Ten Peaks October 2016 - Part 1

It's true that something as simple as a phone call can have a lasting effect on your life. And so it was when Megan rang me one day in June and asked, "do you want to climb the ten highest peaks in Australia?" My immediate response was, "I don't have time to take two weeks off to fly around and do that." It soon became clear that we wouldn't need that much time; the ten highest peaks are all found in Mt Kosciuszko National Park and whilst heading towards the highest peak in Australia you traverse the other nine.I needed a challenge in my life and this sounded perfect.

The Peak List.

The Gear List. Kathmandu became my best friend.

I had a fear that I wouldn't be fit enough to keep up so I joined a local gym and became well acquainted with its step machine. I set myself a routine of going Tuesday and Thursday mornings and if I missed going during the week I'd head in on a weekend. When I started in early August I could only manage around 8 minutes of stepping; by the time the hike came around 3 months later I was up to an hour, having worked/walked/stepped/climbed through targets of 25, 30, 45, 50, 52, 55 and 60 minutes. I updated my iPod song list with some old favourites that helped me through those times where all I wanted to do was vomit from exertion. I climbed the stairs sideways one way then sideways the other like a crab; I climbed them two at a time and a few times I took the machine to Level 20 - just to see if I could. I also worked on the treadmill (on fast speeds with hard inclines), on the exercise bike (for warm up and warm down) and the rowing machine (because it made me feel strong and I've always fancied rowing). This is my step plan showing minutes and levels.

As well as the gym work I walked at home, around the farm (about 5km) and into town (about 6km). I walked backwards up a small incline on a local road. If Meg was home we'd go together. Most weekends I also drove to Toowoomba and Meg and I would walk down and up the range escarpment with weights in our packs. We started at 5kg and worked up to 18kg the week before we left.

Sometimes it was even hard to stand up let alone hike with an 18kg pack.

We'd do the Jubilee Park walk; it was a nice walk down but hard work coming back up!

Over the edge.

I love this photo of Meg; head down, always solid, never in doubt!

Looking down - the telephone poles give some perspective of how steep the climb is.

We flew to Canberra on October 27. Obviously from out of town we climbed into a taxi and asked to go to the V--- Hotel, only to be told it would be quicker to walk! So we climbed out again and made the short trip on foot!

We had a light dinner and spent the evening trying to decide what to leave in our hike pack and what to leave in our travel bags. We slept well and met the rest of the team mid-morning; 21 trekkers in total; 14 women and 7 men including 3 guides and a trainer. Arrangements were fairly casual; we all piled into 2 cars and a mini bus and set off for Jindabyne where we had a nice lunch then on to our lodgings at Lake Crackenback (our base for the next 3 nights). We settled into our 3-bedroom chalet and chatted to the other occupants for a while then met up for a full group briefing. There was plenty of talk about the amount of snow that had fallen in the previous few days and that the locals thought there would be too much snow for us to get up high but that didn't seem to deter our leader. He told us about what to expect out there and said that when we reached Peak 2 we/he had to make the choice as to whether, as individuals, we would/should continue on or return to base - because once committed to Peak 3 there was no turning back. No Ego on the Mountain.

After the briefing we wandered back to our chalet, chatted over pizzas, packed and re-packed our backpacks - too much gear would make for an uncomfortable day with a heavy pack; too little gear would make for an uncomfortable time if the weather turned bad. We finally got ourselves sorted and fell into bed. I was nervously excited and excitedly nervous, glad to have Meg with me.