Mt. DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMmmmmm

New Zealand, land of sheep, highland cows, and hiking. Today wasn’t a day for being a shepherd or for being a cowboy; it was a day of Fitbit Records! Jeff booked us a stay at the Skotel, a name that combines ski and hotel, for this adventurous section of the trip. We arrived in our little cabin and prepared for a 20 km hike the next day through MORDOR.

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1. Snacks
   • Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
   • Granola
   • Oreos
   • Nuts
   • Dried Fruit
2. Water
   • Mama Camelback
   • Owen Camelback
   • Andre Camelback
   • Daddy Bottles of Water
3. Clothes
   • Gloves from the 1 store in town
   • Hats
   • Long Pants
   • Multiple Layers of Shirts
   • Good walking shoes
   • Coats

We woke up the next morning excited for our adventure and got a good early start around 7:15 am. You have to take a bus to the starting point, and then they will pick you up afterwards because the trek is one way.

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Okay, so the actual mountain is located in Tongariro National Park, and the path we were taking was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The elevation climb for this puppy is around 1,196 meters and the pass is located on a volcanic alpine landscape. The mountain we would be passing by (not climbing) is Mount Ngauruhoe, aka Mt. Doom from LOR.

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The initial hike is a pretty easy straight shot. We were rocking through the first part with no problems at all. You start to think this hike isn’t going to be so bad, and then you run into this sign:

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Literally 2 second after passing this sign, Jeff says he has something in his shoe and needs to stop. We pull over and start to investigate. As we are searching for the object, he is stating how he could just keep going if we can’t figure out what is bothering him. Well, it turns out he had a crazy sharp thorn that had penetrated all the way through the sole of his shoe. I couldn’t believe how strong and sharp it was. It would have been the worst idea to keep going without getting it out.

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The hike definitely requires some decent glute action as the second part of the trek is pretty steep. We don’t have walking poles, but I could see them being very useful for this particular hike. We started off strong and were making good time.

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We absolutely loved the challenging second part of the hike all the way up to the peak. It had awesome views and hot springs, and we met some rockin’ local ladies doing a 4 day trek that were super nice. Of course, the best part of any good hike is the peak lunch! We were so excited to eat our sandwiches and chill for a bit. We actually found a thermal vent to sit by, so we had a bit of warm air coming out to heat us while we snacked.

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Then it was time to start the LONGEST hike down a trail ever. It starts with super slippery tiny gravel on a steep incline. Several people slipped, no injuries though.

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Then it became this switch-back, alpine landscape. We went from a volcanos, hot springs, mountain-feel to small bushes on a really big hill side with panoramic views. I could not believe how long it took us to walk this. Our knees are decent, but this trek put them to the test. The boys were like little speedy rockets. They rushed down, and we could not keep up with them. We figured at least they would make the bus.

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That’s right, this is a timed hike. If you don’t finish in about 9 hours, you miss the bus and have to figure a way back to your car, which costs like $40-$60 a person. So you can’t be super casual when doing the hike. I think the last shuttle was around 4:00 pm.

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We finally ended up catching the boys, and OMG did our feet hurt. They felt like they were three sizes bigger than when I started. However, we were so proud we finished the hike, and the boys absolutely crushed it. I will say, we did not see a single kid our kids’ age the day we climbed. This is definitely a more advanced hike. We made it back in time to even catch a slightly earlier shuttle. This hike was easily one of the highlights of our trip so far, and I would recommend completing it either before the knees go out or after a good quality knee replacement.

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Jeff was literally the best and had the forethought to make a reservation for a 30 min hot tub soak after our hike. I don’t think I have ever had a better hot tub time.