In 2012 I went on holiday in New Zealand. Ten glorious weeks of travel around both islands. One of the highlights of my holiday was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I had booked a hop-on-hop-off bus tour but because I had so much time, I stayed longer at every stop.
As part of the tour, we could also book additional trips. A guided hike in the Tongariro National Park was one of them. It didn’t start well. When we arrived with the bus the weather was cold and rainy. The guide still started the tour. So up we went.
The first try
As we climbed the Devil’s Staircase, weather conditions got worse. It started to rain, and visibility was very low. I remember seeing the volcanic ground under my feet and not much more. I still had fun because I like to walk.
We finally reached a plateau although I didn’t realise it was plateau back then. That’s how misty it had become. The guide stopped us, made us look around at all the fog and then told us it was too dangerous to keep going so we turned around and headed back down.
The second try
Many of the people on my bus were disappointed. The guide offered us 50% off if we wanted to return the next day. For most, this wasn’t an option because their bus was leaving. Perfect for me though so I booked the second trip. The weather changed completely.
The sun was shining, the air was dry, and it warmed up. I was the only one from my bus who had stayed longer. So up I went with a new and bigger group of people. We climbed the Devil’s Staircase again. It has its name for a reason because you climb up stairs for about an hour. This time, the plateau and the views at the top were breathtaking. The picture above is a bolder on the first and second day to show you the difference.
The hike takes about eight hours, so an entire day. We crossed the plateau, saw Mount Ngauruhoe, aka Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings movies, and posed for pictures. Then we hiked past two beautiful glacier lakes. I love that odd grey-green colour only water from glaciers has. The descend took us through woods back to another parking lot where our ride was waiting to take us back to our accommodations.
Reflections
The next day I relaxed at the hostel and thought about the wonderful time I had had. I also reflected about the lessons I learned. On the way back during one of our breaks people were chatting. We were all tired, of course, and we admired the guides who did the crossing regularly. One of them told the others that I had been there the day before too.
They were surprised that I’d managed the Devil’s Staircase two days in a row. I wasn’t. It hadn’t even occurred to me to stop. All the way up I just focused on the next step, took breaks before I got too tired and thought about reaching the top.
And that’s really how you can accomplish anything, isn’t it? Which direction are you heading in? Know your aim but focus on the next step. Give it your full attention and move mindfully. When you do that, nothing – and I mean nothing – feels overwhelming because there is nothing else. No peak, no success, no failure, just this one step.
More lessons
I also realised how lucky I had been to be alone. The other people expressed their surprise that I had made it up the stairs twice at the end of the hike when we were almost back at the car park. By then, it was already over and they were just astonished. If they had known on the stairs, they might have doubted me and infected me with their insecurities.
There was a group of friends with us that day. They were in their late forties or fifties. One of them could not keep up with the pace and kept falling behind. A guide eventually told them that the group couldn’t wait for them. The woman became very upset. She and her friends ended up turning around and going back. Her friends didn’t look happy and she was crying.
So many lessons here: It’s better to be alone than surrounded by people who doubt your abilities. It is very important to move at your own pace right from the start so you cannot even get to the point of exhaustion and overwhelm.
There are always more than just two options. The weather was so good that day that the trail was full of people. The group of friends could easily have split from our group and made their own way at a much slower pace. The Devil’s Staircase was by far the worst part. After that the trail was much easier.
The most important lesson
The most important lesson I learned that day, though, was that just because something doesn’t work out on the first try, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Try again. Who knows? The next day, week, month or year everything might be completely different. The second, third or fourth time you go for it might even be easy. It’s definitely worth it to keep trying.
I have to confess that I do not actually remember much of the walk itself, but the lessons I learned on those two days have been a part of me ever since. Some, like focusing on the next right step, I have re-learned several times. Others are second nature now.
When I do something difficult, I still prefer to do it alone. I always move at my own pace and I take breaks before I can get exhausted. And finally, whether it’s an alpine crossing or writing a blog post about it, there is the perfect time for everything. When that moment comes, it is easy because it is simply the next right step.