Doing the Tongariro Northern Circuit in the snow.
Why: We’ve been taking the boys on overnight/multi night trips since January last year (2021). Before that we took them out on daytrips in the weekend, first in the front/ backpack and later they had to walk themselves. We are lucky that we live rurally and close to the Waikato River Trails, so the boys have been doing 5km walks, sometimes on a daily base, either in the pack, on their (balance) bike or walking/running.
Last year spring we walked from Desert Rd Carpark to Oturere Hut and climbed Red Crater from the scree side as a day trip from Oturere Hut. There was snow and almost nobody on the Crossing, but because we knew there was no firewood at Mangatepopo Hut, we’ve decided to stay two nights in Oturere Hut and walk out to Desert Rd
