Day 3 - Simpsons Gap to Jay Creek Campground (Section 2 Larapinta)

Spring Gap

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-2-information-sheet-and-map.pdf

Sleeping in the shelter worked well for us. It rained about midnight and there was a lot of wind. We were up at 5am, with no wet tent to pack down or wait for it to dry.  This was fortunate because it rained again just after we woke. We were ready by 6:20am and watched the dawn come in. It was light enough for me to start walking about 6:45am and we headed off.  After about 45 minutes walking we stopped to add thermals due to the cold wind.  The first two hours of hiking was through undulating grasslands and light woodland.  Once again, we saw Australian Ringneck Parrots (Barnardius zonarius).

Bond Gap

The side trip to Bond Gap was very pretty, however the water looks like it would be very cold.  Today we saw several pairs of hikers going eastward.  Sections of the track were through regrowth after fires – the track was very clearly marked with blue flagging. The trail continues near to Rocky Creek. There are lots of small undulations as we made our way across open country.  We arrived at Mulga Camp at 12:45pm. This was our planned destination for the day. It is an open campsite with picnic table, water tank and toilet.  It had very little shade and very many flies. We took our boots off, had lunch and a rest.  We then decided that there was nothing to keep us here for the afternoon, so we would continue to Jay Creek, allowing us more time to potentially do the high route tomorrow.

We left Mulga Camp at 1:45pm, just before the first few of the group we started the trail with arrived.  The first part of this afternoon’s walk was a “choose your own adventure” rock scramble through Rocky Creek. 

Spring Gap itself was very pretty.  

Once on the northern side of the MacDonnell Range the pollen smelt different. There was also evidence of cattle throughout this area.  We arrived at Jay Creek Trailhead about 5:15pm as the light was dropping.

There were so many people in camp that we initially thought we may have walked into a group site. There were at least thirty tents set up, but nobody wished to sleep in the shelter. Many hikers were young people heading East and heading West, as well as a few more mature hikers going each direction. We had a quick wash in the creek and then listened to various people’s accounts of their hike thus far while we prepared and ate dinner. From this group of people, it appeared that everyone under 40 years of age was opting for the faster low route, and those older were opting for the high route.  There were a lot of young people doing much shorter time spans for the distance, but at the cost of lots of foot problems from blisters and the hardness of the ground. I heard several people complain that because the track was so technical they were not getting enough opportunities to look at the views. I was glad we had chosen to take a longer period and not have to rush. Plenty of time to stop and take in the amazing scenery.

Well after dark two of the group we began the trail with arrived, very tired. They were happy to join us in sleeping in the shelter but did need to spread out their wet tents from this morning. Jay Creek Trailhead has a shelter with a picnic table, water tanks and a toilet. There are lots of tent sites, some close to the shelter and some a little further past the shelter.  Jay Creek itself had several pools of water for a quick bird bath and freshen up.

https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/jay-creek

 

Statistics

Hike Distance                 27.41km

Hike Time                        8h 27m

Ascent                              644.0m

Descent                           526.8m