5000 km, 2700 nm. The View from Mt. Hopeless - 1998 “ Cheerless and hopeless was the prospect before us….," is what the explorer John Eyre wrote in 1840 after he climbed this little pimple of a hill (413 ft) to have a look at the view. And then he named it Mt. Hopeless….. Mt. Hopeless. What a name! When I spot an intriguing feature like that on a map, I just have to have a look for myself! But that's not so easy for this one; it's between the Flinders ranges and Lake Blanche, in that remote northern part of South Australia. This is a perfect job for my Beaver ultralight. Once again I was flying outback in my little ultralight - a 14 year old single-seat Spectrum Beaver , with 1300 hours on the clock. It's been much modified for this sort of travel, and has already taken me on some great adventures inland. It's well-equipped for remote area flying, with the VHF and UHF radio, ELT, GPS, some lightweight camping gear, a bit of tucker, and a waterb