At 4 am i dragged myself out of bed, and wandered into the kitchen, making myself a hefty bowl of oatmeal. I got out some coffee and started packing for my day. First aid kit, lunch, snacks, headlamp, extra clothes. I piled into a 5 am bus, and by 7 am i was at the beginning of the Tongariro Crossing - New Zealand’s most popular day hike. It was 19 Kilometers, with a hefty amount of elevation, hiking up and down an active volcano. I got off the bus, and without a second thought, just started walking. Easy. But it wasn’t that easy to begin with.
Feeling physically competent is something that women are often not encouraged to pursue. Especially in regards to outdoor 'wilderness activities’ So to go on a demanding hike by myself with confidence i could deal with whatever came my way felt amazing. This was my first time hiking a strenuous trail alone and It took me a long time to get here, so i savored it.
The first part of the hike was (supposedly) the easy section, which would then lead to a pretty intense uphill named 'the devil staircase'. Now what I've learnt from this summer, is never trust when a guide tells you a part of a hike is easy. I thought that i had conquered the devils staircase 3 times before i actually made it to the start of the bloody thing. filthy liars. I laughed at myself, and started the mental gymnastics required to get myself up the actual devils staircase. And guess what... it was really fun. I enjoyed challenging my body, and watching how my mind was encouraging me. The hardest part involved literally scrambling up a steep ridge with absolutely no windbreak. This part was super tough and chilly and i stopped every 10 feet to catch my breath. At the beginning of this summer i would have been super embarrassed about that, and probably would have tried to push myself to go further, pushed too far and then inevitably end up crying half way up at my own sheer incompetence. Not on this hike.
Over the summer i had learnt how to work WITH instead of against myself to get over obstacles and i honestly didn’t mind if people thought it was silly that i was stopping for a breather every 2 minutes because all that mattered was i got to the top of the bloody thing and felt damned good doing it! There was a wonderful older German woman in front of me who was just trucking along in a bright red coat, which actually came in handy because at one point the clouds surrounded us and the only way i knew which way the trail was was her red jacket bobbing along. That lady stopped almost as frequently as i did, and we smiled at each other and shared snacks.
And god was the hike was worth it. It was beautiful. Before i knew it, it felt like i was walking through the clouds. I can honestly say i’ve never seen anything like the Tongariro crossing, it felt like i was on a landscape safari, after the first ascent, every 10 minutes there was some mind blowing landscape that was revealed only momentarily as the clouds wafted past. There were hydro-thermal pools, craters, volcanic landscapes red and black, sometimes covered in layers of white and brown. the terrain beneath me changed from soft snow, to hard rock. From a grueling uphill that tested my stamina, to an equally grueling downhill that honestly just felt like it was testing my knees. On the up hills, i stopped often, On the way down, i took it fast, knowing that my endurance and enthusiasm was starting to wain after 7 hours so i best finish as soon as i could.
I not only knew how to handle myself physically, but also mentally. I was happy to spend time with myself, challenge myself and take some photographs. It was a wonderful introduction to a country i’ll be living in a little while, and after doing this hike, i cant wait to do more!
To see more of the photos i took on the hike - check out the gallery!
