That house? down there somewhere.
When in Wellington, I like to pimp Nashville based companies.
Looking back towards Wellington, same hike, airport (WLG) off in the distance.
Nice beach (same hike).
On Tuesday the 19th, I did the Tongariro crossing. It was beautiful that day.
This was one of the few developed portions of the hike.
Look closely and you can see the people
We've climbed a bit... that line on the right is the trail we just hiked.
Nowhere to go but up. Some of you might know that volcano as Mt. Doom. I'm not a LotR geek.
Got lava rock?
Up up up... and that squiggle on either side of the trail marker is the trail...
When you get to the top of that part, you get to cross these mud flats.
Just when you think you get to the top, you still have a small hill togo. It was definately time for lunch.
More view from the stopping point.
"Mt. Doom" in the background. Various hikers have piled up rocks as a monument of sorts to mark the worst part of the hike being over. It's a bit windier and colder here too.
Red Crater I believe.
Yeah, it's a bit windy, but it's not bad.
One of the crater lakes in the background.
It's blue because of the sulfer. Definately not drinkable.
Heading down a bit towards the lakes.
More lakes.
Yet another lake...
You really don't want to know how far the drop was behind the rock I'm standing on.
We slid down the side of this hill (that rock I was just standing on is around there somewhere).
More hill...
More hill...
We hung out here for a good 30-45 minutes. It was absolutely beautiful, peaceful, and still.
Did I mention how beautiful it was that day?
We're getting ready to make our descent toward the hut.
The lake was huge, but by far not the largest.