In November we “tramped” in Tongariro National Park, completing the Northern Circuit in 3 days.   From Whakapapa, we left the lower slopes of Mt. Ruapehu and backpacked for 8.5 km over to the Mangetopo Hut.

The trail wound through the tussock slopes on a wet route, but we climbed to drier slopes in the saddle between the two volcanoes and we had our first view of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings).

The recommended tramp is 4 days, but we chose to do it in 3 days to avoid the rain which the forecast called for 2 days ahead, so we did a long day from Mangatepopo Hut all the way to the third hut, Waihohonu, covering over 20km, all through a marvelous landscape.

The second day route is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a steep climb over the shoulder of Mt. Doom, through South Crater, then up to the summit at Red Crater.

From the high point we had views over into the crater and to Blue Lake  rom the top of Red Crater between two other volcanoes, Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Doom.

Below was were the Emerald Lakes, surrounded by steaming fumaroles.

We turned right at the junction and hiked through the barren Rangipipo Desert, the location for the land of Mordor in Lord of the Rings.

We hiked into the Oturere Valley but we continued past the Oturere Hut, working our way over to Waihohonu Hut in the broad creek valley between Mt. Nugurhoe and Mt. Ruapehu.   From the deck, we watched the sun set on the south slopes of Mt. Doom.

Our final day was a 14.5 km hike through open tussock lands over a ridge then down to Whakapapa.   The Circuit was 43 km.

This memorable Tramp” was our favorite hike/outing of 2015.