STRENUOUS EXPEDITION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 56, 7 March 1930, Page 16

STRENUOUS EXPEDITION

THREE PEAKS IN A DAY

The ascent of three peaks in one day is a performance requiring no littlo fitness and endurance, yet last week three young men and a guide did just this thing at Tongariro National Park. The climbers were Mr. W. MD. Mirams (Wellington),, Mr. Alec. W. Lord (Sydney), Mr. E. M. Kay (Timaru), with Guide Alec Salmon, and the peaks to hi treated thus lightly were Tongariro (6458 ft), Ngauruhoe (7515 ft), and Euapehu (9174 ft).

The party set out from the Chateau at 4 a.m., motoring ; to the prison camp that marks the termination of the road in the direction of the Mangatepopo Huts. As well as the men, the expedition then included Miss Helen Dunn (Wellington), Miss Janet, Paterson (Timaru), and Guide Mary Smith, who intended to climb the first two peaks. In darkness the party threaded its way through the tussocks along the live-mile track to the huts. Only the glimmer of the Chateau lights miles across the Park relieved the quiet loneliness of the scene.

As v the hut drew near dawn began to break, and by the time the billy was boiled there, there was enough light in the sky for the peaks to be clearly discerned and the Waimarino Plains to show dimly in the sou-west. The climbers pushed on without delay. The sun must not come over the hills before they were well on their way. An hour and three-quarters later the first of the party .stood;■■ on Tongariro—the highest point of ; that great " broken crater. At one time Tongariro must have been higher than Euapehu, but now it is just- a great battered shell in length about a mile and a quarter from lip to lip. There is crater within crater, the rock and stone distorted and multicoloured. Delightful little mountain lakes are discernablo and hot springs and soda springs call for hours of ex-, ploration.' A walk of about threequarters of a mile across the crater leads to the,slopes' of Ngauruhoc, a steep but not difficult peak. . From the' summit of Ngauruhoe a magnificent view is revealed similar to that from Tongariro but more extensive. To the north the blue waters of Taupo ; lie between shores which seem enchanted, their white cliffs are so lovely. Belts of forest half shrouded in mist spread towards the east. To the west the rolling plains give place finally to bush-clad hills receding into .the distance. Southwards lies National Park,, a maze of river valleys r with Euapehu towering up an incredible distance away.

Ngauruhoe itself demands attention —and awe. One goes over a low part of the outer rim into a huge irregular crater bounded for,half its circumference by huge rock' cliffs, whose strata reveals all colours of the spectrum. On one side the steam puffs and juris from innumerable little vents. Under foot there is nothing but a dirty rubble of broken rock and cinders. Sometimes the latter are too hot to hold. From this big crater, which is about half a mile across, it is possible to descend into a deeper crater, and within this | second cavity there is still a third

crater, from which, on this occasion, great masses f sulphurous smoke were issuing. "It was horrible," said one of the party. "I'd like to ha\J taken to my heels then and there." By this time the men were far ahead making for their third peak. The ladies worked round the volcanic cone and then descended.the scoria-covered sides into the Makihikatoa Valley. * After following this for about two miles, the poles marking the Mangatapopo— Chateau track wero hailed with joy and the party followed these for the remaining seven miles of the return trip. At 6 p.m., fourteen hours after starting, they tramped into the basement of the Chateau, thankful to find a lift there to take them to their rooms on the upper floors.

For the next few hours everyone was in suspense wondering if the other party had reached its goal. The uncertainty was increased by the knowledge that if they were very late they might spend the night out at the skihut. However, at. 11.25 p.m. the enthusiasts who had stayed up were delighted to welcome four weary but triumphant mountaineers. So far as is known, they had performed a feat which had never been accomplished before.