Our final prep piece for Nepal was this four day walk, one of NZ's nine Great Walks (this makes three down for me).
Since it's a Great Walk you have to book huts in advance during the Summer, so we we weren't really able to choose our time for good weather. Perhaps due to arrogance and hubris we planned to do it in three days.
We drove down from Auckland on the morning of Saturday 10 February and made it to Whakapapa by around midday. When we arrived at the start the weather was looking decidedly dodgy. When we asked at the visitor centre whether it was too risky to go ahead, they basically shrugged and indicted it was our choice, so we decided to to ahead. Starting clockwise from behind the Chateau at Whakapapa, we made for the first hut at Mangatepopo. The track time is four hours or up to five in bad weather. Not quite sure why that would be, but suspect flooding, as the ground is pretty boggy, and the track is even washed out in places.
It's not the most interesting part of the walk and a lot of people seem to skip it and come in from the Mangatepopo carpark, where the Tongariro Crossing day walk starts, but that seems like cheating. We persevered and came to the hut in good time for dinner.
The warden warned that there were high winds and rain forecast for later the following day, and recommended an early start. We were planning to do two huts on the second day, skipping Oturere and going straight to Waihohono, so we were planning an early start anyway.
By the time we crossed over the summit at Red Crater, the wind was whipping up a real gale. The wind hit us most strongly as we descended from the top along the very narrow ridge of volcanic shingle that is hard to keep your feet on at the best of times. At one point John went to secure my pack rain-cover for me and when he turned to have me do the same for him, his pack-cover was nowhere to be seen - it had blown off un-noticed in the gale.
At the bottom of the hill the track divides from the Tongariro Crossing route which continues straight towards Ketetahi, and the Northern Circuit takes a right turn to continue round Mt Ngauruhoe to the next stop at Oturere hut. Although we were now in the lee of the mountain and the wind was lessened, the rain was really coming down. By the time we reached the hut we were pretty much soaked through and probably carrying a couple of extra kilos of moisture.
We were greeted at the hut by the warden who warned that there was a front coming in, and an expected 200mm of rain overnight. Her advice was to walk out today or be prepared to be stuck in the park for a while until the rivers subsided. There are two river crossings on the last stretch between Waihohonu and Whakapapa.
We continued on after a brief stop as we were planning to head to Waihohonu anyway. Another party that had been moving slightly faster than us decided they would walk out to Whakapapa. John was wiser and suggested we continue with our original plan and see what happens.
The weather cleared up a bit as the afternoon wore on, and as the trail continued we crossed up and down several river valleys, before a steep descent into beech forest, which was wonderfully atmospheric, all soaked and dripping from the rain. After a steep slog up the hill we emerged from the forest and were rewarded with a view of the Waihohonu hut, but as we discover it's still a good hour away. We descend again into yet another river valley. The hut is just a few minutes and climb out of the valley and we haul ourselves into the hut soaked and exhausted. We're not alone. The whole hut is festooned with drying gear for the whole time we are there.
The next morning dawns fine and clear and the forecast rain does not seem to have eventuated to the extent expected. We are happy to be advised that there is very little risk of high river levels on the last leg, so we head off as originally planned. When we reach the river crossings they are normal, and the weather fines up as we come over the last major ridge and catch sight of the Chateau.
We complete the circuit by early afternoon on the third day, leaving us plenty of time to drive back to Auckland the same day.
