This morning we woke up to clear skies and cold morming air. We started out up the Tongariro Alpine Crossing route with several hundred others (most of them just got dropped off at the carpark, only a few of us stayed in the hut). It warmed up quickly and cloud started to form on top of Mt. Ngauruhoe. By the time we got to the side track leading up the volcano, it was totally socked in, so we decided to skip the climb. A few others made the decision to head up. At the next side track to the top of Mt. Tongariro, we decided to go for it and headed up into the clouds. At the summit, it was pretty socked in, but Ciel's optimism insisted that we wait for it to clear. Luckily it did, but only for a minute or so - just enough for a few photos.
The rest of the way down was incredibly beautiful - except for the trash left on the trail by some of the other hikers. We nearly filled our trash bag with stuff we picked up off the trail!
-mark.
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