It seems like a gargantuan goal for me, given my current state of non-fitness, but I really want to do it. I have set a goal for myself to do the Tongariro Crossing this summer. 19.4kms of steep mountain to conquer. One of the girls at work did it earlier this year and her description of the walk totally cracked me up.
“You start off at the carpark and its really flat, so it lulls you into a sense of false security for the first while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its flat again for a while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its pretty much straight down the other side.”
I had a look at the Doc website, and her description was quite apt. The first set of stairs is apparently called the Devils staircase. My boss ran the crossing in 2 or 3hrs, but I am nowhere near his fitness level. (Hes over 60, so shame on me). Its meant to take fit people 6-8hrs. My friend lives not too far from the start of the crossing, so she said she’ll drop me off in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon.
People have died on the walk, with snow and poor visibility issues in winter, so that’s why I’m leaving it til summer, hopefully it will be warm and I won’t have any issues with it. I do need to get some proper walking boots though. I also think I need to start including more stairs and hills in my regular walks around the neighbourhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment