A hike around Mt Ruapehu – one mountain, many faces

From the endless barren beauty of Rangipo Desert to the tumbling waterfalls and beech forests on the western side of the mountain, our five-day, 66km hike around Mt Ruapehu could well have been five separate tramps through five different environments.

Words MILLIE FREEMAN
Images MILLIE FREEMAN AND DIANA ANDERSON

A couple we met while hiking the Round the Mountain track in blistering- hot late November said a family hike
on the same route many years earlier had sparked an enduring interest in geology for one of their sons. It’s not hard to see why. Yes, Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park is stunning from any distance; get up a bit closer though and you can’t help but be awed by the extraordinary forces of nature. It was a daily dose of grandeur, with each section of track offering us a new face to discover.

Diana Anderson and I left Whakapapa Village on a clockwise route, staying first at the smart and spacious Waihohonu Hut. The hut is shared with hikers doing the popular Northern Circuit ‘Great Walk’, which circles Mt Ngauruhoe and includes part of the Tongariro Crossing hike.

Some choose to walk the lesser travelled Round the Mountain track in three days, but, unless you’re aiming to cram it into a long weekend, you’d have to wonder, why the rush? There are so many expansive wonders to take in and enjoy over a few more days. And, despite seemingly short daily distances, the days are challenging, with steep ascents and often technical descents over loose slate, shingle and lava deposits, all with heavy packs. Carrying plenty of drinking water did not aid the pack weight, but was critical in the high temperatures we experienced, especially as you can’t rely on the water quality of rivers and streams – even though they looked crystal clear, some drain directly from the Crater Lake.

Despite needing lots of water, we knew we were lucky to enjoy such a fine spell in an area renowned for extreme weather. Not only is there limited shelter from wind and rain on the desert side, track marker poles would be hard to see in a whiteout and you’d get lost in a heartbeat. On the plus side, several entry and exit points give options for shorter walks or an emergency escape route in bad conditions.

However Rangipo Desert on day 2 and part of day 3 was astonishingly beautiful despite being hot and dry. Sand and rock in varying hues of beige and brown stretched impossibly onward, interspersed with white, yellow and red highlights from the tiny alpine shrubs that have adapted to thrive in these hostile environments. As we crunched over the desolate moon-like landscape, I marvelled at the huge boulders, spewed from eruptions over millennia and strewn and scattered across the slopes, completely untouched. Such glorious detail unseen and unappreciated from passers-by driving the Desert Road.

FROM DESERT TO DEEP RIVER VALLEYS…

Day 3 to Mangaehuehu Hut also offered more delights, particularly the magnificent Waihianoa River gorge with steep stony sides dropping down to the snakelike river. DoC had warned the bridge here was under repair and we prayed the snow melt would not prevent us from crossing the river, because ‘Plan B’ – to retrace our steps to the Tukino Road and shuttle around to Ohakune Mountain Road – was just not going to happen given the effort we had exerted to get here! Had there been rain, the crossing may have proved too dangerous, however we were lucky with the river level and, safely across, inched our way up the steep ascent with wet boots – something we were to get a lot more practice with on Day 5. The desert soon gave way to scrubby bush and eventually mountain beech forest as Ruapehu slowly revealed a new face.

…AND PLUNGING WATERFALLS

As captivated as I was with the desert, the best, and indeed the worst, part of the hike happened on Day 4. A steep 3km trudge up Ohakune Mountain Road at midday, with its sun-baked tarseal reflecting an hour’s worth of hot air into my lungs, was soon forgotten as the mountain opened up yet another window to its rugged past. The Cascades, or Lava Lounge as it’s known in some circles, is a cascading waterfall that tumbles into the magnificent Mangaturuturu Valley, and the track takes you straight down it. While the onward route is easily seen winding its way from the bottom of the rockfall, our most immediate concern became, ‘but how do we reach it?’ Somewhere we had to cross the cascades, yet the marker poles we had steadfastly relied upon throughout the hike were now rather vague – where exactly did they suggest we cross? The most common-sense place had to suffice and after a quick, yet ultimately futile, risk assessment we edged into the froth and waded safely across. Peering over the rockface we could now easily see the next three or four poles marking the route and realised we must have chosen the right spot. (In hindsight, we realised the route was perhaps intentionally vague so that hikers can assess the best crossing point depending on weather and river conditions on the day.) With hearts pounding from exhilaration rather than exertion we carefully made our way down the rocky slope with the water roaring down just a few metres beside us.

After four days the mountain had already shown us so many faces, yet the final day still had its own treasures to reveal – spectacular and massive gouged-out river valleys, rocky inclines, numerous river crossings and the surround sound of waterfalls plummeting off lava bluffs, and, further on, shady forest for the final descent to Whakapapa Village. What an incredible day to complete an epic hike.

It’s certainly no ‘walk in the park’, and weather plays a hugely important role, but if you have good fitness, and are prepared for some long, challenging days, you’ll be rewarded with breath- taking scenery and the excitement of seeing some new treasure around every corner.