-- H
Mar 18, 2008
Mar 10, 2008
I love you, you love me
People who've known me since I was younger wouldn't describe me as a particularly active person. So they might be surprised to know that at about 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon I was standing on the summit of the third highest mountain in Queensland. When my friend had suggested a 10 hour hike up Mt Barney (which, true to it's name, is large and purple from a distance) I had considered it a welcome challenge. I've been wanting to go trekking in Nepal and thought this would be a good way to find out if I was up to it. What I didn't realise was that we would in fact be climbing up the side of the mountain. 
Following a trail that was marked only by the signs of previous mountaineers having passed that
way we first hiked, then scrambled up rocky inclines, and then began to scale what, from a distance, had seemed perfectly smooth vertical cliffs. After about four and a half hours we were close to the summit, clinging like geckos to hand-holds in the cliff-face with a sheer drop behind us and our hearts in our mouth. As we finally straighted up after pulling ourself by main force over the last ledge we caught our breath and stared around. I finally understand why people risk life and limb to reach the very peak of mountains, to be the first to have this amazing view. It was so silent at the top of the world. We were at the highest point in the visible landscape with only the blue dome of the sky above us and the surrounding mountains well below. I cant remember ever seeing so much horizon. The adrenaline that had sustained us all the way up started to drain from my system and I almost shook as I stood there marveling at what we'd done.
The climb down sapped the rest of our strength, and as we trudged through the fields at the base darkness hid the huge mountain behind us. In a state of complete exhaustion, we decided that putting up a tent for the night was out of the question. A seedy small-town motel sounded like a fun alternative but against all expectations the nearby, cowboy-hat-wearing town of Beaudesert was totally booked out. Aching, scratched in desperate need of a hot shower, we finally found a resort hotel, in the middle of nowhere, whose salmon coloured pillars and golf course we woke up to the next morning. In an effort to create the illusion of camping we had instant mac-and-cheese for breakfast.
-- H
Following a trail that was marked only by the signs of previous mountaineers having passed that
way we first hiked, then scrambled up rocky inclines, and then began to scale what, from a distance, had seemed perfectly smooth vertical cliffs. After about four and a half hours we were close to the summit, clinging like geckos to hand-holds in the cliff-face with a sheer drop behind us and our hearts in our mouth. As we finally straighted up after pulling ourself by main force over the last ledge we caught our breath and stared around. I finally understand why people risk life and limb to reach the very peak of mountains, to be the first to have this amazing view. It was so silent at the top of the world. We were at the highest point in the visible landscape with only the blue dome of the sky above us and the surrounding mountains well below. I cant remember ever seeing so much horizon. The adrenaline that had sustained us all the way up started to drain from my system and I almost shook as I stood there marveling at what we'd done.
The climb down sapped the rest of our strength, and as we trudged through the fields at the base darkness hid the huge mountain behind us. In a state of complete exhaustion, we decided that putting up a tent for the night was out of the question. A seedy small-town motel sounded like a fun alternative but against all expectations the nearby, cowboy-hat-wearing town of Beaudesert was totally booked out. Aching, scratched in desperate need of a hot shower, we finally found a resort hotel, in the middle of nowhere, whose salmon coloured pillars and golf course we woke up to the next morning. In an effort to create the illusion of camping we had instant mac-and-cheese for breakfast. -- H
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