Tongariro Crossing

Wow, this one the the most amazing 1 day walks I have ever done. I guess I really lucked out with the weather, as the morning started out very cloudy and few raindrops came down. The driver of the bus checked with the weatherstation and the forecast for the rest of the day was supposed to be good. And it was!! It cleared up and doing the trek the sun came thru and we had pretty clear sights at the top. It was awesome. It started out quite flat in the beginning, but pretty soon we came to the 'Devils Staircase'. I can understand why they call it like that. It's a very steep climb up on the rocks. The reward after this first climb was gooed though, a nice view which was quite clear already and snow tops and also real snow right next to me! Then the track continued and the the sky became all blue, the sun was shining, but is was cold 'cause the wind was blowing. Another steep hill came up and the reward was even better. Only a little but further up, could it become even better? Oh yeah it sure did. At the highest point we would reach at this trek the view was magnificent. Snowy tops, 3 bright blue/green crater lakes, clear skies.... I don't know how to describe it.... This is not my picture but one found on the internet, I guess it 'll do for now...... The rest of track was also very beautyful. Passing some hot streams (water running down from the hot springs) and finally ending the track in the forest. This whole area is volcanic area. There are 3 volcanoes in the area, Mt. Ngauruhoe, Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ruapehu. All three all still active. The nameTongariro actually covered all three mountains and means Tonga (south wind) and riro (carried away). At the hostel there was a jacuzzi so it was a good ending of the day, relaxing in this hot water after this 17 km walk. Especially because it started to rain again...