Today is the day we hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (a.k.a. Mount Doom). We got up early and drove to meet the shuttle that will take us to the trailhead, so that we can hike back to the car. The shuttle is a short 30mins ride into the park and at the start of the trailhead.
The first couple miles of the trail was full of gently rolling hills and beautiful views.
As we started climbing up into the hills the weather started to get worse and worse. It started as a drizzle and a bit of a fog but then turned into pouring rain and complete whiteout hiding all the views.
Hiking thru the rain was not very enjoyable to say the least and the hike was fairly hard, part of the track to the top was called the “Devil’s Staircase”. When we got to the top, I may have been a bit exhausted, cranky, and was having asthma issues. So, jokingly, I demanded Jacob profess his undying love to me after making the arduous climb to the top. He said okay and proposed.
After celebrating and having a quick lunch we made our way down the mountain.
Once down the mountain, we were soaking wet and change at the car in the light rain. Then we made the long drive to Ohakune where we needed to meet for our canoe trip in the morning. We got to our Airbnb and tried to figure out how to dry out most of our clothes. We then checked in for the canoe trip and picked up our barrels for clothes for the trip. Then we had dinner and went to bed early.