⛰️Mt.Taranaki 📍Egmont National Park

🧭2879 Egmont Rd, Egmont National Park, New Zealand

Mount Taranaki is a 2,518 metre conical dormant volcano located within the Egmont National Park. It is the second highest mountain in New Zealand's North Island, and its summit is covered with snow all year round, which means "shining peak" in Maori. The weather here is changeable and Mount Taranaki is not always visible, but when the wind blows, the clouds disperse, and on every cloudless day it is so majestic that it is hard not to be amazed. Hence the nickname: North Island little Fuji.

Be warned in advance: it is indeed a professional trail, and it is really not recommended for beginners to try the whole course.

Is this the hardest route in the North Island? It is not difficult for me to climb Mount Huangshan at the age of 10, swim in the valley, climb Mount Tai's children. Take advantage of the Anzac Day public holiday and head straight to Mt Taranaki the night before to watch the sunrise.

I got three energy bars, three bottles of water, a hardshell suit and a full tank of gas. More than five hours drive directly to the visitor center at the foot of the mountain and park for the summit.

The first stage is the continuous earth/stone walk up the mountain. This is the easiest part. It takes about an hour to walk to the tower and the cabin

The second stage goes straight up! No flashlight, so I can only use the moonlight and the flashlight of the mobile phone to explore the rocky area! (Climbing in the middle of the night must wear a flashlight!) This section is no road, grid more than ten meters will have a reflective pole to guide you about the direction, you need to find the climbing route!

Stage three begins with an endless stairway, all the way up

The fourth stage begins with a small section of gravel/large stone area, from here there is no road, it is all guided by a pole of ten meters, and from here the wind is super strong and mixed with sand

The fifth stage is a real nightmare, endless ultra-steep slope gravel area, personally recommend newcomers to this side can! Explore the rest of the area later, and climbing is definitely not recommended if the weather is bad! If it is the next snow season climbing, you need more equipment, such as snow drafts, etc., so in a word: beginners listen to advice!

The sixth section is the rock area before the summit, from this on the hands and feet, the difficulty is better than the fifth section, at least there is a place to rest, the fifth section of the climb when the wind is super strong, really can blow away the degree, you must rely on large rocks to adjust the state, otherwise it is easy to lose force!

The summit can be said to be the most boring, because the mobile phone is out of power, so there is no photo, there is no snow (unfortunately), but the next should be the snow season, so the next few months of climbing partners should see better scenery, while the difficulty should be higher, dare not imagine the fifth stage of the rubble in winter frozen on how slippery

We're coming back! After watching the sunrise on stage five, it was worth the trip! And then all the way down, torturing my knees, and all I could think about on the way back was: I've got to go back to Chongqing in Hamilton and treat myself

To sum up: genuine professional-grade trails, be well prepared and do what you can. Personal advice In addition to a full set of hiking equipment (hiking shoes, thermal layer, hardshell jacket, etc.) also need to bring gloves, neck, hiking poles, head torch (needed at night), at least 3L of water, energy bar with feet!