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Story by Harry Smith
Have you ever wanted to do one of those commercial-style tramps, where your
gear is ferried forward for you each day so you only have to carry a day
pack, and you get to stay in luxury private lodges overnight? Well, we had
a taste of what it would be like early in February when we did the
Tongariro National Park three peaks trip.
We arrived at the Ketetahi road-end in the bus sometime after midnight,
Wayne at the wheel, after dropping various other punters off at various
other places. After dropping us off, Wayne and Jeannine had planned to go
on to the club lodge where they were staying for the weekend; however since
it was getting late they decided to camp at the road end with us and head
around to the lodge the next morning. It didn't take us long to realise
that this meant that we wouldn't have to carry sleeping bags and so on with
us the next day, and we could travel with light day-packs while Wayne and
Jeannine ferried our gear around to the lodge for us. (Of course, that did
rather commit us to reaching the Lodge the next evening. The next morning I
kept my bivvy bag with me, just in case....)
Next morning we were away early and reached Ketetahi hut in good time, with
me rather sorrowfully passing the hot springs by. (It's not often I'll walk
past Ketetahi Springs without stopping for a soak....) To save weight we
hadn't brought a primus with us, so we stopped in at the hut for a welcome
morning cup of tea. Then it was off up the track towards the top of
Tongariro.
As the track began to sidle towards the saddle we left it behind and cut
directly up onto the flat top of North Crater. Here it clagged in
completely as soon as we arrived, but after a few navigational blunders
which saw us initially travelling at right angles to where we wanted to go
(something to do with Phil adding instead of subtracting 23 degrees on his
compass...) we found our way across to the other side and up onto the trig
on Mt Tongariro. Here, to my surprise, Ann and Jenny produced sarongs from
their packs and posed for a photo!
After a quick stop we dropped down into South Crater; then it was the big
grunt up to the summit of Ngauruhoe. I hadn't done this in summer in years,
and was soon reminded just how tiring the loose scree was. I finally
reached the top some time after the others, immensely thankful that I was
only carrying a day-pack, and wandered around the outer crater rim to the
highest point, only to find Ann and Jenny this time decked out in formal
evening dresses (with tramping boots incongruously protruding out
underneath!), and drinking out of wine glasses! A party of stunned
Australians had apparently passed by just before I arrived and complimented
the "ladies" on their appearances!
After lunch it was off down the far side of the mountain, heading towards
Tama Lakes on a compass bearing in the clag. The descend was slow and
painful, picking our way down the large rocks and loose scoria. Sidling
around a bit, Phil found a band of fine soft scree which made travel a lot
faster and easier. Once off Ngauruhoe we clambered up to a little saddle
and began sidling around the side of Upper Tama lake. The sidle got
steeper, so Keith and I clambered up to the ridgeline and followed along
the top, beating the others who had continued with the sidle.
Reaching the Tama Lake track, it was decision time. It was late in the
afternoon - did we have time to make it to the Lodge acoss country, or
should we take the track out to the Chateau and head up the road, which
would be easy to follow in the dark if we didn't make it all the way by
nightfall (and where we might even be able to hitch a ride)? There was a
bit of umming and ahhing, then we decided to go for it. It would be a close
thing, but it would seem like cheating, we agreed, if we headed out to the
road.
Three hours later saw us picking our way carefully along the ridgeline
behind Happy Valley heading towards the Wakapapa skifield in the last dim,
faint traces of twilight, unable to see more than a few metres in the dark
and uncertain exactly where we were. Then I recognized Mead's Wall looming
up in the darkness and regained our bearings. We'd done it - and just in
time: it was completely dark by the time we reached the door of the Lodge,
to be greeted with music on the stereo and Wayne's greeting of "so yah
finally made it, yah old farts!"
Next day saw four of us heading off up Ruapehu in clagged-in conditions.
Ann looked at the weather and decided to stay behind - an unfortunate
decision because we soon emerged above the clag and into brilliant
sunshine. A wander up the shrunken remains of the Wakapapa Glacier took us
to the Col overlooking the crater, and from there we followed the ridgeline
around towards Tahurangi. A couple of downward detours were necessary to
avoid bluffy bits, and the last little bit up to the summit was a bit steep
and scrambly, but soon we were having lunch in the sun on the top, with
great views out over the crater and the whole surrounding summit area of
the mountain. After lunch we headed off down towards the Turoa ski-field. I
was glad I had decided to bring my iceaxe and crampons with me, so while
the others picked their way slowly and carefully down the rocks and scree,
I was able to get out into a long tongue of old, hard snow in a gully and
descend hundreds of metres with ease. Eventually we reached the buildings
of the skifield and were able to follow down the track to the carpark.
After a brief rest in the sun the bus arrived to collect us and end the
trip.
Trip Members: Phil Kendon, Ann Kempster, Jenny Cossey, Keith Geritson,
Harry Smith
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