

The climb to Lake Surprise was hard but expected. The last couple hundred meters are boardwalk steps which is a nice addition and it sure helps to have to not think about where to put your feet for once. After lake surprise, we ascended up the ridge a little further and then sidled around the lower southwestern slopes for the day up until the Whakapapaiti Valley where we encountered large ruts big enough to crawl through. This descent was rather technical and we were just ready to get to the hut. The track is built in an annoying way because they make you cross all the way to the other side of the Valley (around 3km wide) and then climb 50m up the side and take a turn straight back downhill nearly back to where you just came from. While it might be hard to picture from reading this, I can tell you now, we had lost all enthusiasm at that point.

Day 5

With 85km under our belts and with the weather forecast to pack in, we took a rest day at Whakapapaiti Hut before pickup on Day 6. Luckily we managed to get the side room to ourselves both nights which meant we could spread out and sleep on two mattresses rather than one. After a long sleep-in till well past 8, we dragged our mattresses out onto the spacious deck in front of the hut. We literally had breakfast in bed cooking up the water and rehydrating our dehydrated meals all while lying in the warm sun below the western slopes of Ruapehu. It didn't last too long though as we got too hot.

With the hut being only a hundred or so meters from the Whakapapaiti stream, we had a wander down to find a rock dam that had created an awesome swim hole. Despite this along with the sunny weather, none of us felt like bearing the cold of the snowmelt.

Trying to lighten our packs, we started a mission to eat as much of our spare food as we could. This involved downing 3 bags of gummy snakes, a 600-calorie dehy meal for lunch as well as noodles, and a revolting Radix Smokey Barbeque which we barely touched (still sitting on the table waiting to be eaten in the photo on the left).

Having been out of coverage for over 24hrs at that point, we knew our parents would be getting concerned. We had searched around the hut for coverage to at least get that one message out to say we were safe. We decided that it'd be handy to get a forecast as well so we embarked on a nice bushwhack up to the ridge directly above the hut. The beech forest was thick and it was slow going but as we emerged out into the scrub, we started getting patchy reception. After climbing a little higher, Isaac got full bars meaning we could reply to the parents. We then climbed the ridge a little, now with a clear view of Whakapapa Skifield and Pinnacle Ridge, and dropped back down into the valley following a slip and then a stream bed which then crossed onto the track to the hut.

Next on the itinerary was starting the fire, and I have to say my axe skills were defiantly lacking. So after an hour of practice chopping all the newly dropped firewood, a large improvement was made. As 4 others turned up to stay, we wound down the evening with a couple of games of cards by ourselves and with the other group. We also had tea cooked on the roaring wood burner and some chocolate; a delicacy when outdoors.

Right: Isaac by the Whakapapaiti stream.

Below: Panorama from the ridge. From left to right - Whakapapa Skifield, Mt Ruapehu, Whakapapaiti Valley.

Photo by Isaac Allen

Day 6

It was another slow morning. We all slept till at least 7 am. The plan was to hike the 8km out to Whakapapa Village to get picked up at 12 pm by Bryn's Parents. After getting packed up, we left around 8.30 not because we needed to but more cause we were sick of sitting around in the hut. The day's rest had worked wonders for the blisters. Our legs were refreshed and we were making great time finishing at the village at 10 O'clock. We realized once we sat down at the public shelter that Bryn's parents were tracking over an hour late for pickup due to traffic in Taupo. This meant we had a good 3 hours to waste which we spent eating hot chips from the Tnt Pataka, disposing of our rubbish at the recycling center, and resting in the DOC center cinema where we later got kicked out.

As we drove towards Turangi, the weather finally started to pack in. We totally lucked out having not a single shower over the whole 6-day trip. The rain was torrential and we were glad to not be walking in it.

Isaac and I got dropped at Burger King Turangi where one Journey ended and another one started...

Before

After

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