ADV229 online

THERE AND BACK
Two sides to Mt Ruapehu
By Lynne Dickinson
Images by Lynne and Vicki Knell
When my friend called to see if I wanted to head out on an
overnight hike on Mt Ruapehu, my first reaction was, “absolutely”,
followed closely by “what if the skiing is good that day?” The
issue with hiking in an alpine environment, is that you really want
a clear weather day, which is also what you need for a great day
skiing.
So as everyone enjoyed the last of the spring skiing, we managed
to head off for a couple of overnight hikes in the surrounding trails
and would thoroughly recommend them both.
Both overnight huts were on the Round the Mountain Track, which
is as it sounds, a track that circumnavigates Mt Ruapehu. You
can walk the track in either direction and to do the whole track,
(66.2km loop) which takes between 4 – 6 days, with 6 huts to
choose from and various campsites available or you can choose
to do part of the track with access points from Whakapapa Village,
and off the road to Tukino and Turoa. You can also access the
Round the Mountain Track from a few feeder trails off the State
highway 1, Highway 47 and from Horopito.
26//WHERE ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS/#229