This map shows all three days of our trek around the Northern Circuit in various colors - day 1 in red, day 2 in green and the 23 Km hike on day three is shown in blue.
Since we decided to skip the night at Waihohonu hut, our plan combined stage 3 and stage 4 of the Northern Circuit into one long 23 Km hike. We had a shuttle pickup scheduled back at Whakapopo Village at 4:30 PM, so we got very early, packed, ate breakfast, and were outside the hut ready to start by 6:40 A.M. It was misting lightly, so we started out with all of our rain gear on - but soon the morning mist dissipated and we stopped to strip off the waterproof layers.
The sun on the mountains made for some photogenic views. We were the only people up so early, so we did not see anyone on the trail (except for a couple of hikers who were headed in the opposite direction, apparently doing the Northern Circuit in the counterclockwise direction). It was overcast all day, so it did not get too hot. There was no shade on this hike except for a short stretch just before we reached the Waihohonu hut where there was enough water for a small forest to grow.
We arrive at the Waihohonu hut at 9:15 A.M. There was no one around. Presumably the hikers from the previous night were already ahead of us on the trail back to Whakapopo Village. I was glad that we had decided to skip this hut; it would have been a really short day if we stopped here, and there weren't any interesting side areas to explore. We ate some snacks, refilled our waterbottles and by 9:40 we were back on the trail. I had calculated that if we made it to Waihohonu by 10 A.M. that we would have no trouble catching our shuttle, so I was confident we would be back on time.
The next stretch was a long trek a mostly-flat landscape. On one side is mighty Mount Ruapehe, while on our right side was Mount Ngauruhoe. The trail was in good shape, well marked, and easily followed. No mud.
Eventually we reach the track that branched off to views of the Lower and Upper Tama Lakes. We stopped for lunch here. There were some more hikers here - people who had hiked up from Whakapopo Village to see the Tama Lakes as a day hike. After lunch, we went about a quarter mile along the Tama Lake Track until we reached the overlook for Lower Tama Lake. The water level was quite low, but the water that remained was a pretty shade of blue.
Back on the Northern Circuit, we hiked up and down a few ridges until we reached the trail junction above Taranki Falls. We opted to hike down the steps and get a second view of the spectacular falls. From there, it was just an hour of easy hiking back to the Village. We arrived at 2:55 P.M. so we had to wait an hour and a half for our shuttle pickup.
Back at the Plateau Lodge, we did a big load of laundry. This was the half way mark of the trip, with the longest hikes already completed. Tomorrow we headed into the geothermal wonderland of the North Island.
