New Zealand: Hiking to Mount Doom in Tongariro National Park

17 03 2013

WitIMG_0254h the meteorologists blowing the forecasts day after day, I decide to forgo hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, fearing repeated pestilence! Tongariro National Park area forecasts were for it to improve after midday, and I simply was not going to take a risk of getting stuck out there. But Elwin took his chances, suited up and boarded the early morning shuttle to the trailhead. His path would take him directly across Mordor along the base of Mount Doom, known outside Lord of Rings fiction as Mt. Ngaurahoe.

Angelique and I would instead hike a trail stretching Whakapapa Village, on Ruapehu, to Mount Doom. This way, we would be able to turn around if squalls materialized. This day dawned exactly as yesterday, with clouds and bright sky all at once. With Elwin gone, we headed to Whakapapa Village and began our hike.

The trail wound across red tussock fields and down into tree lined creek beds. It was 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the breeze, for now, was light. Optimistically I wore shorts, and a baseball cap, and wore a soft shell. I had a ski hat in my pack, but no serious rain gear.

Rain threatened right from the start and I could see it was snowing higher up on Ruapehu. It was predicted to gradually get better during the day. But I just didn’t trust. Angelique was very positive and encouraging. That was good, but she didn’t have gear to withstand an alpine squall should it come, and foolishly neither did I. I had the gear at the Rainbow Motel, I just didn’t bring enough today. I kept thinking how it was summer – forcing the issue!

IMG_0257There were a few people out hiking. Including a USA geology student group of perhaps 20. Here, as elsewhere, the trail is incredibly maintained and developed. It’s been somehow graveled and sometimes has long stretches of wooden platforms.

While we can see Mt. Ruapehu, and we know where Ngauruhoe should be, it stays cloaked in clouds. There is snow on the higher slopes from yesterday’s storms. Blue sky comes and goes.

Every so often the wind would pick up and I’d get pelted with rain drops, and fear some drenching downpour might come. But then, it’d pass by and we could see down into the valleys for miles. When the wind did build sometimes I got very chilled.

As I was still nursing plantar fasciitis my pace was inhibited and it wasn’t long before Angelique pulled far ahead. After 90 minutes I reached the top of a rise and when I got there, I could see all the way to Mount Doom. And, Angelique probably a half mile ahead! I knew with my foot pain I probably shouldn’t keep going. But I worried for her – she wasn’t dressed right, should a real drencher pass through! She was too far for yelling. Then something happened that nailed the point home.

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Waiting for Mount Doom…

The wind built, and it started sleeting. My baseball wasn’t enough. The wind blowing on my forehead in between my hat and glasses made my skin feel numb. Shit! I thought. Reluctantly I started back…feeling just wrong. And in disbelief that it’s SUMMER! I was thinking, I might as well be on Mt. Hood, Oregon right now! It was so true. Sleet falling in sheets all around. Mount Doom would not show itself.

Another hiker similarly dressed passes and pauses – he starts putting on the additional leggings he has in his pack. I thought to myself, I am a guide and I KNOW BETTER! I have been in the Himalayas, Andes, Alps, Adirondacks, the Rockies and Cascades. What was I thinking? Baaahhh!

Then the squall passes and it warms up a bit. Maybe I dodged a bullet!

I pause to have some water and a power bar from my pack. It’s really beautiful up here. Then I notice my ski hat! It was in there all this time and would have made a difference. But I forgot about it. Well, I’m wearing it now!

As I sit replenishing my energy, something wonderful happens. It is the first time Mount Ngaurahoe appears in 100% full glory. Wow! It really is a perfect cone.

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So beautiful, draped in a fresh blanket of snow. I’m completely taken by the sight!

Then Angelique appears…and wonders what happened? She seems just fine – I just say my foot plus lack of gear made me rethink. But she’d wanted to press on! I felt guilty and maybe unsure. But we started back. It was on the way back I knew I really needed to turn around.

I was still experiencing foot pain, so, sadly this was today’s limit. I don’t understand, as I was able to go six hours in Abel Tasman National Park – yes with some pain, but today was worse. Pretty frustrating.

I was glad, though, to catch a glimpse of that mountain. Wow.

Back at the Rainbow Motel we find Elwin has already returned, and he says it was the best part of the trip so far. Yes, he had to hike through a foot of snow in spots, but it was so incredible to be up close to so many volcanic features. It was a real black Mordor up there, without living things – just a volcanic wasteland. There were amazing blue lakes, but also steaming fumeroles. Just like in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I hope to get his pictures!

Well, our next destination will be Rotorua and the geysers in that area…


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Tongariro National Park and Mt. Ruapehu Serve Up Pestilence from Above and Below

13 03 2013
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Mt. Ruapehu

Tops on our bucket list for New Zealand’s North Island was Tongariro National Park. New Zealand’s oldest national park is a high altitude volcanic wonder. Inside its borders is 9,177 ft Mt. Ruapehu, the country’s largest and most active volcano. New Zealand’s largest ski area, Whakapapa, lies on its slopes. Plus 7,513 Mt. Ngauruhoe, a perfect cone with a blackened, smoking plateau beneath – which was filmed as Mordor and Mt. Doom for the Lord of the Rings movies. Tongariro lies under the other two and is composed of multiple cones.

Model of the three volcanoes

Model of the three volcanoes

Rained out in Wellington, we hoped the improving weather forecast for the park would turn out to be true. We stayed at the Rainbow Motel in Tokaanu, on the southern shores of Lake Taupo – 40 minutes from the park.

The entire region sits directly on top of clashing of the Australasian and Pacific Tectonic Plates, and thus is full of volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, calderas, and endures the occasional earthquake. Our accommodation at the Rainbow Motel had two single rooms plus a bed and couch in the living room, with kitchenette facilities. While the bed was positively awfully unsupportive, the Rainbow Motel has one perk which served us marvelously. Sitting on top of a geothermal area, it sported hot spring baths!

Often lauded as New Zealand’s greatest hike, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was a must-do. This challenging all-day hike climbs in between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe and takes hikers directly into Mordor! It is full of blackened fields, sapphire volcanic lakes and steaming, stinking fumeroles. Elwin and I were itching to get on it. It is not possible to get to the trailhead by your own car. You must ride a bus which takes hikers inside. The hike is supposed to be one-way. Hikers meet the bus at the other end of the crossing.

This day we planned to hike the slopes of Ruapehu – taking a chairlift to a high trailhead. We drove up to Whakapapa Village, which is the base area for hikes on Ruapehu. But today hiking was not to be. Completely at odds with the meteorologists forecast, we find everything closed due to wind, rain, snow, and even more!

Wind/rain/volcanic activity conspire to ruin our day!

Wind/rain/volcanic activity conspire to ruin our day!

In fact the Ruapehu volcano itself was adding its mischief to ruin our day…throwing threats of eruption and lahars at us! NO hiking today. With 70 kph winds, possible eruptions, and lahars, the chairlift was closed as were most of the trails!

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So, sulking, we headed back to Tokaanu to figure out what to do. On the road we see a sign for hot springs.

With a day to fill, we had nothing to lose! So we checked out the Tokaanu Thermal Pools. We weren’t interested in soaking in the pay-to-soak part of the park.

However, there is a trout stream and free walk amongst very interesting hot springs, thermal pools and plopping mud pots.

If you recall the Lord of the Rings movie “The Two Towers,” the scene of the “Dead Marshes,” where Frodo is advised “Don’t look at the lights!” in the water, you know what it’s like here. There are wooden walkways meandering amongst completely transparent steaming pools which tempt one to look deeply. So deeply you feel drawn in!

Trout like cold water. Interestingly there is a cold water stream running right through the area, and it’s choked with rainbow trout! We walk a bridge across and 4-5 pound trout swim beneath.

Now what to do? Well, we are very close to Lake Taupo. So we choose to hike a ways along its shores.

Lake Taupo is another geologic wonder. This lake is a caldera formed by one of the largest eruptions on Earth in the past 25,000 years. I kept thinking about another caldera, Crater Lake in Oregon. And one of the largest eruptions in human history, Tambora Indonesia. And Lake Tahoe.

For comparison, let’s look at surface area. Lake Taupo=238 square miles, Crater Lake=21 square miles, Lake Tahoe=192 square miles. Depth: Taupo=616 ft, Crater Lake=1,949 ft, Lake Tahoe=1,645 ft. Volume: Lake Taupo=14 cubic miles, Crater Lake=4.5 cubic miles, Lake Tahoe=93 cubic miles. So although Lake Taupo has the largest surface area, Lake Tahoe dwarfs Lake Taupo in total volume. Lake Tahoe is big AND deep!

Everybody likes volcano eruption comparisons. You probably have heard of Mt. Mazama, which blew up to make Crater Lake. Or, Tambora. Or, Krakatoa. But you might never have heard of Taupo. Let’s see: Tambora ejected 38 cubic miles of matter, and is the largest eruption in recorded history. Krakatoa, the loudest in recorded history, ejected 13 cubic miles. Mt. Mazama, 93. But Taupo’s Oruani eruption ejected 330 cubic miles of matter!  The Volcanic Explosivity Index is a 1 – 8 scale with 8 the highest. Krakatoa is 6, Tambora is 7 and Taupo is 8. Why have you not heard of it? Because it was before human history, 26,500 years ago. So, this entire region of New Zealand’s North Island seethes with the earth’s violence!

All along its shores are feather light rocks. Can you guess what type?

If you guessed pumice you are right. Pumice is ejected by volcanoes and is full of air pockets from the gas. Back at the Rainbow Motel, we soaked ourselves in the on site thermal baths. That made for a relaxing day, despite the weather. We’re crossing our fingers for a hike tomorrow.


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Hiking Zew Zealand’s Abel Tasman Coast Track

28 02 2013

IMG_3449Abel Tasman National Park, at the northwest tip of New Zealand’s South Island, is a warm weather lover’s paradise! It belongs on your Kiwi bucket list. Endowed with lush peninsulas and private bays with golden beaches and turquoise seas, it irresistibly attracts outdoorsy types. The Abel Tasman Coast Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, allows hikers to experience the park’s wonder, passing along beaches, through Jurassic Park-like forest, before climbing to jaw-dropping views. It is also renowned for sea kayaking and kayak camping. Abel Tasman National Park is a sure bet to deliver soul-cleansing pleasure. Open your ears, breathe deeply and let your eyes feast on the views. Then grab a paddle and immerse yourself kayaking in the sea!

There are many ways to enjoy the park. Backpacking (or “tramping” in Kiwi) its 54 km coastal track, hiking, swimming, kayaking and kayak camping are but a few. We chose to spend two days there, and experience the park by foot one day and by kayak the next.IMG_0166

One of Abel Tasman National Park’s to-die-for experiences is sea kayaking. So we called ahead to Marahau Sea Kayaks to reserve kayaks for the second day. This outfitter in Marahau was amenable to my request for a single kayak – most rentals in New Zealand are tandems. I’d lead Elwin and Angelique, who’d be in a tandem. I’m a kayak instructor – so I’d give them some first-timer lessons!

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3 Kayaks down there! Click and zoom to see them…

But today’s adventure called for hiking. There are many choices. We wanted to do a thorough hike on the coastal track. There are no roundabout trails – it’s only out and back. However, you can take a water taxi to a trailhead and hike back to your vehicle – so we picked that idea. We set off from the Nikau Apartments in Nelson, and arrived in Marahau at 8:00 a.m. It would be an all-day adventure!

And what a day it was! We met our water taxi at Marahau, and it would drop us off on the beach at Bark Bay. From there, it’d be a five to six- hour hike back to Marahau.

Bark Bay is a pretty golden sand beach with a tent campground set behind the trees. Behind lay a peaceful lagoon. Here our day long hike begins!

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Here the coastal track follows the bays tucked in the many peninsulas along the headlands. At first, I’m hiking close to the water’s edge but in the forest. It is about 80 degrees. There are no mosquitoes nor biting flies. Just cicadas buzzing. I hear Bell Birds and the occasional Fan Tail alights nearby to check me out. It is dry-very little wind. This perfection is totally intoxicating and I become lost in the moment…the low level forest is full of giant black tree ferns…maybe I am in Jurassic Park!

This is truly incredible since it’s early January – my winter but summer in the southern hemisphere!

If you are an avid American hiker or backpacker – or kayak camper living in the American West, you might expect a solitary/private experience in Abel Tasman. If that is what you want, you’ll be disappointed. This track is very popular. So much so that you won’t be able to just set up a tent in the woods. Rather, due to volumes of visitors, there are huts, or designated tent campgrounds. You’ll also meet sailboat cruisers and some powerboaters who’ve anchored offshore. At least you’ll meet fellow outdoor lovers from all over Planet Earth. The two girls from Finland I met came the furthest.

I stop to take some pictures, and lose track of Elwin and Angelique. After 45 minutes trying to catch them in vain, I just set my own pace, enjoying every step of the way. There are a good number of backpackers – I hear French and German spoken.

I walk across a couple of suspension bridges, on either side ferns, with a clear pool underneath. Then I begin to climb away from the shore, up to the bluffs above. There, the forest becomes less jungle-like and more dry.

In many places it opens for periods of walking with views of islands, kayakers, and across the Cook Strait toward the North Island.

IMG_0173There are so many cool bays and inlets. There are lots of possibilities for tomorrow’s kayaking!

All along the Abel Tasman Coast Track there are opportunities to take side trails to secluded beaches, peninsula lookouts and lagoons.

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A sweet picnic beach

I keep track of the time and my progress. At Anchorage one of the stops, I begin to realize if I spend too much time on a side adventure it’d be after 5:00 when I return! So, with that in mind, I limit myself. But there are so many opportunities to pause, and drink in the view. I take one of these and sit down, watch the kayakers below, and eat my lunch.

Somewhere along the way I entertain myself by turbocharging my pace. I hear hikers coming from behind, some kids amongst them, and I imagine they’re Lord of the Rings Orcs hunting for me. No matter how hard I go they keep dogging me! But at some point I pass another side trail leading to a beach and after that I don’t hear from them anymore. From a high bluff I look out and realize it is freaking January! How can this be?

Finally, I descend to the end stretch, a flat section eventually terminating at Marahau. I hear “Rod!” from behind. It’s Elwin, with Angelique behind. Somehow I managed to lead them this whole time. Or, maybe they took a long side adventure. Either way we will wind up at the end together. My feet and Angelique’s legs are both hurting! I’m glad it’s not any further.

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Back in Marahau I check in at Marahau Sea Kayaks and they have dozens of boats ready for departure. A group shall be going out! But they’ve allowed us to go out privately since I’m a BCU certified coach. Looking forward to sea kayaking tomorrow!

We head back to Nelson, to catch the movie The Hobbit…


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Mount Rainier National Park

2 11 2012

Mount Rainier from a meadow above Sunrise

Summer of 2012 featured a record 80+ days where it only rained one hour during that time! With the end in sight, and the inevitable rain switch about to be turned on, my friend Tully and I headed to Mount Rainier National Park for a last campout!

It was beautiful weather. There were wildfires nearby, and before we arrived, smoke obscured views of 14,410 ft Mount Rainier.

For us, the wind blew the smoke away. We were treated to crystal clear views.

We camped at the White River Campground. It’s on the eastern side of the park, higher elevation.

 

We figured we’d have the park to ourselves, since it was after Labor Day. But that was not the case and the campground had lots of guests in its not-so-spacious campsites. This was because the wildfires closed many nearby outdoor destinations, sending people here.

Sausages brown ‘n serve!

We planned to hike from the Sunrise area. This is a higher elevation staging area on the eastern side. It has a lot of trails. Some of the trails follow ridges with spectacular views in several directions! I could see Mount Adams to the south, and all the way to Mount Baker north. Looking all around I watch to see signs of big fauna – bear, elk, the elusive mountain goat – but see none. We catch sight of gray jays and ravens, as well as various unidentified raptors.

For dinner, we did a stir fry – which consisted of green pepper, carrot, nuts, pineapple, chicken, onion, broccolli, and baby carrots. Scrumptious! Another night we did a skewer meal over rice. Breakfast was pretty traditional – eggs, toast done on the grill, and this time instead of bacon – sausage patties. Sausage patties are a lot easier to clean up than bacon, because they don’t produce much grease! I’ll be cooking more of them in the future!

 

We also spent some time hiking the area around the Grove of the Patriarchs. It is in the Ohanapecosh area. While the grove’s hike is only 1.3 miles, it’s packed with incredible flora. 1,000 year old Western cedars, Western hemlock and old-growth Douglas fir! Quite a few of them! They’re simply huge compared those typically seen around the Northwest.

The Grove is located on an island in the Ohanapecosh River. It’s a place you can feel the history. These trees were already hundreds of years old when America became a country. They were 200 years old when Columbus landed in the New World!

You walk across a suspension bridge to get there – one at a time.

 

1,000 year old cedar in the Grove of Patriarchs

By far the best time for experiencing the outdoors in the American Northwest is September – after Labor Day.

After Labor Day, the weather is still dry and warm – summer. But kids are in school and parents home. Hiking trails and camping are generally a lot less busy!

So, if you can, make plans to head into the outdoors in September!

 


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Three Fingered Jack

21 10 2012

One of Central Oregon’s crown jewels is 7,844ft Three Fingered Jack. It is the core of an extinct volcano. Three Fingered Jack lies in between Mt Washington and Mt Jefferson and sits on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Jessie, Joel, Laura and I paid a visit there recently – camping at nearby Metolius River. We arrived mid afternoon Friday and got skunked at our favorite campsite on the peninsula at Allen Springs Campground. Figuring we had the luxury of time to search for a choice spot, we hunted around the local campgrounds. How naive we were! When we circled back one campground after another posted the “FULL” sign! We wound up with the very last site in the valley. No matter we made do and promised to try for a more choice spot that might get vacated in the morning!

Jessie, Joel and Laura by Canyon Creek

Though full the campground’s campers are gregarious but mellow. Nobody has trouble sleeping! Morning finds me fixing traditional bacon, eggs, and home made hash browns. All fueled up we head up to the trailhead at Jack Lake.

The three mile trail winds past a burned out area, then through shaded forest, then into wildflower-packed Canyon Creek Meadows and then into the basin underneath Three Fingered Jack. I’ve backpacked into the area and remember the view from the basin: You look straight up at the internal workings of a volcano! Spectacular.

And, this is not an ultimate challenge hike. It is a big payoff for easy effort hike! While we sweat on the trail, the climb is easy enough that we have no problem holding casual conversation on the way.

For the first three quarters of a mile of the trail passes through what was left after the B and B Complex fire, which burned 91,000 acres in 2003. It is a testimony to the catastrophic effects of climate change. Winters are warmer, allowing insects like the bark beetle to have longer reproductive cycles, leading to a population explosion. Normally lower temperature helps control the breeding season. With more beetles, the trees upon which they feed don’t stand a chance. The beetles feed on wood just below the bark – and when they complete a circle around the tree, the tree becomes “girdled,” and slowly dies. The only defense the tree has is to produce extra sap. In bark beetle-infested forests, mile upon mile of trees stand with the lower bark falling off to the ground, and the trees eventually dry out. They become the perfect fuel waiting for the moment of ignition = a forest fire in waiting.

Then it takes us through a section untouched by fire. It’s as it was. Mountain Douglas Firs and Cedars. Shady. A patch of snow here and there. A pond. No bugs. Then the it opens up into meadows carpeted with withering wildflowers, and the mountain dominates the view ahead.

Our goal is to reach the basin beneath the caldera, where we will take in the view and picnic.

We climb a forested moraine and descend into the basin. Wow! Above our heads lies exposed the plumbing of a volcano. Clearly visible are layers of lava but injected into the layers are volcanic dikes, which are like pipes through which lava flows to the top of a volcano. Cool!

I love this spot!

And all around us a sea of wildflowers.

Here, I glimpse a wildflower I’ve never noticed before, which is a kind of wild petunia. Beautiful!

We pause to drink in the view and warmth.

Laura makes the best picnic of all. Very European with fruit, cheese, and even some wine to accompany!

We love wildflowers. And there are plenty to see! But they won’t last forever.

It won’t be long before they fade and winter returns to these parts.

But for now we are happy to enjoy the moment!


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