Completed Thru Hike – July 2005

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These are Larapinta Trail track notes based on my walk of the trail in July 2005 as part of a group of six from the Perth Bushwalkers Club and Adelaide Bushwalkers Club.  Fran, Sheila, Jane, Alan and Ian where the other members of the group.

We walked the trail in a east – west direction, that is we started at Redbank Gorge and walked back to Alice Springs Telegraph Station. We did this for a number of reasons: (1) It made arranging and doing the food drops easy (we did them on the way out to Redbank Gorge); (2) it saved us the hassle of trying to organise a pick-up at the end of the walk; (3) we walked with the afternoon sun behind us rather than in our eyes and (4) I am not sure we would have walked Mt Sonder at the end of it all!  The direction we walked is not the direction favoured by the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission whose trail documentation and signs are written from the perspective of a west-east walk.

The walks’ photo album can be found here.

TRACK NOTES

Our walk itinerary is available for download as a Microsoft Excel file or as a PDF document. The camp coordinates are also available as a GPS Exchange (*.gpx) file, a OziExplorer waypoint file and for Google Earth fans as a Google Earth *.kmz file.

Our walk of the Trail was assisted by the use of draft 1:50 000 coloured maps provided by John Chapman. These maps will be published in John’s forthcoming book on the trail.

The NATMAP 1:250 000 topographical maps, Hermannsburg and Alice Springs also show the Trail. These are available from this website as a OziExplorer readable set of maps including waypoints and as *.jpg files for viewing in a photo viewer such as Microsoft Office Pictures.

Note: Walk distance is the kilometres for the day. Time taken is time from start to finish on the day including all stops (water, views, morning tea, lunch etc). Park time is the time suggested by the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission and excludes breaks.  Facilities refers to facilities at the overnight camp site. Coordinates are the UTM coordinates for the overnight campsite. Easting is given first, followed by the northing.

We all flew into Alice Springs on the day before the walk and stayed overnight in Alice Springs at Ossie’s Homestead. They where quite helpful, holding the food drop boxes for us and allowing us to leave bags there for pickup on our return.

As we all used gas canister stoves (no fires allowed on the Trail) we also placed an order in advance with Lone Dingo Adventure for our canisters. They offered to deliver the order to Ossie’s Homestead in advance if we wished. As it turned out Ian and Sheila flew in earlier in the day and so where able to pick up the canisters for us all.

We used Alice Wanderer to drop us off at Red Bank Gorge, the western trailhead of the Trail. They also provided the food drop boxes (left them at Ossie’s Homestead in advance for us) and placed the food drops on our way out to Red Bank Gorge. This was good as we knew where the containers where left.  We found their service most satisfactory. We arrived at Redbank Gorge around 11:30 AM after leaving Alice Springs at approximately 7:30 AM.

We took up our first day of the walk, just getting out to Red Bank Gorge, setting up camp and exploring the gorge. We camped in Redbank Creek just below the start of the Trail and not far from the water tank. Most of the water tanks have a slow flow tap fitted, which gives the impression of the tanks being low. Took a couple of campsites to get used to this concept!

Redbank Gorge is well worth visiting, being described as a "stunning narrow chasm through glowing red quartzite." It is an easy walk from the carpark/campsite to the gorge and return (allow an hour).  A nice swimming hole but bloody cold!  If you are lucky you may spot a rock wallaby or two at the gorge.

 Section 12: The walk from Red Bank Gorge to Mt Sonder is in my view, a good days walk even in July, where the sun was biting in the afternoon. This is a very exposed walk with no shade. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 16 km return section of the Trail as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness."

The Trail is well marked in the early stages, but once it swings east at the saddle it becomes hard to find at times. A lack of trail markers is notable, however, some blue flagging is used, but often hard to spot. Basically once the Mt Sonder lookout is reached one just follows the ridge before picking up the path to the obelisk on the second peak. This is not truly at 1380 metres as a third peak is to the northeast and higher. That said the peak visited does provide great 360 degree views.

All up a side-trip well worth doing. We lunched up on Mt Sonder. Camping is not allowed because it is a place of great significance to Aboriginal people.

Red Bank Gorge is accessible by vehicles with high clearance according to the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Red Bank Gorge marks the start of Section 11 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 29 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. Allow two days to comfortably complete this section."

Section 11 (Redbank Gorge to Glen Helen): Our first real day of the big adventure. The temperature overnight in the tent got down to around 4 C so we where keen to get moving in the morning.   We headed off in the morning all guns blazing, all excited about what was to come. I think by the time we hit Davenport Creek our enthusiasm was somewhat tamed! The first leg into Rocky Bar Gap was sweet. A nice easy section below Mt Sonder. Mind you the campsite here is nothing to write home about. We had lunch in the Gap in a nice shady spot. From here we head off to Davenport Creek loaded up with water for the afternoon, night and next day as no water at our planned campsite.

The day was a hot one which combined with a full load of food and water and no shade and a nice spot of hill climbing sort of quickly made us aware of what the Trail was about. All that said, it was good to make the Davenport Creek and the camping there was great. Enroute to the Davenport Creek one climbs to the Rocky Bar Gap Lookout (1010 m) . This turned out to be much harder than we expected. A lot of zigzagging on the way up, followed by a pretty straight down decent, but the views are great. There is one cleared camping spot at the Rocky Bar Gap Lookout, but nothing else besides the view.

Also found at Davenport Creek that sand pegs would have been very handy as good tent rocks where hard to find! Something to keep in mind if you plan to camp there. In fact in hindsight I would have used sand pegs throughout the walk.

This section of the Trail includes a side trip to Glen Helen Resort (1 hour).  The temperature this morning was a chilly 0 C at 7:00 AM encouraging us to move on. This is a fairly easy section with the option of a side trip or walk out to Glen Helen Resort. We chose to keep on heading to Ormiston Gorge bypassing Glen Helen.

After the Glen Helen Junction the Trail crosses the Finke River. We stopped on the west side of the river for morning tea amongst the trees. This area would make a great camping spot. From the Finke River the Trail is fairly easy walking until the climb to Ormiston Lookout at 720 metres. Nothing here to indicate the lookout, other than the views. We stopped here for lunch before heading on into Ormiston Gorge, our first food drop.

Ormiston Gorge has a small shop (good for ice creams, possibly hot food and that is about it, not a re-supply point) and free showers for walkers! The shop hours are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM as at July 2005.  The camping is varied. Some of it is mixed camping with car campers. We managed to locate a few spots away from the cars.

There is also good opportunities for day walking through the Ormiston Pound so well worth considering a rest day here.

The Glen Helen Junction marks the start of Section 10 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 13 km section as "suitable for people of average fitness, used to walking long distances, with some steep ascents.  This section can be completed comfortably in one day."

Ormiston Gorge then marks the start of Section 9 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 30 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. Allow two days to comfortably complete this section."

Our planned day was to load up with our food from the food drop at Ormiston Gorge, climb Heavitree Range and the to descent to our camp at Waterfall Gorge. As Waterfall Gorge had no water we where also carrying two days of water. Well things did not go as planned.

Overnight it started to rain and it was raining when we woke up early in the morning. The rain continued pretty much all day, getting very heavy, very cold, very windy and very misty as we commenced our ascent of Heavitree Range, but I am getting ahead of myself here.

We woke early on Day 4 knowing we had a big days walk with the ascent and descent of Heavitree combined with carrying four days food plus two days water. As it was raining bad when we woke in the dark, we packed as best as we could, all moving down to the bit of shelter at the shop/information centre for breakfast and repacking. Once we where all fed and organised we headed off with some optimism as the rain seemed to be easing and after all this was the Northern Territory in the dry, it will be just a short period of rain, right? Wrong! It continued to rain, getting colder and colder and windier as the morning progressed.  By lunchtime we where partly up the side of Heavitree Range with the rain horizontal in our faces and visibility pretty poor. At this point I was wearing every bit of warm clothing I had including a Polartec 300 and I was still cold! We sought some shelter in the lee of the wind to have some lunch and to assess our options. We decided to try to continue the ascent but quickly realised this was not the way to go. Walking the ridge in these conditions was not ideal. Consultation of the maps, seemed to suggest a possible route along the base of the range to Waterfall Gorge. So we decided to abort at this point our ascent, heading back down to pick-up the alternative route making use of a creek.

However, again progress was slow even though the rain had eased. Creek walking Larapinta style isn’t easy. We where all cold and tired and when Fran had a fall, nearly hitting her head we decided to call it a day, back tracking to find a suitable campsite.  Once we did, we managed to get a fire going as the rain had eased off and we camped the night regrouping to tackle again Heavitree Range the next day with the intention of getting through to Serpentine Chalet Dam and back on target.

Day 5, a grey overcast morning but at least we where dry! Once we had packed up we made our way back to the Trail at the Base of Hill and commenced the ascent of Heavitree Range. At least we were not carrying so much water today and the weather was more favourable. The ascent and crossing of the ridge to Giles Lookout is quite a reasonable walk, not easy but not extremely hard if the weather is good. The descent however to Waterfall Gorge is a tough one in my opinion.

Waterfall Gorge is, despite its name, dry in the dry and should not be relied upon for water. Camping spots are limited, we only noted cleared ground for about two tents, but others suggest more. Other opportunities in the vicinity are very limited.

As indicated early, our revised plan was to walk all day to day through to Serpentine Chalet Dam and therefore get back on our schedule. Unfortunately we got to Inarlanga Pass in fading light, so decided  to camp, leaving the crossing of the pass till Day 6. So at the end of Day 5 we where still behind our planned schedule but making up some time.

There is road access to a parking point south of the Serpentine Chalet Dam and there may be four wheel drive access to the Dam itself.

Ochre Pits junction marks the start of Section 8 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 20 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness.  With an early start this section can be completed in one day but it s more leisurely as an overnight walk."

The Ochre Pits are accessible by two-wheel drive vehicles.

Another cold night, it was 0 C at 6:00 AM in the morning!

As we where still behind schedule and having taken about 45 minutes to walk the Inarlanga Pass, we decided to skip the side trip to the Ochre Pits continuing on to Serpentine Chalet Dam and Serpentine Gorge. We did take time out on the ridge to visit Counts Point. I found this particularly ascent of the Heavitree Range as the hardest for me on the whole walk. This may in part have been due to the previous few days of walking, but I did find the Trail was not clear at times so it was often a matter of scrambling over rocks in a general upward movement. There are also a couple of false ridges on this ascent which just add to the pleasure of the climb. All that said the side trip to Counts Point makes it all worthwhile as do the views at the eastern end of the ridge.

There is plenty of camping space at Serpentine Gorge away from the car park. There is also a storage shed used for food drops and water is via a bore pump (a hand job). Serpentine Gorge is accessible via two wheel drive vehicles.

Serpentine Gorge marks the start of Section 7 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 14 km section as "suitable for people of average fitness, used to walking long distances, with some steep ascents. This section can be completed comfortably in one day."

Starting to get used to cold mornings … 0 C at 6:30 AM again.  As we hadn’t visited the Gorge the day before we took the opportunity this morning before heading on to Ellery Creek Big Hole. The walking was good up to the Trig Point and then it got hard from there due to both a less than ideal alignment and the walking surface (dolomite type of rock – not a nice surface to fall on!).

We had our second food drop here at Ellery Creek Big Hole. Whilst there are toilets here and a few tables, there is no water tank or rubbish bins. Water is sourced from the waterhole. We would recommend filtering the water as the waterhole is used for swimming and washing as well.

We did well here, scoring some treats from a tourist bus and they took out our rubbish!

Camping here is shared with the car campers so can be a bit crowded/noisy. Ellery Creek Big Hole is accessible by two-wheel drive vehicles.

Ellery Creek Big Hole marks the start of Section 6 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 31 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. Allow two days to comfortably complete this section."

Awoke again to 0 C at 6:30 AM. The low temperatures where to continue with it being 5 C at lunch at Alice Valley Camp. All up a very good walk today, with the main climb being across the Heavitree Range saddle. Great views to be had from here across the Owen Springs Pastoral Lease towards Alice Valley Camp as the Trail heads towards the Chewings Ranges.

Alice Valley Camp was a bit of disappointment, nothing there other than the creek bed.

We ran into a National Park Ranger at Rocky Gully where he was filling the water tank. We chatted a bit about the recent weather and he indicated that there was a 10% chance of rain that day … guess what it rained that night! Thankfully it had moved on by the next morning.

Plenty of camping space at Rocky Gully. We choose to camp down in the creek as it was a bit more sheltered.

Much warmer wake-up this morning, 10 C at 5:30 AM. Amazing what a difference the rain can make to the temperature. Today was to turn out to be a big days walk. The walk to the Hugh Gorge was pretty straight forward. We took about 4.75 hours to get to Hugh Gorge where we had lunch (one hour). It took us another hour and half to walk the Gorge to the Junction our overnight camping spot.

The Gorge turned out to be a bit of challenge to walk, with a pack lift and climb required part way through the gorge to get around a waterhole. We also found ourselves frequently switching from one side of the gorge to the other to get a good path through.  Once we set up camp, we back tracked to find a reliable water source within the gorge. Again we just camped in the creek at the Hugh Gorge Junction.

There is four wheel drive access to Hugh Gorge. It is 22.3 km from the turn-off on Namatijira Drive.

Hugh Gorge marks the start of Section 5 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 16 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. Allow two days to comfortably complete this section."

Back to chilly mornings … 2 C at 5:00 AM. This would turn out to be a big days walk, one where I consumed all my walking water during the day (3 litres) arriving dry at Birthday Waterhole Junction.

From Hugh Gorge Junction the track ascends across Rocky Saddle down to Razorback Camp (no water or facilities here). Good views to be had at Rocky Saddle. From Razorback Camp the track zigzags its way to Razorback Ridge whose name befits itself. Thankfully the Trail skirts around Paisley Bluff eventually descending down Spencer Gorge (this turned out to be a very hot section), before contouring around a hill and down a creek to Birthday Waterhole Junction. There are really special views to be had all along Razorback Ridge and from Windy Saddle. Even the Rocky Talus is quite interesting.

All up I would say this was one of the best sections of the Trail, even if it was a hard day’s walking and a hot one on the day we took it on.

At Birthday Waterhole Junction there are no facilities. Water has to be obtained from the tank at Birthday Waterhole itself which is a semi-permanent waterhole.

There is also four wheel drive access to Birthday Waterhole via a 14.4 km track from Namatijira Drive.

Birthday Waterhole marks the start of Section 4 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 14 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. Allow two days to comfortably complete this section."

Awoke at 5:00 AM to the now normal chilly morning, 2 C and what was to become another big days walk. This was sort of expected as we where climbing Brinkley Bluff today, the highest point on the Trail and the only place to have its own helicopter emergency landing pad!

The Trail starts off very nicely, passing Mintbush Spring (we gave this a miss due to a dead cow) as it meanders along to the creek out of Stuart’s Pass. Another possible camping spot. From the creek, the ascent of Brinkley Bluff commences. The Trail ascends relatively easily to a saddle, where it then descends to the top of a waterfall, before climbing the waterfall’s feeder creek and then zigzagging up the Bluff itself. This later section was by far the hairiest part of the whole Trail in my view, with very limited footings at times. All that hard work however is rewarded with magnificent views from Brinkley Bluff, a cairn and a register to record one’s visit. There are camping points up on the Bluff but there are no trees or shelter from the wind, which was blowing a gale when we where there. Not pleasant camping at all. Plus it would be necessary to pack in water.

From Brinkley Bluff the Trail follows the ridge of Chewings Range for some time crossing the Reveal Saddle and passing Bridle Path Lookout before eventually descending down another gorge (creek) and out to Standley Chasm.

Standley Chasm is the second place of luxury on the Trail. Not only did we get our final food drop here, there is a shop here selling food (you know pies and burgers), a public phone, spring water and an ablutions block, but no showers. Camping is allowed on a grassed area after 5:00 PM but all tents have to be down by 8:00 AM the next morning.  As Standley Chasm is a business operation there is an entry and camping fee of $10.00 (July 2005) as well as normal vehicle access.

Standley Chasm marks the start of Section 3 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 14 km section as "suitable for well-prepared and experienced walkers with a good level fitness. With an early start, this section can be completed in one day."

No temperature readings this morning. My thermometer departed to greener pastures (or a rocky creek) the previous day.  We where a bit slow getting away this morning, leaving Standley Chasm at 9:15 AM after diverting to the Chasm itself.  Whilst it is a serious climb out of Standley Chasm and then down to Angkale Junction and back up again to Gastroloblum Saddle and then down again passing through Refuge Spring and Fig Spring to Millers Flat, it was a very spectacular section of the Trail. A section where the walker wins hands down over the tourist. The descent from Gastroloblum Saddle to Millers Flat was a bit tricky with plenty of scrambling down mini waterfalls and the like.

At Millers Flat there are two options, the ridge route via Lorettas Lookout (1150 metres) or the Lower Route via a rocky creek and another creek and then an unnamed saddle. Both routes rejoin the main Trail at Tangentyere Junction. Whilst in our planning back in Perth we settled on taking the Ridge Route, on the day we opted for the Lower Route, which actually turned out to be not that easy anyway!

From Tangentyere Junction the Trail meanders along (good opportunity to pick-up some time) to Fish Hole. Fish Hole was again one of those magic spots along the Larapinta. At Fish Hole the Trail ascends around the waterhole before dropping back down into the creek for the final kilometre or two to the campsite at Jay Creek.

There is plenty of camping spots at Jay Creek along with four wheel drive access from Hamilton Downs Youth Camp.

Jay Creek marks the start of Section 2 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 25 km section as "suitable for people of average fitness, used to walking long distances, with some steep ascents. With an early start, this section can be completed in one day but is more leisurely as an overnight walk."

No temperature reading, but it was a cold night/morning. We awoke to ice on the tents. The first and only night to have this happen! As this is an easy day’s walk we took our time leaving this morning with myself and Fran being the last to get away at 10:00 AM. So slack after our normal early morning starts! The walk is pretty easy but flat with the Trail staying north of Chewings Range until Spring Gap where it cuts through the range to the southern side until Mulga Camp.

Spring Gap is a quite a pleasant interlude on this section and a good lunch spot.

Mulga Camp reflects its closeness to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station trailhead as it has its own toilet, picnic tables plus two water tanks. A pleasant camping spot but nothing special. It can be accessed via a management track (4WD).

From Mulga Camp the Trail pretty much keeps to the low lands passing south of Arenge Bluff. The highlight of this section of the Trail is Bond Gap. Well worth taking the side trip. Other than this side trip and coming across our first bridge across a creek (such luxury) the walk into Simpsons Gap was uneventful.

Simpsons Gap however is another story. The Trail designated camping spot, to put it politely, should be avoided. We took one look at it and moved on to camp in Roe creek on the other side road into the Gap. The designated campsite is rocky and lacks shade. We noted other similar comments in the Trails register here so hopefully the Parks people will take a look at it.

Simpsons Gap offers toilets and water at the picnic area but no camping in this area. It also is visited by lots, read lots of tourist coaches and they start early in the morning! This combined with the aircraft which at times seemed to be flying right through the Gap, made this a great spot to miss. The aircraft started coming through on a regular basis at about 2:00 AM!

Simpsons Gap marks the beginning of Section 1 of the Trail and has a register here for signing. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission describe this 24 km section as "suitable for people of average fitness, used to walking long distances, with some steep ascents. With an early start, this section can be completed in one day but is more leisurely as an overnight walk."

Another easy day’s walking, with a pleasant and interesting climb up and over Hat Hill Saddle and then contouring along the side of Rungutjirba Ridge with its cliff faces. From there the Trail drops down to the flat lands passing Fairy Spring and Scorpion Pool. Both side trips worth doing. Not long after Scorpion Pool the campsite at Wallaby Gap is reached.

Wallaby Gap itself is a short side trip north of the campsite. Again a rather bland campsite, albeit with some additional facilities such as a gas barbeque which was working when we visited.

There is four wheel drive access to the campsite via a management track.

Wallaby Gap was the last campsite on the Trail for us. From the Gap the Trail ascends to Euro Ridge where one gets their first views of Alice Springs. From Euro Ridge the Trail stays relatively high crossing the mountain bike trail and eventually the Central Australian Railway line. From the line it climbs up a ridge before again dropping down to cross under the Geoff Morris Bridge on the Stuart Highway. It becomes very evident that the Trail is coming to an end near civilisation at this point.

From the bridge the Trail is nothing special, the only highlight being the Trig Point near the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, which acts like a guiding beacon drawing us to the finish of the walk.

At the Telegraph Station there is a small tourist shop selling ice creams and the like. They will also call a taxi if one does not wish to walk into Alice Springs itself (costs about $10.00 – July 2005).

And here ends our journey on the Larapinta Trail.

RESOURCES

• John and Lyn Daly’s book, Take a Walk on the Larapinta Trail;
• John Chapman Larapinta Trail pages – I have also reviewed John’s excellent guide book here.
• John Ward’s track notes from his 2002 walk or as a PDF file
• Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission;