Day 41 Tongariro Crossing

We are up early this morning and in the car heading to a car park at the end of the Tongariro Crossing, the best one day hike in New Zealand. A shuttle will pick us up and transport us to the start of the trail and then we will walk back to our car. It is an Alpine crossing so we will climb from 1100 meters to 1900 meters over the top of Mt. Tongariro along the ridge of a volcano and then back down to 700 meters on the other side. When we arrive at the car park there are already over a 100 people there so we have no fear of being alone on the trail. Several 100 do the crossing each day. We get started on the ascent around 8 am , the first hour being fairly easy along boardwalks and stairs. After that however we start what they call the Devil's Staircase, a hard ascent of about an hour to the South Crater. We walk over the South Crater for 10 minutes and reach the start of a difficult ascent to the Red Crater ridge. At the top we are rewarded with phenomenal views. We can see 360 degrees as we begin the walk along the ridge of the Red Crater an active volcano. Soon we can see over the other edge and get views of Emerald Lakes. The initial descent is steep and the soil below your feet is loose so you practically slide down the slope but you are on a narrow ridge with cliffs on either side so it requires caution. The day is sunny and clear but the temperature is ideal for hiking.. not overly hot! From here it is all downhill to our car but it is still about 12 kms. We descend the side of a mountain on zigzag trails cut into the landscape. Going up was hard but this constant steep downhill uses different muscles so it proves just as difficult. With about 6 kms to go we stop at a hut to eat our lunch. The last 3 kms is through a forest along an active volcanic area. Near the end we overtake a young couple, probably early 30's, . As they stop to let us pass he asks, "How are you doing this ? ". and gives us the thumbs up. My first thought is , he is wondering how 2 old geysers like us were able to do this crossing and still be standing , and I am deflated but quickly my second thought takes over, he was giving us a compliment and I feel inflated. We complete the crossing in 5.5 hours. Simply a very rewarding day !!