0430. Wednesday morning. The sound of thunder echoed up the valleys of the Budawangs’ northern end. Two young men woke up and hastily packed their gear and readied themselves for a hard day’s walk. The sun came up, the tent was quickly stowed and an interminable slog began. We had lost the trail in the thick overgrowth of the rainforest south of Watson’s Pass on the way to Hollands Gorge, resorting to map-and-compass navigation.
We were confident of where we