With a summit height of 2518m it's a hard climb both up and down, even in the summertime when the only ice and snow is in the crater of the volcano. We managed to complete it in 10 hours, spending about an hour at the summit. Not bad given our rather low fitness level...
I was very tempted to try my luck at calling for a helicopter ride at times... but Dave was very patient with me including helping me down the steep scoria slopes when I discovered I did have a fear of heights when I thought I might slide down the mountain!
The views were terrific. That's New Plymouth in the distance.
Dave made it to the very summit and was fortunate enough to be joined by some German hikers happy to take this photo.
While I stayed down in the crater and tried to summon the will power for the arduous descent back to the Visitor Centre car park. Anyway, here are some of Dave's panoramas so maybe you can be inspired to climb the mountain (or at least admire the view without the walk)!
Crater:
Summit:
Char heading back down:
2 comments:
you know, coming down that mountain is harder than going up. it was death on my ankles! you didn't make it up to the summit char?
its amazing how climbing a mountain reveals partnerships. when we were climbing mt kinabalu, we passed couples that didn't help each other but just whined. gosh, can you imagine that for 11 hours straight?! yuk!
No, I was happy at the crater - that was the top of the mountain to me! I had a tough time with the scoria slopes on the way up (not to mention down). Didn't know that you'd made it up there - wow!
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