Fastpacking Round the Mountain in Tongariro National Park
The perfect weekend getaway if the weather cooperates
Years ago, my partner and I backpacked the Round the Mountain track which circumnavigates Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park. We took 4 or 5 days to do the trip staying at huts along the way. It was a great trip and I recently decided to do it again on my own in about half the time. The plan was to start late in the evening on the first day and just make it to Whakapapaiti Hut which is approximately 10k in from the trailhead. On day 2, I’d have the longest and hardest day traveling about 37k to get to Rangipo Hut on the east side of the mountain. On the last day, I’d have a fairly easy 29k to get back to Whakapapa Village. I was originally going to do the trip Friday to Sunday but I moved the trip up by a day when the forecast showed a storm blowing in on Saturday. By going a day earlier, I was hoping to beat the storm even if I had some rain on my last day heading back to Whakapapa Village.
The trail passes these cascading falls near the Turoa ski field on the southwestern side of Ruapehu.
Due to a fairly long drive and having to stop multiple times to charge my EV, I didn’t get to Whakapapa Village until about 7:30pm. By the time I hit the trail, the sun was setting and I knew I had limited daylight to make it to the hut. It was especially dark in the beech forests that I passed through but I had just enough daylight to make it to the hut without busting out my headlamp. Just before getting to the hut, I had to forge a small stream so I finished the run with wet shoes and socks. I made it to the hut at around 9:15pm and may have slightly startled a couple from Auckland who had already turned in for the night and were the only other people in the hut.
View of Mt Ruapehu on the way up to Ohakune Mountain Road.
After a hearty breakfast and chat with the Auckland couple, I hit the trail the next day just before 8am and it looked like we’d have a full day of sun (hooray!). It was slow going at first as the trail was muddy, rocky and just generally hard to run on. This section of the trail is where the Goat race was recently held and I had been warned that it was fairly technical and not ideal for ticking off fast miles. I made it to Mangaturuturu Hut for a mid-morning snack and also tried to dry out my wet socks and shoes. The hut has a bench with an incredible view of Mt Ruapehu so I enjoyed the view before hitting the trail again.
Selfie on one of the numerous swing bridges along the track.
The next stretch of trail paralleled a stream with cascading falls over what appeared to be calcite deposits so the water was incredibly clear. Shortly after crossing this stream, I hit Ohakune Mountain Road which I had to run down for approximately 3k. I remembered this stretch of road as lasting forever from when I had tramped this route years ago. Running it was a breeze though and I was quickly back on the trail heading for Mangaehuehu Hut, my second hut of the day. I took a short break at the hut, filled up my water bottles and psyched myself up for the final 10k of the day.
Doesn’t that look like a skeleton tree?
There was a fair amount of climbing to get to Rangipo Hut which is at 1556m above sea level and is the highest point of the track. The terrain also changes remarkably as the track enters the eastern side of the mountain. Instead of lush beech forests and constant stream crossings, suddenly the landscape is dry, barren and very desert like. Mentally, I actually found it to be easier as there were fewer trip hazards and I could run more frequently, despite the rugged and undulating terrain.
I made it up to Rangipo Hut a little before 6pm, just in time for dinner. I felt surprisingly good and not too tired from the fairly long day on the trail. There were two solo trampers (Bas from the Netherlands and Belinda from Hamilton) at the hut who were also doing the Round the Mountain track. We ate dinner together and agreed to wake up early to try to get a head start on the storm which was forecast to arrive in the morning.
Sunrise at Rangipo Hut on the last day.
I was up bright and early on the last day and hit the trail by 6:30am. We had an amazing sunrise from the hut and it was also quite windy as the storm was blowing in. The trail is mostly downhill and very runnable so I was able to get to Waihohonu Hut in about two hours, which is more than three hours faster than the time listed on the DOC signs. I took a short break at the hut before starting the final stretch back to Whakapapa Village. The rain started on my ascent up to Tama Lakes but it wasn’t too heavy and I knew I’d be able to put dry clothes on soon so didn’t really care if I got a little wet. I was able to make it out from Rangipo Hut to Whakapapa Village in just under 5 hours, which gave me all afternoon to drive home. All in all, it was a great trip and a nice way to do the Round the Mountain track on a compressed timeline.
