Launceston, Tasmania ? The jagged cliffs of Cradle Mountain stab upward into the cobalt blue sky like a serrated knife. The peak’s perfect mirror image is reflected in the cool waters of Crater Lake hundreds of feet below.

In the distant valley, a fine mist curls around the towering gum trees of the native rain forest, and the turning leaves of the deciduous Fagus beech set the mountainside ablaze with a bright copper glow.

At least, that’s what the postcard looked like. The first three days I spent in Tasmania all it did was rain, and my views were limited to the gray swirling mass that is the inside of a cloud.

But for the 8,000 hikers who set out every year on the 40-mile trek through one of Tasmania’s renowned world heritage areas, the mud, rain and hope of a picture-postcard view are all part of the adventure known as the Overland Track.

Tasmania, Australia’s only island state, is a bushwalker’s mecca. With 17 national parks, 200 forest reserves, thousands of miles of tracks and dozens of peaks towering over 3,600 feet, it is a paradise on earth for the curious breed of folk who like nothing more than donning a heavy pack and walking through the wilderness.

The Overland Track is regarded as one of the world’s classic bushwalks. Over the course of five to eight days, depending on fitness and how much time you have, the well-marked route threads its way through the heart of Cradle Mountain Lake at St. Clair National Park. Glacial lakes, ice-covered crags, alpine shrubbery, waterfalls and eucalyptus forests are among the scenic highlights, plus the wallabies, wombats and wildcats (the latter fortunately only the size of a large hamster) you encounter along the way.

But it is perhaps the people you meet on the hillsides and bunk next to in the rough but welcoming alpine huts scattered along the trail who make the trek so memorable.

Like Jim, for example, an amiable, white-bearded fellow doing the walk with his wife and three children, aged 14, 12 and 9, despite only having one leg. Not that he explicitly advertised the fact. But when he boasted about only having to get one sock and boot dry as we sat by the coal stove in Pelion Hut — which is nestled in a thickly forested valley — it kind of gave the game away.

“I think I’ve been overdoing it carrying this damned backpack,” said Jim, from Launceston, Tasmania’s largest city after Hobart. “I’ve got most of the kids’ food in here, and a three-man tent. I’m shattered.

Tasmania, Australia's only island state, is a bushwalker's mecca with 17 national parks, 200 forest reserves and thousands of miles of tracks. A hiker walks toward the 5,114-foot Barn Bluff peak at Cradle Mountain Lake in St. Clair National Park. About 8,000 hikers set out every year on the 40-mile trek through Tasmania's renowned World Heritage Area.

“Still, it is a great thing to do with the family; the children are loving it,” he added.

Finding refuge

With 11 huts spread evenly along the route, and never more than a five-hour hike apart, even the least ambitious walker is guaranteed a place of refuge for the night. The huts — little more than shacks equipped with a stove, tables and two-tier wooden bunks (minus mattresses) lining the walls — do get crowded, however, and walkers are advised to carry tents in case they are full.

A night under canvas, although colder, can help restore some sanity and privacy a few days into the trek, as activity in the huts can be frenetic. Imagine 20-odd hikers sharing the same space, cooking, organizing backpacks and bedding down, all in torchlight. Add to that the heady aroma of dozens of pairs of sweaty socks drying by the fire and you’ll start building a fair picture of what it is like.

Most walkers start the track in the north, at Cradle Mountain’s visitors center, where they are encouraged to register with the park ranger service as a safety precaution. From there, the route, much of it boardwalked and all of it excellently signposted, crosses heath before rising sharply toward the cliffs of Cradle Mountain, which stands proud at 5,068 feet. Like all the peaks along the route, however, the climb to the summit is off a side track and purely optional.

Cradle Mountain’s dolerite columns, formed 175 million years ago and offering an adrenaline-pumping climb, are typical of the majestic summits that are dotted along the main path. Other peaks, such as Mount Oakleigh (4,199 feet), Tasmania’s highest Mount Ossa (5,295 feet) and Barn Bluff (5,114 feet), are all tantalizingly close enough to bag en route while leaving your 30-pound-plus rucksack at the side of the trail.

Sweeping vistas

The first day of the walk, which skirts Cradle Mountain’s glacial lakes and crosses boggy, open moorland, takes a good five hours and involves some steep climbs, even if you bypass the summit. Most walkers spend their first night in Waterfall Valley Hut, set in a picturesque coppice, and are lulled to sleep by the sound of fresh icy water cascading into deep gullies.

From Waterfall Valley the numbers start thinning out as some walkers opt to trek beyond the next hut, Lake Windermere, and cover more ground. The track passes through undulating heathland, tranquil pine forests and lush rainforests, verdant with mosses and ferns and echoing with the sound of rosellas and cockatoos.

Farther on, the humpback mound of Mount Oakleigh rises above the canopy level, turning a rusty reddish hue in the rays of the late afternoon sun. From Pelion Hut, Oakleigh can be climbed before breakfast, offering a sweeping vista of the Du Cane range of mountains. But it is Mount Ossa, two hours farther along the track, that is the trophy climb — a narrow path winding its way between sheer slabs of rock hundreds of feet high, to give a view over the entire island on a clear day.

From Ossa, it is pretty much downhill all the way, with Kia Ora, Du Cane and Windy Ridge huts offering shelter on the final days of the trek.

It is the sight of Lake St. Clair, Australia’s deepest lake (656 feet), that marks the end of the adventure. Most walkers take advantage of a two-way radio at Narcissus hut at the lake’s edge to summon a ferry. It is either that or another five hours of walking along the shore to the visitor center and car park at Cynthia Bay.

Tasmania’s wilderness is a cradle of life. With more than 20 species of mammals, five species of bats, 80 species of birds and enough flora to fill a botany book, it is little wonder that Cradle Mountain Lake-St. Clair National Park took its place alongside the Great Wall of China and Florida’s Everglades National Park as a World Heritage Area in 1982.

To preserve the beauty of this unique wilderness, walkers are asked to stick to the path, even if it means wading through mud.

And although Tasmania’s changeable weather means you can’t always be guaranteed the right conditions for an award-winning landscape shot, you will certainly leave the Overland Track with plenty of tales about an epic journey through one of the world’s most unspoiled wildernesses.