X had been going on and on about Mt Warning for yonks. His bestie bailed on him, leaving me no choice but to say yes to the outing last Sunday, in spite of a lack of suitable footwear.
X is wearing the Forbidden Pants. We met while he was wearing these and he had not worn them since. As you can see, for a very good reason. Someday they will mysteriously disappear.
Chinese laundry. It starts off about 17C at the bottom of the hill where it's all shady, then the mercury soars 10C at the peak. Understandably, people strip off...
... some find their sunglasses too much of a burden too.
The peekaboo tree
In spite of the warning, we passed several trekkers on our way down. On a related note, there was a chopper hovering over the mountain and loads of studly (not to mention friendly) rescuers in jumpsuits. Apparently some dude fell down somewhere and needed to be winched out.
This is how steep it is. You can understand why after a while I was chanting, "I am a mountain goat, I am a mountain goat..."
Gorgeous views halfway
Chinese laundry. It starts off about 17C at the bottom of the hill where it's all shady, then the mercury soars 10C at the peak. Understandably, people strip off...
... some find their sunglasses too much of a burden too.
The peekaboo tree
In spite of the warning, we passed several trekkers on our way down. On a related note, there was a chopper hovering over the mountain and loads of studly (not to mention friendly) rescuers in jumpsuits. Apparently some dude fell down somewhere and needed to be winched out.
This is how steep it is. You can understand why after a while I was chanting, "I am a mountain goat, I am a mountain goat..."
Gorgeous views halfway
After about 2 hours of hopping from rock to rock, you get to this vertical bit where you do some faux-abseiling. It's not completely vertical, but definitely steeper than a 45 degree angle. There are chains you yank yourself up with.
Blessedly, my low body weight compensated for my miniscule arm strength and I had little difficulty with this bit. X and I would occasionally shimmy over to the other side, clutching to rocks and branches, patiently awaiting the people coming down and vice versa. It was all very courteous and civilised, though more than once, we were flashed some unsightly thighs and other ghastly sights in between.
The sight of my be-thonged feet aroused more than a few chuckles. I played along, with lines like, "If I lose my flippies, I'm going to die!" "Did you want my autograph?" "Is there a wine club up there?" (said to group in BWS sponsored shirts)
Jan: I'm sure I'm not the first person to climb Mt Warning in thongs!
Random passer by: Well, there aren't too many of them!
Views at the top
Exhibit A: Tired toes
We started the trek at about 9.30am and ended our descent at about 3.30pm, with lots of mini breaks in between. Miraculously, I managed to keep my flip flops on for almost the entire duration, except for twice. However I was pretty fatigued by the end and carelessly slipped off a step, spraining my left ankle. It's nothing like the other ankle injury though. I was already able to hobble around in heels (the folk at the Jupiters casino always discriminate against my default choice of footwear, ie. thongs, and apparently will not fail to check for proof of age for the next couple of years) a day after.
My muscles are still unbelievably sore. X, who never fails to rattle off obscure multisyllabic biological malfunctions at every opportunity
Statistics:
Distance trekked: 4.4km
Elevation: 1,157m
Time: 6 hours
Water drank: 2L
Times "Are we there yet?" asked: 9,854
Days taken to recover: 3 and counting
Injuries sustained: 2 blue black bruises on both knees (from doing the vertical climb), 1 twisted ankle and 1 chipped nail.
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