MORDOR - The end of the quest?

On October the fifth Artemis Pastry the godess of mind power and Black Sesame the ice cold assasin set out on a quest. Probably the quest of their lifetime. Their names might sound scary and mighty but in their hearts they are hobbits and as such they set out to destroy the One Ring in the fiery pits of Mount Doom.

Now 229 days later we have crossed endless oceans, deserted plains and thick jungles. We have experienced adventures and collected stories I couldn't have dreamed about when we left. We have met dragons, trolls and wizards. It still amazes me how far we have come. Our journey was never meant to be just a couple of month of travel. We had a goal: to reach Mordor and as taking the eagles is cheating we tried to fly as little as possible. Well it took us 7 and a half months but we made it. On the twentieth day of the fifth month in the year 2024 of this age we have reached the edge of Mordor.

For an ordinary traveler this might not sound like a big accomplishment or potentially just like any other day on our journey. But we have carried this small golden ring with us over every ocean and plain and through every jungle and it symbols every meter we have walked and every mountain we have climbed. It shows us the change we have gone through and all the challenges we have successfully mastered and as such it has become precious to us.

So on that morning we rose and headed into the depth of Tongariro national park the place that is Mordor in this parallel universe. The perfect symetrical shape of Mount Ngauruhoe rose up before us. Mount Ngauruhoe is an active vulcano and of course Mount Doom and our destination not only of that day but our destination for the past 229 days. Our feelings were very mixed and uncertain. First of all that mountain seemed very steep and high but we felt optimistic of our mountaineering experience. Secondly with reaching the summit of that mountain we would reach the end ouf our quest and the next weeks of travel would only be the journey home. We are not yet ready to face reality. And lastly would we really be able to throw our ring, the symbol of our journey, our precious trinket of the past months into a bottomless hole in the ground to never get it back?

The track we would start on is the Tongariro alpine crossing, a long, challeging and beautiful track. We would venture of the path after about a third of the way to climb Mt Doom and then head back the way we came. We have read the account of a traveller, who has done just that. He told us about the clear signs and warned us about the treacherous climb of Mt Doom. With that in mind we packed our bags and headed of. The first two hours of the track went smoothly. Up some stairs, over small streams and past magnificent views. On our mind and in our conversation the ever present topic of the ring. Could we really leave it behind in this rocky desolate stretch of land that is covered with volcanic ash? A realistic option for us, one we had discussed ealier was to keep it and henceforth join the cult of the ringwraiths. We would sent in an application to join their shared home in Minas Morgul, ready to take on some responsibilities in the care for the dragon-beasts and I think we would look great in these long, black cloaks. The downside would be that we would have failed in our quest and betrayed all the free folk of middle earth. We were talking about all our options while making our steady progress towards Mt. Doom.

After probably 2.5 -3 h we came upon our first issue. The path curved away from Mt. Doom and we did not pass any of the clear signs we read about that would indicate the way up the mountain. So we began to reseach in our travel guide and it turned out that the signs were taken down about 7 years ago and wanderers were asked to not climb the volcano. Well, we did not come all this way to dismay and turn back. Other people have reached the top of Mount Doom, we could do the same. So, we headed back down the path to a point we have noticed earlier that seemed suitable to climb up the Mountain. Encouraged by rosting iron poles we were certain that this indeed had once been the way up the mountain.

To reach the top of Mount Doom is not an easy deed. Everyone has seen Frodo and Sam struggle over black rock up a steep mountain side.

The first part of the climb was a rather steep walkway. We could follow a path, see some footsteps of other travelers, who probably have come this way a few days earlier. We made progress and after half an hour we made the first stop to eat a cracker. We thought that we might have made it as far as a third of the way. We could see what we thought was the top clearly standing high above us and we readied ourselves for the next leg of the way. To accomplish such a climb two things are essetial: first snacks. We broke down the long climb into smaller segments and only tried reach the next one. Once we reached that we would stop and eat a cracker. Crackers might not be as good as Lembas but Lembas is hard to get. The second thing is music. Good encouraging music is quintessential to reach one's core reserves and keep on going even though the muscles start to give up.

The second part of the way was steeper than the first. The path turned into a dusty way that was relatively free of big rocks. With every step we started to sink into the layers of small stones and dust that covered the volcano. We started to realize that this was not goinig to be an easy way. But we have climbed over the face of small Chimgan in the Chimgan Mountains in Uzbekistan. We know that it is not easy to start a rock avalanche and as long as we don't think that the chance of reaching the bottom of the mountain without broken bones is slim we have managed worse.

During the third part of our ascent our shoes filled with small stones as our legs sank into the piles of dust and stones. Every time we took a step up the mountain we slid back half the way. We also started to use our hands to help pull us up the rubble. But we thought that we had already made it half way to two thirds up the mountain so we were determined to keep on going.

During the fourth part we realized that the mountain tricked us. We scambled up and up, but the summit did not seem to get any closer. Every time we looked back we saw the way we had come but the top still was a long distance away. We started to tell ourselved that the worst part was behind us and that we just needed to get over this last part. That part was harsh. It took us probably a minute to climb 10 m. Every 20 steps or so we found one rock that did not slip away under our hands or feet and we celebrated each one. Encouraged by our music and the thought that other people had managed to climb that stupid mountain we kept scambling on. Like oddly shaped spiders we struggled on with our hands and feet, finding only little hold between the piles of loose stones. The only indication that we were making any progress at all was the large stone formation to our left that we slowly passed. We needed to double our cracker portion at the end of that part.

The fifth part of our climb was much like the fourth. We struggled on. Our stomachs started to rumble and doubt began to creep into our minds. The once clear and blue sky filled with clouds and the top of the mountain was only sometimes visible. But at the end of that part the ground started to shift. Loose stones turned into solid rock. Our stumbling on all fours turned into climbing. The black and grey rocks turned into different shades of red and yellow. There we decided to hold and eat lunch. We prepared a hearty lunch with chickpeas, peanut butter, veggies and rice the day before.

The only thing that kept us going over the next part was that neither of us wanted to admit defeat to the other person and therefore force the other one to stop their journey as well. But if I would have been alone I would not have made it past that part. My legs started to scream and shake with every step and the top of the mountain was hiding in the clouds. The bottom of the mountain also disappeared and we were climbing into a foggy world of rocks and clouds. At some point the energy of our lunch reached our legs and new hope filled us. But the mountain seemed to be never ending. The clouds closed in around us and cold wind tore at us, but it was too late for us to turn back. We made it so far up the mountain, that the way back would be too hard to start without the encouragement of having made it to the top.

We could not see much except the black rocks the couple of meters ahead of us.

All of a sudden the rocks stopped, the mountain ended and we stood at the edge of a ginormous hole. The crater of Mt Ngauruhoe. We made it to the top of Mt. Doom. It was surreal. We were absolutely exhausted. Shaking and laughing we couldn't believe that we accually made it. Not only up this mountain but to the other side of the earth. Every journey comes to an end and every mountain has a top no matter how impossible it seems with enough determination everything is manageble. And with these experiences in mind and the mountain as our last and final challenge we broke the power of the ring. There we stood on the top of this mountain, icy clouds covering us with frost, looking into the endlessnes of the volcano crater and we realized that was the place for the ring. No earthly possession is as valuable as exeriences. The ring, our journey and that mountain have taught us so much. And at last it was time to throw the ring into the fires of Mount Doom.

It was a very emotional moment and the two of us stood there watching the hole. And then we just threw in the symbol of our quest. I can't even begin to describe this feeling to you. After 229 days of experiencing countless new things and challenging ourselves with every step we took, we made it. We have accomplished what we set out to do. A deed we did not even trust ourself to finish mere hours before. But there inbetween the clouds on top of the mountain everything seemed possible.

And then covered with a layer of frost, fueld by a snack of bliss balls and without the weight of the ring we started our assent.

My first realisation was how far we still climbed after lunch. The second was that the hardest parts to climb up were the easiest to climb down. Our feet completely dissappeared in the layers of ash and stones as we slid rather than climbed down the mountain. Our sliding and climbing sent big rocks tumbling down the cloudy mountainside, luckily nobody else was stupid enough to climb the mountain during that part of our descent. The way down was longer than I expected it to be. Just like the top seemed to be never ending the way down started to strech on, but we journeyed much faster than on our way up. When we reached the point where we stopped for our first cracker, the point where the loose rock turned into a stoney path we met another traveller. It was already afternoon and the clouds were hanging low over the mountain so we advised him not to climb the rest of the mountain. Instead he accompanied us to Bert and we swapped tales of our travels. It the end we dropped him of in his hotel and headed to a nice campside close to Mordor. We were exhausted and still couldn't really believe what we have done, so we spent the rest of the evening eating and watching Vikings.

21.5

The next day we explored some of the other parts of the Tongariro national park and then made our way north. Firstly we stopped at two waterfalls, together they form Gollum's pool. At the second one we stopped for lunch. We could still feel the exhaustion of the previous day's journey in our bones, so we did not explore too much. After lunch we changed our direction northwards. We stopped in the town of Taupo. There we quenched our imminent hunger for a classic italian dish. That is something we last ate in Ljubljana, the first stop on our quest so over 7 months ago. With semi good pizza in hand we returned to Bert and watched the first epic tale of the pirate Captain Jack's Sparrow.