Syme Hut & Taranaki Maunga
Egmont NP ● 12 – 13 April 2021
Taking advantage of my last week of freedom before starting a new job, I decided to tackle Taranaki. Starting the day late after driving from Wellington, I only intended to reach Syme hut on the first day, but it turns out you make speedy progress when the track heads straight up the mountain. After a brief dinner at the hut I headed up, and needed my torch by the time I reached the crater. Prehaps not my most responsible decision, but I did get some beautiful views as the sun set.
- GPX file can be found here
Photos
Looking up Taranaki from the Fanthams peak track. Fanthams peak is the prominently visible peak in front of Taranaki. The setting sun is perhaps the first indication that I was starting a little late in the day...
Looking up towards the peak, shortly before Syme hut came into view
Syme hut came into view
Sunset casting a long shadow of Taranaki, not too far above Syme hut
Looking down on Syme hut
I guess I really liked this view. Still do. Plus the near-perfect circular boundary of the forest is really neat
Looking up at Sharks tooth as I reached the crater. A little bit of (permenant?) ice was sitting around. It was slippery. The true summit is to the left of the photo. I headed towards it, but it is tapu, so I didn't go right to the top