For hours already, the hikers have been trudging uphill, above them a fantastically starry night sky. Some of the group have been hiking with heavy backpacks for weeks, others only a few days with lighter burdens.
But all of them have one common goal: to be standing atop Mount Sonder for the next sunrise.
The nighttime ascent is the final highlight of this very Australian pilgrimage, the 223km (140-mile) Larapinta Trail from the desert city of Alice Springs through the West MacDonnell Range, a mountain chain in the red heart of the continent down under.
The first stage of the trail was opened back in 1990. But it would take another 12 years until the entire trail traversing the West MacDonnell National Park was completed. Today it is considered one of Australia’s most scenic hiking trails – and one of the toughest.
On this recent morning, around 30 hikers are heading up to the mountain summit. They are chatting, drinking coffee from vacuum flasks and taking each other’s picture when the first rays of sunshine start to appear on the horizon.
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