A much anticipated hike over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the Round the Mountain Track turned out to be fabulous. The weather was quite variable over the Crossing, ranging from high fog to very cold wind and rain, changing every 2 minutes it seemed like. It was a beautiful area, with raw volcanic rock, steep trenches (and trails!), and rushing clear rivers. This is also an area where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. This seems to be a very strong draw for hikers and tourists, but it’s all lost on me as I haven’t seen the films. But I’m told that Mt Ngauruhoe is Mt Doom in the movies. This is the snowless volcano. The volcano with snow on it is Mt Ruapehu. Not sure of any movie fame but it did erupt in 2007.