Taranaki 2

The weekend started off right. After running a few finals errands to tie up lose ends and get supplies for my last 4 days in New Zealand we all decided to throw together a potluck party because almost all of our friends were leaving in the next few days and we needed to party....and we had lots of food to get rid of. So we all brought over whatever dishes we could put together with what we had left and cooked, ate, talked, and enjoyed one of our last nights together. All of our friends were there and even a few more. We had so much food and such good company. Ema and Franzi came up with a good idea to make a picture frame mat for each person that we could all sign and write a short note then we took a photo of all of us together to put in the middle. So we all passed around white mats with our names on them and signed them. It was such a good idea and something I think I'll really value. That night we hung out late and I had to say my goodbyes to Zaki and Giso as they were both leaving for the south island. They were both great flatmates and I hope I'll be able to see them again soon.They both taught me a lot and I loved living with them. Flat 11 was seriously the best flat Massey has ever had!

Alex

Jen and Rashmi

Martyna and Jen

Alex, Benedict and Graeme ice climbing

Jen and Julianne

Kelly and Jen

The Canadians: Zaki, Chelsey, Stephan, Ema, Brayden, and Trevor

Brayden signing photo

Benedicte sign photos

 Alright so after that late night it was time to grab a couple hours of sleep. Awhile back a couple friends and I had backpacked around Taranaki and about halfway up the actual volcano but it was too icey to go all the way up without proper training and gear. So seeing as it was my last weekend in NZ I couldn't let this volcano elude me, I had wanted to reached the top ever since I stood on the top of Ruapehu, the tallest mountain on the south island, and admired the beautiful volcano from 200k away. So I joined in with Brayden, Graeme, and Brayden's cousin Trevor in an attempt to summit the legendary volcano. Due to the weather and ice it was recommend that only experienced hikers or those with an experienced guide with proper gear attempt the climb this early in the season so of course we rented the crampon and ice picks and I even borrowed some proper hiking boots instead of just using my trusty running shoes. The Massey alpine club that we were renting and getting our info from was extremely worried we were a bunch of of hooligans going unprepared up a dangerous mountain. So we had the proper gear and well as far as the experienced leader.....that became me.That weekend of ice climbing in Colorado with crampons and ice picks counted for a bit more then I think it should have. But I had been to the mountain a few weeks prior and did have a fairly good understanding of the conditions and so with that information we put all the worriers at ease. Although now you may now be thinking, Jen you are your friends are kind of dumb and that is how people get killed, they go climb amount without proper experience and something bad happens and they die. Well to that I say....ya your probably right. In retrospect, its not the smartest thing we ever did. But we prepared as much as we could with proper clothing and we all had a lot of experience in climbing and exploring and had agreed to not attempt anything if it really did look dangerous. We were all pretty fit and had food and water. It was a good group of 4 and I felt good about it. It was probably the last opportunity any of us would have to climb Taranaki.

Flat tire

So it was another early 4:30am wake up call, this time I tried to get some real sleep and even managed to catch a few z's in the car, that is until the large thudding noise every couple of seconds below my head as I rested it on the window. Over a short distance the noise got louder so we stopped to check it out thinking nothing could possibly be wrong with our small sedan rental car (affectionately named the pink dolphin due to a lovely ornament hung on the mirror). But low and behold, like a bad omen, you guessed it, we got a flat tire. Nothing like being half asleep standing in a drizzling rain helping the guys change a flat tire to make you worry what else could happen today. Fortunately the spare was full of air and we were back on the road in no time. During our 2 hour drive we had started with beautiful clear night skies but as the sun rose we entered into a wall of fog and drizzling rain. A similar thing had happened the last time I had been here but it all cleared up by 10am and so I hoped and prayed this would happen again.

The Pink Dolphin

We began our hike optimistic the clouds would clear. There weren't any other hikers on the trail yet and I doubt anyone sane would be with the foggy weather. If we had the time, waiting for some clear weather would have been worth it but this was really our only chance, so we decided to risk it. The beginning was a steep yet clear road, it didn't give you too many good excuses to stop but the burning in your legs sure did. We couldn't see a lot but did catch a few glimpses of the views of the New Zealand pastures that lay in the shadow of this great mountain.

Trevor, Graeme, and the most visibility we had all day

Experienced Leader

Our icey ascent

Snack break!

Brayden making his way up the steep slopes

Brayden at the botton of a huge cliff I had climbed

Kinda cool photo I took near the summit

As we continued the angle of ascent didn't have much sympathy. It was clear were just going to hike straight up the mountain. I really didn't mind too much, as I mention during the Tongariro crossing, all the switchbacks got a little tedious, straight up seemed the most efficient way. About an hour and a half in we reached the snow. Hard frozen snow on a steep incline is hard to stop on wearing skis and nearly impossible in hiking boots so it was time for the crampons. The crampons were a bit different then the ones I had used but the same concept so I showed the guys how to put them on. They all had new ones that easily adjusted to their boots, I had an older pair that I was convinced was missing a pin that held them to size but the lady I rented them from said they would stay and I made the mistake of thinking she knew what she was talking about. After about 5 steps I realized there was no hope for my crampons and just took them off and carefully followed the guys foot steps. Brayden's weren't properly fitted so he took his off too. As long as we were careful with our steps it wasn't really a problem. We each slipped a couple times but nothing dangerous. The terrain varied from wood steps, to rocks to snow. Soon the crampons just became annoying and everyone took them off as there were really causing more danger then keeping us safe. There were 2 or 3 places where they would have been nice but nothing we couldn't handle with a little help from our ice picks. It was definately the steepest mountain I have ever climbed and it just kept going up and up. The fog kept us from ever knowing how close we were to the top and at times it was a bit discouraging not knowing if we were within 200 m or 2000. The rain had mostly stopped and the winds were light although at times I hoped a big gust would just come in an blow all the clouds out, it never did. Our visibility was never more than about 50m. Finally we reached a point where the mountain suddenly became flat, after walking over the flat area and climbing the other side we realize this must have been the crater. So we continued up one of the only places that kept going up until we couldn't climb up and further because we ran out of mountain and so we reached the top. That is about how it went. The only way we could tell it was the top is that we couldn't go up anymore. We couldn't see anywhere else to go up, but we really couldn't see a lot of anything really. The whiteness surrounded us. We didn't catch the lucky break in the clouds we had hoped for. The epic views of the ocean and island were kept hidden behind a stubborn white curtain. But ya know, even though we didn't get to see it, there was still a sense of accomplishment with what we had done and it really was a lot of fun, at least I thought so, but I kind of like that sort of stuff. 

Meditating on the top of the peak

Flat 11-ers at the top!

 But oh man if I thought going up was still pretty fun I've got to tell you about going down. At the summit the place we had hiked up just above the crater was far to steep to easily walk down and so we slid. You just had to commit and let the whiteness take you. At the bottom was the large flat crater so you would slow down but until then you were at the mercy of the mountain. As the day had gone on it had gotten a little warmer and the ice we had scurried up had gotten a little slushy combine that with just how steep it was and we turned a almost 4 hour ascent into a 1.5 hour descent by working on our boot skiing! It was a blast! It was like skiing only a bit more challenging because if you leaned too far forward it wouldn't end pretty. It was the perfect conditions that we just slid straight down on our boots, we didn't have to get our butts wet or even really move our feet once you got going. There were big long strips of snow and places that we so cautiously crossed for fear of slipping before we were trying to get more speed on and race down the mountain. It was such a blast. Finally the snow ended and we walked down the rest of the way and I was exhausted and not looking forward to our next 2 hours stiffening up in the car. We all changed into whatever dry clothes we had and for some (Graeme) that was only a pair of long john underwear...good thing I'd lived with the guy for 5 months and he was basically my brother. But it was a long trip home as we all made half hearted efforts to stay awake and talk to Graeme while he drove. He was a champ for using his left side of the road skills to getting us there and back safely. We made it back around 9pm and could all barely walk we were so stiff and in serious need of food and hydration. I had made the mistake of agreeing to watch a movie that night with some friends from church and didn't have time to really eat much but quickly took a shower and headed back out. My days in New Zealand were numbered and sleep was dropping on the priority list. We watched twilight and I somehow ended up hanging out and talking until about 4am...making it a 24 hour day, not a good place to be with so much to do in my last 3 days in New Zealand but I would survive.

Preparation before the descent

Boot skiing

Wolves from LOTR I swear! ;)