The walk: the middle section (seven days) of the Larapinta Trail (21 days) which stretches 223km through the west McDonnell Ranges from Mt Sonder to Alice Springs.
Sat 21 June. Fly in
Flew into Alice Springs. The flight was awesome - I had no idea what central Australia looks like from the air. Nothing can prepare you for the enormity of it. The afternoon was spent doing some last minute shopping at supermarkets and Alice's brilliant outdoor store: Lone Dingo.
Sun 22 June. Food drop and Serpentine Gorge
Hired a 4WD (Patrol) and Alex, Craig, Daryn and I drove out to Birthday Waterhole, which would be our campsite on day 5, and buried the food (plus a couple of bottles of red).
Then we had a car shuttle starting with Alex and I being dropped off near Serpentine Gorge before Craig and Daryn returned to Alice to pick up Damian and Max. Max was kind enough to drop the boys back to Serpentine and return the Patrol to the hire place in Alice.
We finished the day with a walk to Serpentine Gorge and then a climb to the lookout above the gorge. The campsite was barren and cold at night - our first taste of the harshness of this landscape.
Mon 23 June. Day 1 - Serpentine to Ellery Creek
Our first day on the trail! A sunny day with cool wind which kept me putting a layer of clothing on whenever exposed to the wind, only to take it off again when sheltered. We had a break a Trig Point and lunch at Stile before the final descent into Ellery Creek. After a look over the campsite at Ellery Creek we decided to camp right on the shore of the Big Hole. Not sure if that's allowed, but it was a magnificent campsite. The water in the Big Hole was absolutely freezing, so we didn't go in. However late in the afternoon a few people took a dip including a nice young woman who went in naked - a pleasant and unexpected surprise.
Tue 24 June. Day 2 - Ellery Creek to Rocky Gully
Day2 - Wow. I had done a lot of reading before this trip - guidebooks, websites, other people's blogs - but I had not managed to gain a real understanding of the word desolate. I knew we would be walking through the desert - not a sandy Sahara-style desert, but a rocky red-earth desert. But I was completely unprepared, mentally, for the impact of this vast landscape of blasted earth. If a thermonuclear weapon were to be detonated in a temperate forest, I think the resulting landscape would look like this. Later, months later, I would recall this with fondness and nostalgia, as an amazing and beautiful place. But while walking through it, honestly, I was stunned. I could not overcome the sense of sheer oblivion I felt here.
The start of today's walk was much the same as yesterday. But after a short time Saddle was reached, providing a view across the huge dry, dead Alice Valley to the Chewings Range some 11km north. As we descended into the valley I felt like Sam and Frodo in that amazing jagged, twisted-rock location in the second Lord Of The Rings movie (a location somewhere in New Zealand), or those poor souls stranded in the desert in that classic movie The Flight Of The Phoenix. That is, people in a place that inspires despair. This was a harsh, unforgiving place that offers no assistance to any frail life-form not born here.
Our campsite at Rocky Gully was a flat of baked earth and stone. Without doubt the most uninviting place I have ever camped. Don't misunderstand: I liked camping there. It had a fierce, uncompromising quality that just dared you to judge it - just so it could show you it's absolute indifference to your opinion, or even your existence. But it was certainly nothing like the lush, tranquil, forest settings in which I have generally camped.
Wed 25 June. Day 3 - Rocky Gully to Hugh Gorge
The day started with us meeting the mad Darwin schoolteachers who had camped nearby - three blokes from Darwin, all schoolteachers, one retired, all mad. They had taken on Larapinta with minimal planning and inadequate equipment. They had one cooking stove between them, only enough fuel for a couple of days, and had only enough containers to carry a couple of litres of water each - obviously they breed them tough in Darwin. These guys would amaze and confound us over the following days as they argued their way through their trip.
Our walk on Day three took us over the same sort of sun-blasted ground as the day before. But today I was in much better spirits as we were heading for a place called Hugh Gorge, which had an inviting 'there might be water/life there' type of sound to it. After crossing Ghost Gum Flat we had a rest stop under a pitance of available shade just past Hugh View.
My long suffering boots - my beloved Zamberlans which had been with me for 18 years - finally failed a servicability inspection at this stop. The soles, which I had glued back on twice in the past, were peeling off. The leather was so creased and cracked that in places it was split clear through. It was time to release the old boys from their mortal coil, and what better place to leave them than here in central Oz. An honourable end to a rugged soldier who never let me down, through Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, the Overland Trail in Tassie, The Victorian Alps, Queensland rainforest, and finally the McDonnell Ranges. So I left them under the Hugh View sign so walkers could salute them during the years (days?) it would take the desert to consume them.
When we reached Hugh Gorge it was everything I hoped. There was no water visible, but the trees were green if somewhat stunted. We made camp in one of the few flat spots and were joined a couple of hours later by the mad Darwin scchoolteachers who camped just a few metres away. Having run out of fuel they promptly started a fire to cook on. We walked some way up the gorge and found there were large pools of brackish water all the way along it.
Later in the evening a couple tramped into the campsite looking fit and strong, but weary. They were Peter, an outdoor educator, and Susan, a nurse. We would run into Pete and Suze a couple more times on the trek and they were great company and very impressive walkers, often covering twice the distance each day that we did.
The night was particularly cold and we woke to find the tents covered in frozen condensation.
Thu 26 June. Day 4 - Hugh Gorge to Birthday Waterhole
This was a detour. We intended for day 4 to be Hugh Gorge to Fringe Lilly Creek and day 5 Fringe Lilly Creek to Birthday Waterhole, following the track both days over the top of the Chewings Range. However as there is no water-point on this route between Hugh Gorge and Birthday Waterhole we would have to carry two days water - about 9-10 litres each. So instead we decided to skirt the Chewings Range by using a 4WD track which runs south of the range and get to Birthday waterhole in a single day. Then we could leave our packs at Birthday Waterhole and take a day walk back along the track to see Spencer Gorge and then up the Chewings Range to see the view from Windy Saddle.
The walk was relatively easy, mostly flat ground and crossing the dry beds of Hugh River and a number of it's tributary creeks. At each of the dry watercourses there were beautiful river red gums but the land in between was parched and covered mostly by dead-looking brush.
It was an awesome feeling to reach Birthday Waterhole, which had lovely healthy river red gums with bright green leaves. We weren't even bothered that the waterhole looked like it hadn't seen water in 20 years. The first thing we did was to dig up our food drop and gawk at all the goodies we had, including red wine. We pitched the tents and spent the afternoon washing clothes and snoring in the shade while they dried.
Most evenings Daryn, who is about 20 years younger than some of us, would scamper up some nearby hill and take photos of the surrounding landscape and of the sunset. This day I went with him, and while I didn't manage to catch any dramatic sunset photos, the views were well worth the effort.
Fri 27 June. Day 5 - Day walk from Birthday Waterhole
This was day two of our alternate plan for the Hugh Gorge to Birthday Waterhole leg. This day we would leave our packs at our Birthday Waterhole campsite and carry just water, snacks, and cameras to see Spencer Gorge and then up the Chewings Range to see the view from Windy Saddle. What a pleasure to walk without heavy packs for a change!
Spencer Gorge was beautiful, with palms, cycads, and well-watered trees, bordered by high red rock cliffs on either side. The 1.7km walk from the south end of the gorge to Rocky Talus at the north end is an enjoyable variety of flat ground, rock hopping and scrambling over/through log jambs. This followed by a short and fairly steep climb up to Windy Saddle and Razorback Ridge from where the views north and west are some of the best we had seen so far.
Sat 28 June. Day 6 -
Birthday Waterhole to Standley ChasmThis photo is looking up Brinkley Bluff from Rocky Cleft. If you look closely you can see Damian (in red shirt) dwarfed by the hill.
Another change of plan was decided on for this day. We had intended to climb Brinkley Bluff (1209m) and camp on the summit, and then descend on Day 7 to Standley Chasm for the pickup. After discussion we decided that plan involved two unpalatable facts. Firstly, as there is no waterpoint on top of Brinkley Bluff, we would have to have dinner and breakfast using minimal water, to preserve water for the second day's walking. Secondly, we would have to camp on a tiny piece of flat ground on the summit enduring howling wind from the moment we arrive to the moment we decamp in the morning. The summit is rock with stones scattered about, so there is no chance of driving a tent peg into the ground. We were starting to imagine a momentary slip of the fingers while pitching tents resulting in a few hundred dollars worth of taffeta nylon sailing away on a strong wind - and with it any chance of getting a night's sleep. So we decided to do both days walking in one day and then reward ourselves with a rest day at Standley Chasm - where there's a shop!
So the day started with a pleasant walk east along the creek bed passing Mintbush Spring and Stuart's Pass. From the pass it was one hell of a steep climb to Rocky Cleft, where I felt like collapsing for the rest of the day. Rocky Cleft provides beautiful views east and west.
After a brief rest in the cleft the real ascent of Brinkley Bluff started. Damian found it pretty easy going and powered up the slope, but the rest of us laboured upwards at a much less impressive pace. This was the only place on the trek where use of hands was definitely advisable.
Reaching the Top of Brinkley was an awesome feeling. The explorer John McDouall Stuart, the first non-indigenous person to climb this peak, remarked that it was "the most difficult hill I have ever climbed". I'm sure we took an easier route than Staurt, and it was certainly one of the most difficult climbs I have made with a rucksack. However, the view from the summit more than compensates for the energy expended. We received an extra reward when a beautiful bird of prey rose on the wind and glided over us.
After a short time on the summit, enduring a whistling wind, we made the traverse along the bluff to Reveal Saddle. From there it was the long descent to the road leading to Standley Chasm and the much anticipated shop. I think I can speak for the other lads in saying we were shattered on arrival.
We spent the next day eating yummy stuff from the shop, checking out the chasm, and chatiing with Pete and Suze.
