MOUNT RUNDLE HIKE

At 7:30am on july 21st 7 oreoites left the safety of the Y to embark on the 10 hour hike up a 9600ft mountain. we were all pretty hyped up about doing it so the first little bit of the trail felt like a peace of cake then it started to get steeper and steeper and we had to stop to catch our breath i dont know how many times. the first 90 mins was tough it was one big long trail with quite a few ups and downs and i know if i'd been doing it on my own i might have already turned back.

after the 90mins we started a bunch of switchbacks which wound up the mountain taking us higher and higher. they werent as bad as we expected them to be and with a few rests we got up them fine. we then reached a gulley and got our first taste of rock scrambling little did we know how much of that we actually had to do! past the gulley it was quite flat but that didnt last for long in no time at all we were hiking pretty much vertically up the mountain it was torturous on the legs and i think a few of us were wondering wot on earth we'd gotten ourselves in to. we were all looking forward to having lunch at the tree line and regaining some energy.

after lunch saw the start of our scramble and never in my life have i been so scared! the first wee while was ok you could walk without too much difficulty. then we reached the dragons back which was section of the mountain only maybe 2.5m wide and on either side was a sheer drop you had to make sure u were right in the middle so we all crossed that on our hands and feet crab walking across i was terrified but it only got worse. after that to get to the top u had to spend all your time crab walking up the mountain with rocks and gravel moving under ur feet and occasionally falling away behind u. everyone else gt way ahead of me and toby we were the 2 scardy cats at the back but oh my god was it terrifying. we were literally hanging onto the side of a mountain 9000ft up with nothing to stop u if u fell. the last bit was the worst. it was nothing but loose rock and nearly everytime i pulled myself up i'd knock so many rocks down behind me i was shaking so much. at one point my foot slipped i fell down the mountain slightly and my whole body ended up pressed to the rocks. i grazed one leg and cut the other. i think it was pure adrenilin and seeing how close i was to the top which pulled me up. the whole way up i was thinking this is the most stupid thing i've ever done in my life!

the feeling though when i reached the top was amazing the sense of achievment was overwhelming. i had just climbed 9600ft and scrambled up a pretty much vertical rock face. the view made it all worth while it was unbelievable. s after a food break and the obligatory pictures it was time to somehow make our way down. we did a staggered start and made sure no one was directly in front because rocks were just flyig down in front of us. we had to shout rock a few times to let the others in front know to move out the way. i again ended up at the back through choice this time and spent the whole way down the rock face on my bum. the guys seemed to zoom down, the girls were slightly more cautious but even they got way ahead of me and managed to stand up for some of it. me on the otherhand everytime i stood up my legs started shaking and i panicked everytime rocks fell around me. i only felt safe on my bum. i cursed and swore at myself the whole way down wondering wot on earth possessed me to be on the side of a mountain sliding down it on my butt i just wanted to be home. by the time i reached the tree line i had a cut on my hand, small but so painful and full of grit and i no longer had a bottom to my shorts the rocks had completely ripped away the bum which meant i was sliding down at least half literally on my butt and i have the scrapes, cuts and bruises to prove it!

once the rock scrambling section was over i felt so much better now i knew all i had to do was hike down on my feet this time. the weight u put on ur knees though was nearly unbearable that vertical climb up turned into a very steep hike down and my thighs were killing me. somehome the group got separated and i was at the back (again) with emma and pete and i'm glad i was we just chatted on the way down about everything and we still had the adrenalin pumping through us from wot we'd just done. in the end the others beat us home by nearly an hour but we didnt care. we stopped of at the spray river and dipped our feet in which immediately made us feel ten times better. emma and i had swollen wrists and fingers but a dip in the ice cold water brought it down.

once i got back to oreo we all headed down to the bistro for a celebratory drink and to congratulate ourselves. it was the best experience of my life and this blog will never be able to convey how terrifying and awesome it was all at the same time! it was a once in a life time experience that i'm happy to say i'll never do again!