Ange Cunningham, left, and Mike Hitchcock follow the Overland Track on the first day of a six-day hike on Tasmania with the travel company Anthology. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
Hikers who took the optional excursion of climbing Mt. Ossa, Tasmania’s highest peak (roughly as high as Mt. Wilson), rest at the summit. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
The top of Ossa offers spectacular views of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair region. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
On the Overland Track through Pinestone Valley, one can see Cathedral Mountain through a eucalypt forest. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
After the Mt. Ossa excursion, hikers race the twilight on their way to Pinestone Valley. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
From November through early January, the waratah (the “Christmas decoration” of the bush) can be seen blossoming in the rain forest along the Overland Track. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
Guide Ange Cunningham, left, helps Graham Gardiner retrace their progress along the Overland Track at the end of a day. At night, hikers stay in huts that Anthology owns. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
Mike Hitchcock searches for evidence of glow worms along the wall of an abandoned copper mine near the Overland Track. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
Hikers spread out along the beach before arriving at the Bay of Fires Lodge, where they will spend two nights. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)
