Te Araroa – Day 25

Bushcamp to Bushcamp

33.5 miles

Mile 693.5

I woke up to find a couple small puddles inside my tent after A night of rain. The roof of my tent must be developing some small holes…I guess that’s to be expected after using it for over 6200 miles.

My day began with the 42nd Traverse, a 4wd track through the forest.

That’s a big worm…

It rained throughout the morning as I made my way over mountains and across streams.

I met two thru hikers at one of my stream crossings. These were the first two I’d met, but after talking to them I learned they’ve met loads of hikers…not sure how I’m missing them, but I suspect I pass many in towns and established campgrounds, since I usually aim to stay away from these places.

I chatted with them for a bit before carrying on. Shortly after I joined the Waione Cokers Track, where the trail became overgrown and quite swampy in places.

While navigating an extra muddy section I was too focused on my foot placement to notice the thorny vines ahead of me until I pushed them aside with my face. Ouch…

Eventually the trail led me to a paved road that I walked for a few miles to reach the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

This trail is considered one of the highlights of the North Island, and is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, so I decided to knock it out late in the evening to avoid the crowds, which turned out to be a good call.

The trail up the volcano began in forest, but quickly reached the tree line as it ascended.

Views of lakes, steaming fissures and the cloud topped summit entertained me as I continued to climb.

Towards the top I entered the cloud hugging the head of the mountain, dropping visibility to only a few meters.

As I made my final push to the summit some of the cloud lifted, giving me views of the volcanic rock formations, the Red Crater and a couple volcanic pools.

It was a bit past 8:00 PM, and I had the entire mountain to myself.

I found a great spot to camp for the night near the top of the volcano.

Cheers!