So it seemed like a good idea to hike 234km from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder (aka the Larapinta Trail).
I honestly can’t get my head around the temperature extremes of the dessert. Nights so cold your drink bottle freezes solid, melt into sweltering days under a seemingly relentless sun in a landscape where shade is seldom available. The trail kind of eases you into it as you start out long the flat sandy trails before climbing into the MacDonnell Ranges to work on that trail fitness. Water was in short supply and without the water tanks at designated campsites, I doubt we would have finished the trail as we came across very few natural water sources, mostly unsuitable for drinking.
By day four we had found our trail feet so to speak. We had our pack-up routine down pat and dinner rituals has been choreographed. Then came the spanner in the works. My dearly beloved had injured his back and after suffering through the pain had had enough. We met our support team to re-supply at Stanley Chasm and sat down to make some decisions…. ‘We are a team so do we bail out as a team or do I continue on solo?’ ‘Would I be ok on my own?’ After all we shared the weight of the tent, cooking gear, first aid etc.
I have to admit I had feelings of guilt as I apprehensively considered every item in my pack knowing that I would suffer the same fate if I didn’t cut some weight. I still had my hiking companions G1 and G2 so I wasn’t alone but evenings became a somewhat quieter affair.
The landscape is so rugged and harsh with the prickly grasses and sharp unforgiving rocks under foot, yet it still manages to astonish you with its beauty of contrasting rich colours and the vast open spaces that made you feel totally inconsequential.
I got used to doing things on my own and began to enjoy the extra room in my tent. We stood on top of Brinkley Bluff and swam in the refreshing yet icy water at Ellery Creek. Life on the trail was good.
G1 convinced me that the chances of rain really were buckleys and none so at the next re-supply I ditched even more gear including my tent. Cowboy camping under the stars in the dessert is a truly magical experience, sunset, star gazing and sunrise all without even getting out of bed!
The trail finishes with an 8km hike to the top of Mount Sonder. It’s kind of a bittersweet finish though because there’s no zipline or cable car at the summit so you have to trek the 8km back down again!
It began as an adventure that we joked about on the south coast track with two guys who were up for a chat around the campsite, and finished with friendships cemented with G1 and G2, and more adventures planned.
tommy the travelling turtle 