We caught the bus at 7 AM to the start of the trail and were told that we could catch a bus back to town at either 3:30pm or 5pm, any later than that and we would be in trouble. The trail is 19.4 KM (12 miles) and we decided to hike two additional side trails for a grand total of roughly 23.4 KM (14.5 miles). "The entire length of the walk (except for the final descent through native forest) is through raw volcanic terrain. The three volcanoes in the area are all highly active and the terrain reflects this. Solidified lava flows, loose tephra, and solidified volcanic lava bombs abound. Large amounts of minerals are brought to the surface and are highly visible in the colours of rocks and ridges. Active steam vents called fumaroles abound on several sections of the walk, constantly emitting steam and sulphur dioxide gas into the air and depositing yellow sulphur specks around their edges. The famous lakes and pools on the walk are deeply coloured by the volcanic minerals dissolved in them. Some areas feature large springs emitting near-boiling water and torrents of steam. The terrain underfoot for most of the walk is either sharp edged new volcanic rock or loose and shifting tephra, mainly ash and La pilli. In some crater areas it is finer ash that has become moist and compacted." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongariro_Alpine_Crossing)
We did amazingly well and finished before 3pm, in plenty of time to catch the early shuttle.
The sun was shining, the skies were clear and it was an absolutely AMAZING day. It is definetly in the top two hikes of my life and was by far the most spectacular in sights.
Check out 127 pictures below:
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