The track up the valley to the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, over lava rocks, is aptly called the Devil's Staircase, it is very steep, stacks of wooden steps twist and turn from 1400 to 1600 meters above sea level.
I battled the whole way, one step at a time, questioning my fitness for this arduous piece of the tramp, the height gain affected me too, made me nauseous and my heart was pounding with each pace. I was testing Fred's patience as he shepherded me up.
It was a long weekend here in New Zealand, Waitangi Day. On a good summers day there can be 1000 people on the Crossing. The estimate for our day on the path was 3500!
That added another level of pressure on the ascent - young, 20 somethings pushing past on the narrow stairs. I just doggedly put one foot in front of the other and crept up and up and up, too exhausted to even weep when I got to the saddle and then needed to tackle the rocky, uneven ascent to Red Crater after the South Crater stretch of flat walking.
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| Reaching the saddle and the huge, walled amphitheatre |
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| Up in the alpine zone, bleak, eerie and beautiful |
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