After being in Melbourne, Australia for a few days, it was time to head to Tasmania, Australia to tackle the infamous Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain is a huge, rocky mountain in Tasmania that takes a full day to climb to the top. Although our teacher told us that we needed to be in good shape in order to summit the mountain, we didn't fully grasp and understand what he meant until during our trek.
After traveling to Tasmania on a thirteen hour boat ride and getting acquainted with the area for a couple of days, it was time to hike Cradle Mountain. We laced up our hiking boots, swung our backpacks over our backs and braced ourselves to climb the monster.
Many of us excited and eager to see what the mountain actually entailed soon gasped from exhaustion. The first hour of the hike was said to be the most difficult because it was straight uphill hiking. We breathed heavily and continued hiking on, another seven hours ahead of us.
After hiking for a few more hours and passing through multiple false summits, we were at the base of Cradle Mountain. Towering high above us in the sky, the monster awaited. Before we knew it, we were in a boulder scramble on the side of a cliff.
Some of us were scared to look down, while others embraced the wind blowing in our faces. We heaved our bodies over the boulders and pushed our weight to the top of each one. Finally, after an hour and a half more, we stood atop Cradle Mountain.
Looking down on the earth was liberating. The wind blew our hair back and the sweat on our body became chilled. Our lungs filled with air and our legs felt like jelly.
Although many would say the trek up was extremely difficult, the trek down was even more difficult. We kept our eyes peeled to the rocks in front of us, ensuring that we didn't topple over our feet.
After a full eight hour day, we arrived back at the bottom where it all started. Our hearts were full and our eyes glistened with accomplishment. We had the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and for that, I am thankful.
