Crater Lake, Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
Trails always start flat, inviting, seemingly a walk in the park. Nice lakes, flat paths and in Tasmania lots of boardwalks covered in wire netting that would arrest slipping but built to protect the fragile environment of the trampling tourists' boots. And Cradle Mountain's hikes are no exception. The mountain is crowded with tourists and served by a bus system that dropped me to Ronny Creek where I started the hike.
Marion Lookout, Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
The weather was impeccable that is very unusual for this part of Tasmania: warm and blue skies with 100% visibility. I pondered upon various hikes in Cradle Mountain but I never contemplated to climb higher than Marion Lookout, a spectacular viewpoint over two lakes at the bottom and a large valley.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
The Cradle Mountain summit hike is rated as "hard" on AllTrails and Komoto and I had nothing to prove anymore for hiking it. But as things evolve organically I spoke with some hikers who advised me to continue from Marion Lookout to the Flat track, a trail unfurling right under the peaks with a further descent to the lakes. But once arrived to the base of the Cradle Mountain summit, the path that can be easily distinguished in the image above was packed like a boulevard at rush hour. Everybody and their grandmothers was going to ascend the summit. The estimate time for the hike varied between 2-4 hours return, quite a margin.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
It did not seem so bad, and the weather was perfect so I decided to join the crowds going for the summit. What few who started the ascent knew was that the hike up was actually not a hike but a climb and this became obvious after about half an hour of hiking up the mountain.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
The well maintained path built in steps morphed in a hop over a collection of small rocks. But soon the small rocks became boulders and further up they morphed into huge slabs. At one point all you could do was climb one slab at a time and jump to another. Lots of people lost their enthusiasm garnered at the base of the summit and abandoned the trail.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
Climbing seems to me like meditation. It's a process where you empty your mind and the only thought is to the next grip. How stable it is? Can it hold? How about the next step on that indent in the rock? One grip, one step and another grip. You move up gently, swiftly, in no rush and no other thought bothers you. It's not fear at all, it's simply focus.
Cradle Mountain Summit, Tasmania
I used to free climb in the Romanian Carpathian for a while. Nothing technical, no ropes, climbing on tracks that were considered easy. But as easy as these tracks were any slip or failed grip would send you tumble in the best case scenario to a hospital bed if not to death. Since those times I fell in love with "bouldering" and I tried to do it every time I had the chance. But no matter how much I love it I did not expect to have to climb huge slabs for 90 minutes continuously.
Cradle Mountain Summit, Tasmania
The peak that is only 1505 meters was first climbed in 1937 by Henry Hellyer and a big cylindrical monument is built on top to commemorate the event. The peak has an extended top, covered by the same large slabs and people were all over it taking picturing and posting from the top.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
The descent was as challenging as the ascent, if not more, and the long legs helped a bit. But it took almost the same time as the ascent and after about another 90 minutes with aching legs I reached the cabin at the base of the summit.
Cradle Mountain climb, Tasmania
But the pleasant descent from the base of the summit towards Marion Lookout hid what I thought ended up being the worst part: the descent down to Dove Lake on a path fenced almost on its entirety by chains, a trail cut in very steep cutting rock. This was the most unpleasant part of the descent, even worse than the descent of the summit. But after 8 miles in 8 hours I finally found myself slumbered on the bench of a bus bringing me back to the Discovery Park at the entrance of Cradle Mountain National Park. The entire trail's elevation gain was more than 900 meters.
At the Summit base of Cradle Mountain Summit climb, Tasmania
No comments:
Post a Comment