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On the day after Christmas, we took
a taxi to the start of the Cradle Mountain Trek
and headed out for our 5 day hike along the
Overland Trek. This picture was taken at the
boathouse, at the base of Cradle Mountain, just
before we started our ascent and the hardest day
of the trek. We took the more picturesque Dove
Lake trail to Marion's Lookout. Unbeknownst to
us, this was a typical scenic route, meaning that
it involved far more difficulties than we
imagined. We were essentially rock-climbing, and
it was the most difficult track I think any of us
will ever do with a pack on. |
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| Mike and I
left Chris and Mom behind so that we could take a
side trek and climb Cradle Mountain. We had a
rough time of it, but reached the top intact.
Chris was ready to kill us for taking off and was
beginning to wonder what the hell kind of trek we
were taking them on, but it was better that we
left so that Mom only had one person telling her
how to maneuver this steep and rocky trail.
Probably because of the slow pace at which they
had to climb, both of them wiped out on the way
up, which made for a bruisy next few days. It's a
good thing we weren't all together, or we might
have turned back! Pictured
here is one of the many spectacular views from
Marion's Lookout, the end of long and tortuous
climb.
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Once at Marion's Lookout,
we had lunch and then continued on refreshingly
flat but still rocky trails. Here is a photo of
an idyllic stream we crossed just beyond Cradle
Mountain. |
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| Mike and I
dropped our packs at the base of Cradle Mountain,
and started the rocky ascent to the top of the
mountain. It was far more treacherous than we
expected, and there were times when we thought we
had a good chance of falling to our deaths. Of
course, in the meantime there were avid athletic
hikers skipping along the steep rocks like
fairies! The view from the top was spectacular,
but when a hiker said to us, "This is
nothing, wait till you climb Mt. Ossa," we
decided we would only climb another mountain if
it was on the main trail! |
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Here's another view from
near the top of Cradle Mountain. You can see the
trail which we took from Marion's Lookout--not a
small distance...our feet were killing us! |
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