By Nora_Wolcott
When I joined the Auckland Tramping Club, "tramping" being the equivalent of "hiking" back in the states, what I was envisioning as a thorough tramp was an uphill walk through the NZ bush. However, after doing quite a bit of tramping on my South Island trip, I can conclusively say that New Zealand tramping is on a whole different level than US hiking. This is in part simply due to the geography of NZ, a volcanic island riddled with mountains. Even in Auckland, situated in one of the flattest parts of the island, my walk from the grocery store takes me up what feels like Mt. Everest.
At this point I have completed what I would consider three major tramps, summiting Stony Bay Mountain (Akaroa), Key Summit (Milford Sound) and Roy's Peak (Wanaka), all roughly 8 hour endeavours that left my legs and lungs burning. I found that sometime in the first hour I reach a high point of muscle burn, and if I push through I can attain a plateau of numb soreness. This leaves the biggest physical obstacle for me as my athsma, which gets worse with exercise and cold, two factors that increase dramatically as you work your way to the top of a mountain. However, I've learned that after pushing though the first major altitude jump my lung capacity basically levels out, and along with my numb muscles I generally hit a sort of second wind in the second half of the summit. The real reward, as cliche as it sounds, is the sense of accomplishment gained by reaching the top.
After all this tramping, I feel confident in attempting some of the most notoriously steep summits on the North Island, which I'm sure you'll be hearing more about in the upcoming weeks. By the end of April I hope to have climbed the Tongariro Alpine Crossing as well as The Pinnacle in the Coromandel Peninsula. These are both multi-day tramps that have been ranked at a higher difficulty than any of the climbs I have previously attempted. In anticipation of this, I have been trying to keep myself in shape with lots of uphill cardio (which there is no shortage of in a hilly city like Auckland) as well as more frequent rounds at the gym with my tramping buddies who have acted as my surrogate coaches through this whole ordeal.
Ultimately I'm more than excited to take on all the NZ terrain has to offer, as this is the kind of opportunity I just don't have in urban DC. I hope to come out of this experience happy and healthy, full of the memories of sweeping views of alpine lakes and rocky cliffs. In order to push myself to summit these mountains alongside the brochure-worthy NZ trampers with their professional grade boots and poles I need to have goals driving me, and the prospect of coming back home being able to say I climbed every peak I could is goal enough for me.