Uluru

After a great night’s sleep, we headed over to Uluru and quickly learned some dreadful news: it is only open for hiking until 8 a.m. No, that is not a typo. 8 a.m.! What time do they think that I get up? To make matters worse, they only open up the hiking trail if there is no wind, the temperature does not exceed 36 degrees (thankfully, that was Celcius), and a whole host of other reasons that would make any lawyer proud. In December, the trail only was open five times. "How many times do they think I’m coming out here?" is what I was thinking. But what I asked the ranger was: "When was the last time it was open?" "On New Year’s Day," he replied. Once in 12 days. Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed, for we wanted to hike Ayers Rock. As we hopped back into the car, the temperature read: 47 degrees. Now, granted, the car had been parked in the sun, so it may have been reading a little high, but there was no way that the following day was going to be less than 36 degrees.
The following morning, we got up at 5:37 a.m. We didn’t plan to get up at that time, but Tyler had forgotten to set his watch. Now, granted, I woke Tyler up in his dead sleep and asked him to set his watch, and it seemed like he did, but now we were a bit behind schedule. Susan and I both noticed that it was not windy at all. The prior morning it had been very windy. So we headed for the car and scrambled off to Ayers Rock.
As we were nearing Ayers Rock, we saw the most beautiful sight in the world. No, it was not a camel . . . or a kangaroo. Rather, it was hikers hiking up Ayers Rock! It was open!!! "Thank you, Lord," I whispered. I was so excited to see the trail open that I feared the ranger would come and close it. Why would I think that? Because the wind had picked up and it was getting stronger by the moment.
Susan, Amy, Tyler, and I quickly began our ascent of the mountain, but only Tyler and I intended to go for the top. After snapping a few photographs of our initial ascent, Susan and Amy headed back down the mountain. Tyler and I then began pulling our way up the mountainside. It was very reminiscent of the ascent of Half Dome that we had done for Susan’s 40th birthday, but it was a lot longer and just as steep. (Memo to Mom: just skip to the end now, so that you are not horrified.) The wind began to blow so hard, that Tyler and I just sat down on the side of the mountain and held onto the chain. 36 people have died trying to hike up Uluru, and we had no intention of being added to the list. Before long, we made the wise decision and headed down.
(Don’t skip to here, Mom.) After descending the mountain, I just had to go back up. I wanted to go a lot higher, so I grabbed my backpack and headed back up the mountain. Just in time, for it was 7:35 a.m., and they close the trail at 8 a.m. The wind had picked up even more, but, being alone, it was easier to hike. Up and up and up I went. And up and up and up went the wind speed. I occasionally just held onto the chain and sat down. As I got higher and higher I realized that there was virtually no one going up or coming down from there. In time, even I realized that unless I wanted to be number 37, I had better turn around. (Okay, Mom, you can start reading again.) So down I went. No, I did not make it to the top, but it was exhilarating nonetheless. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, particularly if we had some hiking gear and Randy and Larry along for the trip.