3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

29th May ‘19

Day:

127

Title:

Tongariro Crossing

KM Mark Start:

1121

Start Location:

Mangatepopo Hut

KM Mark Finish:

1094

Finish Location:

Te Porere Redoubt Upper

Actual KM Today:

28

Weather:

Gale force winds and cloud for the morning, clearing in the arvo.

General:

What a morning (& night). Crazy strong winds buffeting the hut all night and me all morning. Made it to the Red Crater, Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake after almost convincing myself to turn around. The winds just got progressively stronger with altitude and the moisture in the air started to freeze as the wind chill dropped (see photos). I stumbled across a lady who had frozen up (with fear) at the summit, I had to physically pull her in the right direction over the pass. All’s well that ends well though and we got over safely. She was pretty relieved and happy on the other side.

(Not all heroes 🦸🏻‍♂️ wear capes 😆)

Miraculously after ~10 mins on the peak at red crater the clouds opened up for the first time in days and I got a view of all the sites Tongariro Crossing has to offer. After taking my time to enjoy the sites I carried on down to Te Porere Redoubt Upper (Historic Maori Warfare Trenches), where I set up camp for the night.

Body:

All good.

Outlook:

Happy to get that window of weather…it was not forecast, so a nice surprise.

Tune of the Day:

127. STOOPID – 6ix9ine

Day 127 Images: