Cradle Mountain Day 2

Saturday, 29 December 2018

Our mission on day 2 was to climb Cradle Mountain. Zali and I had been up it in 2016, but Jon and Jett still hadn't made it. We had tried a year earlier, but the snow and tricky route forced us to turn around.

The weather was looking good as we left Waldheim and made our way towards Marion's Lookout

By the time we got to Marion's lookout the short steep climb had made me too puffy to take any photos.  After a quick rest we continued on to the base of Cradle..

The climb itself is much harder than the average tourist is expecting, it's physically strenuous and there are a few tricky scrambles up the piles of rocks near the summit.  On our way up the mountain we passed groups in various states of despair. Luckily we knew what to expect and Jett is signifcantly taller than last time we tried, so we had no problems.

After the summit we headed around the Face Track, which gave us some fantastic views and terrain. 

Then we went down the track through the ballroom forest to edge of Dove Lake.. 

From Dove Lake it was an easy 3k jaunt home. I think we were out for about 8 hours all up, including a leisurely lunch atop Cradle Mountain. 

All in all it was a great day. The pictures don't show it, but it was pretty hot and despite our best efforts we all had a few patches of sunburn.  The pictures also don't really show how busy it was with other hikers in the park - there were lots of people everywhere.  I'm glad all the non-locals got a day with good views!