At the beginning of this winter we said that we would climb a nearby (within 10km) mountain called Mt Hedlow, which is approximately 230m high. Because of snake danger, climbing mountains like Mt Hedlow in Summer or Spring is not recommended.
Anyway, we drove up as close as we could to the mountain and started to walk. I had put on my SES trousers, shirt and boots to protect myself from snakes and branches. After about half an hour of walking we reached the base of the mountain and started climbing. Below are a few photos of Lake Mary (a small lake near Mt Hedlow which has shrunk a lot) and Mt Hedlow itself. The mountain you can see in the background of Lake Mary is not Hedlow, which is actually to the left of the lake.
I sighted the first snake just as I was about to step on it. It was fairly short and slim, and I think it was a light brown colour. It slithered away into some rocks and plants so we just walked around it. Some time after this, I spotted a plant whose leaves had intricate patterns on them. I liked the photo so much I put it on my photoblog. A bit further on we stopped for a while and I took the opportunity to snap some photos of the view which can be seen below.
About 5 or so minutes later we were able to see up to the north, including Lake Mary.
Finally we (my mum and I, my sisters stopped before the top) reached the top of Mt Hedlow after a long climb that took about 50 minutes. I took a few photos to prove this, as you can see below. The round piece of metal in one of the photos is a survey marker.
After reaching the top and adding a stone to rock pile (each time someone climbs a mountain they add a rock to the pile to show that they’ve been there), we started our descent to the bottom. On the way we saw another snake, this time a yellow belly. See below for the picture. Anyway, we arrived at the car very feeling very thirsty and ended up coming home after dark. All in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon!
