Mount Taranaki

Mount Taranaki

We were disappointed not to have' topped out' on Tongoriro and felt that we had some unfinished business with volcanoes. The obvious answer, it seemed to us, was to to climb Mt Egmont (which the Maori call Mt.Taranaki). At 2518m this is substantially higher than Tongariro and better still, in Maori lore, the two are related mountain deities. Taranaki lies on a pensinsula on the west coast, north of Wellington. It rises pretty much straight from sea level but fortunately there are a few roads leading to the lower slopes which make it possible to climb it in a long day. Like Tongariro it has its own weather system and we decided to spend an extra day in Stratford for clear weather to arrive.

After much studying of the route description, Maggie decided to leave the climb itself to me. As it turned out this was a very wise but difficult decision.

I sneaked out of the campsite at 5 a.m. so as to be able to start the climb at dawn. Many trampers had been up much earlier than me however; some were already returning to the valley having taken advantage of the full moon to climb the mountain during the night.

The walk starts up a steep but unremarkable track but after a couple of hours this reaches the dreaded and dreadful scoria. Scoria consists of pumice 'marbles' mixed with a sort of gravel. It is exhausting to climb because you slide backwards with every step up. As I found out later, it is just as bad to come down. Eventually this gives way to a rocky ridge, which has to be scrambled up to reach the summit crater. All this volcanic rock is very abrasive - good for grip but not nice to fall against. Up to now it had been warm and sunny but those returning from the summit were well muffled up and the summit crater was filled with snow. 

Snow in the crater

All this time the cloud had been building round the lower slopes and I was lucky to get such good views from the top.

Summit view looking towards New Plymouth

Even as I as leaving the cloud started to fill the crater and the descent was made largely in cloud. The NZ Department of Conservation (DOC) mark all official trails with coloured poles but on this particular route many of the poles were broken or had fallen over. Rocks regularly roll down this mountain and I suspect that this is the reason for the damage, coupled with the obvious difficulty of replacing the poles. I am still practising with my new GPS but I found it reassuring to know that it would allow me to retrace my ascent route if need be.

I had reached the summit in less than the guidebook time, which pleased me, but the descent seemed interminable. The scoria was not deep enough to run down like a scree but equally it was almost impossible to stand still without sliding (or falling) downhill.

I was back at the start shortly after 2 p.m. so the route had taken 'only' eight hours but I now feel that I have done as much as I want on volcanoes.

Our next planned tramp will be in Queen Charlotte Sound. It will be scenic and fairly flat and, as our friends are planning it, will involve sleeping in beds and maybe even having our gear carried for us. Just at the moment that sounds pretty good.