I’ve just come back from a glorious long weekend in Hopetoun with friends. Hopetoun is located at the very bottom of Western Australia on the south coast next to the Fitzgerald River National Park. About 5 people live there and all of them seem to be relatives of my friend Dave. Just kidding. There are also some Irish backpackers who work at the pub and grocery store.

We drove down on Friday night, leaving behind awfully muggy and uncomfortably hot weather in Kalgoorlie. It was such a relief to experience cooler temperatures (low 20s) that I took to wearing a down jacket for most of the weekend. Emily wore a beanie.

On Saturday morning we fueled up on bacon ahead of our mountain climbing.

Sizzle.

A mountain climber’s breakfast… Probably.

Dangling scrambled eggs above the dogs.

Before tackling the rugged peaks of East Mt Barren we took a drive through the Fitzgerald River National Park.

Such hospitable coastline…

We practiced our explorer poses:

Lauren, Dave, Scot, Andrew and Emily

A more visibly pregnant Lauren, Dave, Scot, Andrew and Emily

And nailed a fake laughter photo:

Someone’s excited to climb Mt Barren

Then we drove to where we would climb the East Mt Barren Summit, which the Department of Parks and Wildlife website describes as ‘moderately difficult’.

It doesn’t look so bad in this photo

About a quarter of the way up

It got steeper and rockier up the top.

Some legit rock climbing was required:

But it was well worth the view. To the east was Hopetoun:

View from the top

And to the north was a large glacial looking boulder with a sheer drop on one side:

Scary.

Selfie rest stop

Proving my adeptness at mountaineering.

The entire area is known for its wildflowers which are abundant in spring. But I found a few hanging around:

Showy honey myrtle (… I think)

Dave recreating 127 Hours on a much smaller scale.

Heading back down the mountain was worse than going up. Every step suddenly seemed more slippery.

But we made it and saw some more interesting flora on the way down.

Royal Hakea. Looks like a mutant cabbage.

After our hike we headed back home for chicken sandwiches and to regale the others with tales of our heroic ascent. More to come.