Mini Milestone

For the past 3 weeks I have been taking part in Michelle Bridge's (Biggest Loser) 12 Week Body Transformation Program (aka 12WBT) which basically means I have been following a 1200 calorie a day diet and exercising like a crazy woman!  Today was officially declared "Mini Milestone Saturday" and as a "Beginner" I had to select an activity which would challenge me for at least 1 - 2 hours.  So this was my Mini Milestone - climbing Walsh's Pyramid!  I mentioned in a previous post how the Pyramid has been my nemesis and how every day (for the last 27 years) I have driven by it and (secretly) dreamed of climbing to the top.  Now suffice to say I didn't get to the top - all 922 metres of it, however Julie (my training partner) and I made a pretty good fist of it and managed to get about 1/3 of the way up.   So we were both pretty pleased with our efforts. 

We started the climb at 7 a.m.  There were already a couple of cars in the carpark when we arrived so we knew we wouldn't be the only climbers on the mountain.  Checked out the sign and the base which told us it was a 5-6 hour return trek (you must be kidding!) and then started the climb.   The Tropical Walking Tracks Guide lists the walk as strenuous however Julie and I have decided that this must be a mis-print and it should be listed as extremely strenuous and gruelling!

The first half of the walk passes through open woodland up an ever narrowing spur that gets steeper as you climb.

We passed by a number of large trees which had been burnt out during last summer's bush fires.  We had to keep looking out for the orange tree markers which showed the track.  It would be pretty easy to take a wrong turn however the track seemed pretty well worn so obviously there had been a fair bit of activity up there over the school holidays.  We were actually overtaken (on more than one occasion!) by a couple of crazy people who must have decided that they would go for a easy little Saturday morning jog up the mountain.  Not human obviously!

After a solid 40 minute of climbing and scrambling - we reached a rock which marked the 1K point (approx 300 metres altitude).   We decided that this was a pretty significant milestone to reach.  So, after giving our lungs a bit of chance to catch up to our breathing - we started the descent.  The views on the way down were spectacular. I truly felt like I was "on top of the world!"

 It was such an exhilarating experience and Julie and I are definitely hooked.  Next Saturday our goal will be to get to the half way mark (approx 450metre altitude).  With a bit of luck my ageing knees will hold up okay - will have to mega dose on the Fish Oil capsules this week!