https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/larapinta-trail
Many people walking the Larapinta Trail choose to do it much faster than we have for a variety of reasons. As a result, there were other campers up and preparing for the day from 4am, with some leaving by 5:30am (still dark). We trialled sleeping without the fly on our tent last night. We got up about 9pm and put it on – too cold and too much disruption from other peoples’ lights. We rose at 5:30am to a very cold wind. We were packed up and away at 7:15am.
The walking today was much easier, both in terms of less ascent and descent and less technical than yesterday. The path had more sand underfoot which was less hard on the soles of the feet. We were last able to see Heavitree Gap about 10am.
The Fairy Spring was a very picturesque waterhole with water that looked clear. We saw a lot of native tomatoes today, the plants look more like a potato vine than a tomato, however the fruit is abundant and unmistakably tomato. Given several species of native tomato are poisonous we elected not to test these.
The second part of the walk was largely uphill over rocks. The vegetation was varied and the views amazing.
We arrived at the Simpsons Gap Walkers Camp about 12:15pm. We enjoyed lunch and filled up our water bladders.
https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/simpsons-gap
https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/simpsons-gap
After lunch we went exploring in Simpsons Gap – this is beautiful. The colour of the rocks changed over the course of the afternoon as the sun shifted across the sky. We had also planned to do a side trip to Cassia Hill Circuit, but discovered that it did not actually start from Simpsons Gap, but rather a few kilometres down the road (Darken Drive) into Simpsons Gap from Namatjira Drive, and decided to give this a miss. Simpsons Gap is one of the features of the Larapinta Trail that is easily accessible by road for day visitors.
We spent some of the afternoon chatting to our fellow hikers. We met a couple from NSW who have previously done the Bibbulmun and picked their brains for our future reference. We talked to a lady who was repeating this section, as she had tripped further along the trail and split her head open and had to return to Alice Springs for stitches. Given how technical the path is and how sharp and rough the rocks are, I think this would be easy to do. My strategy thus far is if I want to look around, I need to stop moving. It would only take a moment of inattention to the trail while admiring the view to fall over and there is nowhere soft to land.
We opted to trial sleeping in the shelter. The shelters are located at the end of each section and include a sleeping platform and shelf for packs. Each shelter also has a cupboard with local artworks on the doors, and information about the art and artist on the inside of the door. We found we slept well in the shelter. The walkers camp also had water tanks, a toilet and many tent sites.
Statistics
Hike Distance 12.82km
Hike Time 4h
29m
Ascent 324.4m
Descent 359.3m
Walk Distance 1.06km
Walk Time 18m
Ascent 9.4m
Descent 13.0m
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