Day 21 and I'm in the Tongariro National Park, one of my favourite places to hike. I originally intended to get a guided trip to summit of Ruapehu but unfortunately the guiding company cancelled on me due to bad weather, which it wasn't. I'm betting they just were worried the Jafa would give them COVID-19.
A couple of years ago I tramped the Round the Mountain track which circles Mt Ruapehu with my tramping buddy John, there's a video below for anyone who missed it.
The last day was long and we took a shortcut to the Bruce Road thereby missing out the section past the Whakapapaiti hut. I thought it would be a nice idea to fill in this gap today as a consolation and I'm glad I did, as it's a very pleasant walk. Including the Silica Rapids spur at the end added 600m to my total.
My elevation is now 6800m the altitude of the Lhotse Face, the western flank of the Lhotse peak which must be climbed to reach the South Col. The Lhotse Face is 1125m of glacial ice, hard as rock. The pitch varies between 40 and 50 degrees and in places bulges up to 80 degrees, as near to vertical as makes no difference. It's a challenging climb in any circumstances. A mistake here can easily end in disaster.
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