How much wear does the Larapinta Trail really put into your shoes?

 I had heard that the Larapinta is hard on shoes and feet. I had a pair of red women's Oboz BDry boots that I have loved and they looked like they had plenty of tread on them.  They have however done many multiday walks and the Larapinta sounded like it had a bit of a reputation for being tough on shoes and feet. So I um -ed, and I ah-ed about whether I really needed to invest in a new pair of boots or whether my current pair would be fine. I had anticipated doing the Larapinta Trail end-to-end for nine years before I could turn this into an opportunity to actually do it. So, I decided to buy new boots. Unfortunately, the only colour I could get in my size was a pale grey - not exactly the ideal colour for Central Australia!

https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/larapinta-trail

https://obozfootwear.com/en-us/product/womens-bridger-mid-waterproof

The boots on the left are my new boots and the ones on the right are my faithful red boots. Once I bought the new boots, I realised I had worn through more of the tread on the red ones than I thought.

I wore my new boots around for a few days and did one overnight walk in them, before heading to Alice Springs.  I took a photo each day of the soles of my boots - as you will see by the light levels, some days were long, some were short. The colour of the dirt varied greatly along the trail and we even had mud in spots.  The photos below are in order, with a final shot once back home, again beside the red boots for reference.

So those new boots got plenty of wear and now have less tread than the red boots. I was also surprised at some of the wear the sides of the boots got, the rocks on the Larapinta have sharp edges that poke into the sides of your footwear, as well as the soles.  I have scrubbed my Larapinta boots, and while they are a lot cleaner, even back to grey in spots, they will always tell the story of my Larapinta adventure.

My conclusions, yes I needed new boots; yes I still love these boots! (No, I do not have any sponsorship or affiliation, I just really like them)

Would I still choose boots over trail shoes? For me, yes, the ankle support was worth it. The Larapinta presents plenty of opportunities to turn an ankle.  I had not fully understood just how hard the ground could be underfoot and I completely understand why some people prefer the cushioning of a trail shoe. The soles of my feet were very sore at the end of days 2 and 3, but were fine after that. If I was doing this again with the knowledge obtained from experience, I would consider trying a size larger in the shoe with a gel cushion insert.

Did I get blisters? Not on my feet, I did manage to get some on my shoulder but that is another story again. I did manage to achieve a spinifex splinter in one toe which caused some discomfort for a day, but thankfully a friendly and skilled fellow hiker removed this for me. (Thank you Toni)

Day 8 – 4/5 Junction to Hugh Gorge Junction (Section 5 Larapinta)

 

The descent on to Razorback Ridge - if you zoom in a lot there are actually a group of people descending and it really is at least as steep as it looks. Some spots short legs like mine are better off sitting down to drop down to the next level rather than trying to step.

https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/larapinta-trail

https://nt.gov.au/_media/docs/parks/bushwalking-and-hiking/larapinta-trail/larapinta-trail-section-5-information-sheet-and-map.pdf

Last night was clear and cold with a lot of stars visible. Drew found last night colder than the night on Brinkley Bluff, whereas I found Brinkley Bluff much colder, perhaps I was more affected by wind chill than he was.  We woke this morning to dew on our sleeping bags.

We were packed up and away about 7:10am. We stopped about 45 minutes into the walk for me to remove my thermal pants and beanie. The walk to the start of Spencer Gorge took just under an hour, giving our muscles the opportunity to warm up. It was relatively dim still when we entered Spencer Gorge, I think I would have enjoyed its beauty even more with a bit more light than 8am offered.

Spencer Gorge is both beautiful and rugged. It took us about 90 minutes to traverse, with most of that being bouldering. There were lots of spots requiring hands, and several parts where I needed to put my poles up where I was going, climb up and then collect my poles.  I really enjoyed this section, but it is fatiguing with a pack. We stopped for our first break near the top of Spencer Gorge.

Beautiful

and Rugged

We then did a solid climb to Windy Saddle – where there was no wind today.  We stopped at the lookout to enjoy the view and give our gluteus muscles a well-deserved break after the bouldering and climb.

The path is neither smooth or flat, but it is worth the views

Tenacity to survive

Yes that is a person, on the trail, top left

The descent onto Razorback Ridge was precarious and steep - in hindsight this was far scary than the ridge itself.  There were sections of this where I needed to sit down to drop my legs down to the next level. I relied a lot on my poles to help me down.  This would be terrifying in high wind. Razorback ridge was generally wider than I had expected. It had several very technical spots that required considerable care and your full attention. I was very grateful for the lack of wind today, either of the previous two days would have been quite scary. 

We arrived at Fringe Lily Creek campsite about 1pm. There were some patches of water in the creek, however I was glad we had water from the tanks, rather than relying on this as it did not look appealing.

From here the walking was along a relatively easy creek line followed by climbing over a saddle, along a spur and then down into another relatively easy creek. By relatively easy I mean there were normal sized rocks to contend with, but nothing that required use of hands.

We arrived at Hugh Gorge Junction about 3:20pm and setup camp. So far, we have the area to ourselves. It is very pretty. The cliff face of Upper Hugh Gorge is impressive. We went exploring up Upper Hugh Gorge – it has stunning red walls with pink and grey rocks and boulders making up the floor of the gorge. Bouldering is definitely a lot easier without a full pack.

https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/hugh-gorge-junction

When we made dinner, we thought it seemed rather small. It was only after eating that we realised we must have accidentally got one single serve dehydrated meal, rather than a double. If we had realised before preparing it, we would have left this for a different night where we had not exerted ourselves as much during the day. We went to bed very tired and will probably wake up very sore from today’s activity – but happy! So far, this was our most challenging day.

Statistics

Hike Distance                13.34km

Hike Time                        6h 46m

Ascent                              672.3m

Descent                           568.3m

Walk Distance                1.95km

Walk Time                        1h 17m

Ascent                              30.0m

Descent                           27.4m