We woke around 6am and lazed in bed reading until 6:45am. We had breakfast and then set off to climb Mt Sonder, leaving just after 8am. As we walked up Mt Sonder there were occasional sprinkles of rain – just a few drops here and there.
https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/mt-sonder-rutjupma
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| Few tiny raindrops on the rocks |
Once up to the saddle the views to both sides were incredible. The cloudy conditions were not ideal, but the views are still worth the effort. Near the summit the wind was very powerful, at times requiring me to plant my hiking poles and wait. The wind-borne sprinkles of rain stung when they hit my skin.
When we returned to the base, we headed off to explore Redbank Gorge. At the entrance to the gorge, we were able to watch several Euros darting around high up on the rock face. They were hard to track as they would disappear into a hole or tunnel and reappear somewhere else on the cliff. We continued walking along the sand until we needed to climb some boulders. The water was icy cold, as expected. We had a quick bird bath but did not swim due to the many dead fish from the currently low oxygen levels in the water. The gorge continues to narrow and enters a steep sided section with no banks – it would be great to come back with an air mattress or similar to float on and explore this.
https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/redbank-gorge
https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/redbank-gorge
https://www.discovercentralaustralia.com/things-to-do/np-reserves/redbank-gorge
We arrived back in camp about 5:15pm – a long day’s walk. We
have now officially finished the Larapinta Trail End-to End East to West.
We had dinner and watched the lights, of the hikers who had gone to the top of Mt Sonder to watch the sunset, descend.
Statistics
Hike Distance 18.76km
Hike Time 7h
55m
Ascent 920.2m
Descent 934.8m
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