“Guys you gotta see this!
You have no idea what’s out here!”
“Wow that was very close to my terrible death. or at least a lot of pain”
“*#^@! Going down means more up!!”
The young man was finally able to see the beach. It seemed to him a most surreal scene. The sun was yet to reach over the mountains and the moon was yet to drop below the horizon. With not a soul around, with the red rocks and the crashing of the waves, it was straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Like the twilight zone
The trio had a big day ahead of them. They would travel south, up, and over Mt Graham and then loop back northeast to
In the meantime, time to daven
The young man got his siddur and Teffilin and situated himself on a 
large smooth rock formation and began korbonos. He never davened in such a setting. The waves crashed against his little shul as he carefully read the Hebrew words with concentration. He dawned his Teffilin right out there on the sea, found a good spot to sit, and began shacharis.
Like no other davening
The young man finished davening and his stomach was growling at him to eat. He pulled out a couple eggs, tuna, and chips and ate a quick but nutritious breakfast. Time was not on their side. They took down and divided the parts of the tent. The young man took his blanket and sleeping bag over to the rocks to lay them out and roll them up. It was amazing, almost like a PC game, how quickly they took their entire camp and packed it up on their backs to move.
To Cook’s Beach!
The sun was just peeking over the mountain range as they filed south along the beach. Such an experience the young man never fathomed! He looked down to the ocean water forever trying to great them, at their three shadows laden with things. The sand was packed and easy to traverse and the three travelers followed two odd birds all 
the way down the coast. It seemed as if an entourage of birds volunteered to be their guides for this leg of the journey. So many interesting birds! The young man looked up to his left as two very strange feathered creatures, their heads the shape of owls, but certainly not owls, flew by together emitting odd screeches to each other as if in conversation. It made the young man feel that he was in the age of dinosaurs.
Water!
So clear
As they reached the end of the beach they discovered a wonderfully clear stream flowing into the ocean. The water looked as pure as could be, completely unadulterated by anything. A quick test taste proved that this stream was indeed fresh water and fit to drink. The young man knelt over and filled his bottle with the cool fresh water and stuck it on the side of his pack. He still had half a litre of water left in his water-bladder from the day before. Plenty enough to make it to Cook’s Beach.
The travelers went into the forest
They marched the whole morning
It was such a lovely trip
Finally
They reached Cook’s beach
The saw a rock formation for lunch
The travelers scooted down to the rocks and placed their bags on a large boulder. The young man took out his water and carefully placed four chlorine pills inside, lest some unseen bug make his trip most unsavory. The young man hopped around from rock to rock, almost falling to his death at one point, exploring his surroundings. What a dandy place to have lunch! He took out a can of tuna, a nougat bar, a bit of candy from his friend, and was ready to eat. He jumped over the side and ate on his own little chair rock overlooking the water.
He was supposed to shake his water after five minutes
And then let it sit for 25
Oops
No time now
They packed their things
And headed south
Headed up
UP
They marched on…
And on…
And UP…
Carrying 15kg of things and hoisting himself up rocks isn’t difficult for the young man. Not for the first hour, the second is tough, then the third….
Oh
My
G-d
Why are we going down now?
It only means we have to go back up!
The young man would have preferred it better if the mountain were closer, if they simply went straight up an over it, but this was far from reality. They first had to travel a good deal south along the Hazards range to Mt Graham.
Finally
Mt Graham
What a &#@%$
The young man was already feeling tired before the real climb even began. Now he had to hoist and push himself up endless rocks.
Endless
Wet
Rocks
Endless
Every time the young man made his way around a large boulder he was hit with more rocks to scale. He was so exhausted. All he wanted to do was take off his pack and lay out on the rock. He could think of nothing else.
Oh curses for ever coming here!
The weight of his bag.
The strain on his legs.
Pushing himself up
Rock….after…rock
The young man wanted to stop. Oh. But
“I will beat you”
And he kept going. Kept going up, racing the sun.
At one point he could not get up
It was a large wet boulder
His dinky shoes had no grip
He’d climb up
But simply slide down!
He was stuck!
The young man faced this large wet stone bewildered. How the heck was he supposed to climb up if he kept sliding down? He had no choice. The angels must have tugged at his pack from above, because he jumped up on his hands and knees, dug them into what ever miniscule cranny he could find, and got over that damn boulder.
But the climb was not over
Squeezing past little spaces
Water and mud
Pushing up rocks
The young man panted, gritted his teeth and cursed the wind
Heaving, sighing, his heart pounding madly in his ears…the young man rounded the corner of a boulder….there it was
The top
He un-strapped his pack. He could hardly believe it. It was over. He looked around at the huge peninsula below him. He could see both where he started and where he was going. The wind attempted to push him over but failed. He had conquered this dastardly mountain. He looked around feeling proud and relieved.
The climb was over
But the hike was not
He was low on water
Him and the sun
A race to
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