Tongariro Alpine Crossing - Hiking Mt Doom

Today we channeled our inner Frodo and journeyed to Mount Doom! We walked 21.88 km (13.6 miles) with 848 m (2,800 feet) elevation gain. It took us 6 hr 28 min active hiking and 7:08 total time. We walked the track from Mangatepopo to Ketetahi. We were on the last shuttle of the day that took us from the car park at the end to the start of the trail (one of the last people to start the hike that day) and we were so impressed by our young kids with how many people we passed! They had great attitudes and always kept a steady pace. Especially impressive for Fran that woke up extremely stuffy and run down from a new cold. Most of the walk is through raw volcanic terrain. The three volcanoes in the area are all highly active — Mt. Tongariro, Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom from the Lord Of The Rings). Solidified lava flows, loose tephra, and solidified volcanic lava bombs abound. Very colorful rocks and ridges that are colored from minerals brought to the earth’s surface. Active fumaroles emitting steam and sulphur dioxide gas into the air. The lakes and pools on the walk are deeply coloured by the volcanic minerals dissolved in them. The Upper Te Maari crater last erupted in 2012, so not so long ago! We saw the impact crater from some ballistic rocks. Tongariro National Park was made more famous by its star appearance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The alpine, volcanic scenery is the setting of Mordor, in which stands Mt Doom, aka Mt Ngauruhoe. For the entire trilogy, Frodo and Sam are trying to get to Mt Doom in order to destroy the infamous ring. Mt. Ngauruhoe was behind a cloud/mist most of our hike, but happy it made a few appearances for us! Fun fact: The mountain was digitally altered and combined with models and CGI effects to create the appearance of Mount Doom. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is heralded as the best one-day trek in New Zealand and is regarded as among the top ten single-day treks in the world. We thoroughly enjoyed this hike, and thought it was very beautiful, but think that these ratings are a bit inflated.