The Mountains Make Us Stronger

New Zealand is famous for its hiking (locally known as "tramping"). Several of its hiking trails have been designated as "Great Walks", a shortlist of the best hikes NZ has to offer. One of them, and the only one that can be completed in a day, is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Unlike the others, it traverses a unique volcanic landscape and most of the route is rocky, barren, and stark in its beauty; quite a change from the lushness that New Zealand is often associated with. For those of you who are fans of the Lord of the Rings movies, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing also passes the base of Mt. Ngauruhoe, which was where the Mount Doom scenes were filmed. We took the photo below shortly after we began our tramp; Mt. Ngauruhoe is straight ahead, its top shrouded in clouds.

(It's hard to tell how tall it is, but according to Wikipedia,
Mt. Ngauruhoe is 2,291 metres (7,516 feet) tall. From where we were,
it looked both pretty far, and pretty tall.)

Our walk began quite nicely enough; we were picked up early in the morning from our hotel (it's a point-to-point hike, so most people hire a shuttle service to drop them off at the start and pick them up at the end) and dropped off at the start of the hike, with the admonishment that the last shuttle was at 4:00 p.m., and if we thought we wouldn't make it back in time, we had to either call ahead or have a fellow hiker pass the message on - otherwise the shuttle company would have to call search and rescue. We were also given a nice (if somewhat vague) map of the route. Mt. Ngauruhoe was described by the shuttle service as "not for the faint hearted. It is an extremely dangerous scramble up a sharp scree slope. Severe injury is a regular occurrence on this side track due to rock falls. Please only attempt this challenge on a clear day for safety reasons and for some of the best views to be had" (we later learned that several hikers had previously died climbing it, which was quite unsurprising after we'd experienced it for ourselves). As we began our hike, things looked splendid. It was nice and quiet, without too many people on the trail, and the weather looked glorious.

("the road goes ever on and on..." - J.R.R. Tolkien)

About an hour later, we reached the base of Mt. Ngauruhoe, and this is where things started to get a little... exciting.

(View from the bottom of Mt. Ngauruhoe, just as the clouds parted
invitingly to reveal the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe.)

We debated whether or not to try and summit Mt. Ngauruhoe and decided that we'd chance it, hoping that by the time we got to the top, the clouds would clear and we'd be rewarded with spectacular views of New Zealand spread out below us. As we started our ascent the clouds began to drift gently away from the summit and the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe peeked out at us, almost as if it were inviting us to come up for a visit. The climb started out fairly easy – the ground was covered by gravel and small rocks, and the slope wasn’t that steep. Our spirits were high and we met some other travelers who made good company. But things rapidly changed. Before long, the gentle slope became a steep climb, and we had to use our hands to help pull ourselves up the slope. The gravel gave way to blackened volcanic rocks and boulders of various sizes which often shifted beneath our weight, making the going slow and treacherous. Following too closely behind someone often meant having to watch out for falling rocks dislodged by his or her steps!

(that’s Holly on all fours trying to make her way up the mountain.

I was maintaining a safe distance (and trying to catch my breath).)

(The view from about a third of the way up Mt. Ngauruhoe.
Note the ominous clouds just a little higher than where we were.)

Almost halfway to the top, the clouds rolled back in, heavy and dark. We found ourselves peering into the mist, trying to see where the path lay and where the hikers in front of us had gone. The air got colder the higher we went, and the clouds that surrounded us robbed us of not just the Sun’s light but also its warmth. It’s strange how much our moods are affected by the weather around us; what began as a sunny and cheery climb was now a gloomier and grimmer affair. We could no longer see the summit before and above us, nor any clearly discernable path that would lead us to the top. If we turned around and looked behind and below us, the white clouds similarly obscured our sight, but not enough to hide the fact that it was a steep and long way down. This last fact was not conducive to Holly’s fear of heights.

Those of you who’ve watched the LoTR movies may remember a scene in the final movie, where Frodo and Sam are painstakingly climbing up Mount Doom, tired, weak, and on the border of despair. My sympathy for the two hobbits grew enormously that day, and in the back of my mind worries and fears began to stir: Would we make it? What if we got lost? What if Holly fell and got injured or worse? Should we turn back before it’s too late? There’s an adage that there are no atheists in foxholes. Whether or not that’s true, even believers pray much harder and more fervently in their time of need. We ultimately decided to press on, stubbornly determined to reach the summit.

And we did. We were cold and tired by the time we reached the top, but still managed to smile for the obligatory commemorative photo: 

(Us at the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe. Whiteness all around.)

The clouds prevented us from seeing farther than about twenty feet each way around the rim of the crater that crowned Mt. Ngauruhoe, so no panoramic views greeted us at the top. But we did enjoy the company of the other travelers who had made the climb, and the atmosphere of mild exhilaration that accompanied our collective success. Perhaps as a half-ironic monument to our efforts, a previous climber had mounted this "statuary" at the top:

(Taken in "macro" mode.)

Unfortunately, the way down was not easy. In some ways, it was even harder than the climb, for now Holly had to face her fear of heights full on. And as we began to descend, the clouds below us cleared, such that we could see all the very long and steep way to the bottom of the mountain. Every now and then, a rock would skip, clatter, and dance past us, dislodged from above by another climber’s steps. Some of them clattered for a long time even after they passed out of our sight. Eventually, we made it safely down Mt. Ngauruhoe. By the time we reached the bottom, my respect and admiration for Holly’s strength, courage and determination had grown immensely. The journey was tough, and she slipped and fell quite a bit (and trust me, those rocks were sharp!). But she faced her fear of heights head on, pushing past the paralysis that can often keep us from our goals.

The rest of the hike was, thankfully, easier. The weather cooperated quite nicely for the rest of the day, cloudy enough to shield us from too much sun but not enough to make our journey gloomy and cold. And the sights were typical New Zealand – beautiful. The landscape here was carved out by the fire and violence of volcanic eruptions and tectonic movements, leaving behind jagged mountain ranges the color of red fire and black ash, and lakes filled with green and blue. But in any direction you looked, it was breathtaking and filled you with quiet awe.

(The Emerald Lakes.)

(Red and black rock mountains.)

(Looking north, just before we descended from the mountain range.)

(I have no idea what geological activity caused this,
but it was cool to see this "tree" carved out of the hillside.
Could have been the work of Ents.)

In retrospect, writing this three weeks after we tramped the Crossing, it was a beautiful experience. It wasn’t always pleasant and some parts of it were dangerous and difficult. Yes, there were tears along the way. But the hardship gave the experience qualities of depth and richness that it otherwise would have lacked, and only added to its beauty. When we decided to do this four-month adventure, one of our goals was to spend quality time together to strengthen our marriage. Doing the Crossing together reminded us that in many ways it is joined trial and adversity that makes any relationship, including marriage, grow stronger.