On the slope of Mount Doom

.... they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth "

This is one of the opening sentences in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, said by Galadriel in the prologue. While she's speaking, we can see an army of elves and men attacking orcs on a battlefield of ash and rock, next to Mt Doom. And Mt Doom was actually filmed here in New Zealand (like the rest of the movie), and two peaks were used for that. Mt Ngauruhoe has been used for large shots, where you can see all the mountain, and Mt Ruapehu for closer shots, for example during the battle.

And I've been on that mountain not so long ago. It looks actually less spooky thatn in the movie, given that there is in fact no black sky and dead land around, but rather a bright blue sky, snow and even some trees. I was there for two days and we went on the mountain for some "easy" field work, so I had plenty of time to admire the volcanoe. Here are some pictures, enjoy :)

Mig