Climbing Frenchman Peak

betterthanhome (70)in GEMS • 5 years ago

Anyone who has been to Western Australia knows how beautiful this part of Australia can be. Especially the region in and around a town called Esperance is to highlight. If you´re going south from Perth and intend to travel through the Nullabor Desert you should make sure to spend some days in and around Esperance.

About 56km outside of town is the Cape Le Grand Nationalpark, which has a size of 316 km² and is named after a french captain who sailed the Recherche-Archipel near Esperance.

Cape Le Grand Nationalpark has a few highlights itself you will never forget and one if it is the Frenchman Peak. The Frenchman Peak is one of three Mountains in the Nationalpark which were formed by erosion and movements in the Earth’s crust over the past 600 million years.

In 1870 the famous australian colonist John Forrest explored the region and his brother Alexander Forrest gave it the name Frenchman Peak because of the peak looking like a man wearing a Frenchman’s cap.

By the way, Mandooboornup, is how the Aboriginal people call this peak.

To climb the Frenchman Peak you need to calculate a relatively hard 3km and 2 hours return walk. From the car park it´s an easy walk along a footpath to the easy angled east slop. There are some short cuts to the summit which are even steeper than the normal way and which are not recommended, especially when it´s wet or windy.

On this footpath as well as on the way up you will find a lot of wildflowers and even some wildlife.

The walk up over this huge exposed granite can be pretty challenging. If it is going to be a hot day you better start the walk up to the summit early as there is barely any shade on the way. Make sure to wear solid shoes with a good grip, makes it a lot easier. But of course, even here, we´ve seen people doing it in thongs (flip flops). I do not recommend this. :)

But don´t worry as you´ll get rewarded for all the hard work. The panoramic views from the summit and even from the way to there are priceless and breathtaking. I have to admit that we were lucky with the weather as it was perfect and there were almost no clouds. During the winter months it can get quite rainy, windy and uncomfortable up there.

As said before, make sure to go early. Not only because it can get really hot, but because you will need some time up there to enjoy the view. Even from the summit you can see how beautiful the beaches in the Cape Le Grand look. Beaches like Lucky Bay and Hellfire Bay are literally shining.

Just sit down, relax and let it sink. Believe me, you will never ever get this view out of your head again.

There are caves and tunnels on the peak which are believed to have been formed or enlarged by wave action and underwater currents during a period some 40 million years ago. Unbelievable to think that this peak was submerged million years ago.

Especially these caves and tunnels can get pretty windy during times, so be careful up there.

Since you will definitely need more than just one day to explore the whole Nationalpark I would highly recommend to stay in one of the campgrounds within the park.

Beaches like Lucky Bay or Hellfire Bay will take a day alone. But more about these beaches in the next post.