"Into the Fires of Mount DOOM!!"

Pictures soon!

The Lord of the Rings sites are certainly not the reason that I came to New Zealand, but some of them are so beautiful and awe inspiring that it just makes sense to quote the movie when looking at them.

The "Tongariro Crossing" is said to be the greatest one day hike in the world. It is the northern part of the "Tongariro Circuit," and is an alpine pass between Mt. Tongariro and the north face of Mt. Ngauruhoe (the volcano used for Mt. Doom). Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we were unable to do the crossing. Instead, we did the southern part of the circuit, which is slightly lower in elevation, but still amazing. The hike we did is called the "Waihohonu Traverse" and is a pass between the south face of Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu (the north islands tallest mountain, also a volcano which erupted right before we got to NZ). I can't believe that the northern route is any more amazing than the southern route...one of the coolest hikes that I have ever done. The only thing I can think of that rivals this hike was the Highland Bowl in Aspen, CO....plus in Aspen you get to snowboard down after you hike up!

ANYWAYS, the hike starts with a walk through some bush, then a forest. You come out of the forest thinking that this is just going to be another hike. Then you see it, Mt. DOOM!! The volcano is a perfect cone shape and covered in snow for almost the entire year. We hiked during early early spring, so there was snow everywhere. For most of the day you are walking next to the two volcanoes; it is hard not to trip while staring up at the summits.

Even though this hike is extremely popular, it is not hard to completely isolate yourself from other hikers. I let Nate and Cam go ahead of me, and kept a good pace to avoid being passed by other hikers. I was alone for most of the day. At one point i hadn't seen or heard anyone for almost 2 hrs, and I decide to stop and look up at Mt. Ngaugruhoe when I hear it. "Froto, you must cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doooooom!" This crazy guy was walking over a hill behind me and quoting the movie. He was actually really good and hilarious. For the rest of the day I couldn't help but laugh when I thought about it.

Near the end of the hike there is a side trail that leads up to the Tama Lakes. These are two mountain lakes, the higher one is at about 1400 meters (almost 5000 ft) above sea level. The views from the top of this side trail is amazing. I will just let you look at the pictures, and will try and post a video.

The hike was great, the weather was great, and it was pretty cool to be walking around in "Mordor."