Day 6 – Standley Chasm to Brinkley Bluff (Section 4 Larapinta)

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-4-information-sheet-and-map.pdf

It was a very wild and windy night. There was intermittent rain and very strong winds. The Bureau of Meteorology reported gusts up to 93km/h in Alice Springs last night and I do not find that difficult to believe. This morning the tent has puddles of dust in it and everything in the tent vestibule was covered in dust, despite the patches of rain. Drew slept with a buff over his face all night and I woke up with grit in my teeth.

We stayed in bed until daylight and then had a lazy breakfast. We had a chat to Zac, from Larapinta Trail Trek Support (LTTS) when he was dropping off and picking up drop boxes from the hikers’ room. We talked to him about our plan to probably stay put for the day given the weather and he seemed to think this was wise.  I don’t fancy walking along a ridgeline to a high exposed camp in wet and windy conditions. According to Zac, he refers to those Larapinta Trail End-to Enders who choose to spend more than 18 days on the trail, as “postcoders” because they are out here long enough to get their own postcode. We have chosen to have 19 days on the trail as we wish to do most of the side trips and take our time to “feel” the area.

https://www.treksupport.com.au/

Around 8:30am the rain started to decrease in intensity, but it was still very cold. I was wearing two merino thermal tops, a t-shirt, down jacket, merino thermal tights, normal tights, and a beanie and I was still finding it cold. I pottered around in the hikers’ room, sorting through the leftovers in the “free stuff” box, so that like was with like. We read, chatted and relaxed while we waited for the weather to pass.  The rain finally stopped around 10:30am and we decided to tackle the dust in our tent and our clothes.

Once the rain stopped and the winds were easing, we made the decision to head toward Brinkley Bluff. We packed up and left Standley Chasm just after midday. The trail headed up the creek, followed by a solid climb with increasingly stunning views. 

We encountered mud, some of which looked like a few people had found it difficult to gain traction heading up this morning. 

There were times today when the wind gusts were such that we had to plant both feet and both poles and wait. Given how minimal the winds seemed when we left Standley Chasm compared to what they had been last night, I am very glad that everyone made it down safely last night.  The sky cleared amazingly to brilliant blue, but it was still windy. This meant very clear air and amazing views. This section of trail was very technical and had many, many false summits.

Best to stop when taking in the views, as the trail requires you to watch where you are putting your feet

Yes, that really is the trail

 

We arrived at Brinkley Bluff at 5pm and set up camp in time for sunset. It is magical to watch the sun creep off the landscape, and the shadows lengthen. There are a number of redoubts built from piled rocks.  Being the last to arrive for the evening, the sturdiest ones were already occupied. We camped in a redoubt with a bush to take some of the “breeze”, but the wind was swirling from all directions.

Despite the cool weather and wearing calf sleeves, I did get mild vasculitis today. I assume this is down to the weight I was carrying (we had 7 days of food, full water bladders plus 7L of extra water between this) and the fact that it was primarily up. This was our heaviest carry, being a dry camp immediately after a food drop.

Statistics

Hike Distance                 10.64km

Hike Time                        4h 41m

Ascent                              739.5m

Descent                           304.0m

Day 5 – Millers Flat to Standley Chasm (Section 3 Larapinta)

There are people at the end for scale - look how tiny they appear!

 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-3-information-sheet-and-map.pdf

The temperature was milder overnight but at about 1am it became very windy, and we zipped up the vestibules on the fly.  We woke to our alarm at 5am but stayed in bed for a little while as the alarm was immediately followed by a brief shower. Once the rain stopped, we had breakfast and packed up. We were ready by 6:40am, and away at 6:50am. While we knew we did not have far to go today, I was hoping to see Standley Chasm in the brief period in the middle of the day when the sun comes between the rock walls to light them up.

The first part of day was a technical creek walk along Cycad Creek, involving climbing (including hands) up and over rocks and a very large boulder blocking the creek bed. The large boulder required a steep climb to the side to get up and over. After leaving the creek there was a long climb up to Gastrolobium Saddle.  

the trail

The trail is to the left of the waterfall (trickle)

Blue arrows marking the trail

x

Path to get up past the boulder blocking the creek

View from the high point

and then the path to descend back to the creek bed

We took a short break and then began the long descent into the back of Standley Chasm.  As this section is also used by day walkers from Standley Chasm a great deal of effort has been gone to, installing many many steps.  This makes this otherwise treacherous descent much safer. This is followed by a steep, but short, climb to get around to the other side of Standley Chasm before descending again.

Yes, the blue arrows are the trail

We arrived in the campground about 10:30am. We collected our first drop boxes and set up our tent. Then off to shower and wash our clothes – lovely! I braid my hair on multiday hikes to avoid tangles, so it is a delight to be able to take it out, finger comb it and wash my hair. The Standley Chasm campground is very well set up for Larapinta hikers – with a drop box section, hot showers, free washing machine, microwave, picnic table and camping.

https://standleychasm.com.au/camping

Larapinta Hikers Area - Drop boxes, sink, microwave, washing machine and 2 showers

Standley Chasm (Angkerle Atwatye) is very impressive – the sheer height of the cliff walls (80m) and the narrowness of the chasm (3m). We were there about 12:30 and fortunate enough to see the sun briefly appear on and off against the chasm walls as the sun went in and out of the clouds. 

https://standleychasm.com.au/

https://northernterritory.com/alice-springs-and-surrounds/see-and-do/standley-chasm--angkerle--atwatye

We then enjoyed burgers at the Standley Chasm Kiosk. While we were eating at the Kiosk the wind started to pick up with several large gusts whipping dust around, requiring us to protect our food.

https://standleychasm.com.au/cafe

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for this evening for extreme wind – glad we were not planning on being at Brinkley Bluff tonight. Tomorrows forecast is for 1-9mm of rain so we will decide when we get to Brinkley Bluff whether it is safe to stay the night or better to descend the other side.

We spent time organising our food and water for the onward journey, all prepped and packed by 3:15pm. We then relaxed, read, chatted to fellow campers, and phoned family. During the afternoon there were several very big dust whip ups from the gusty winds – you could hear the wind roar through the chasm before the dust whirled across the carpark and into every nook and crevasse. Our tent and fly were fully closed in an attempt to minimise the dust, but everything was completely covered in dust – had to shake out our sleeping bags before bed.

Several hikers travelling East that had planned to be on Brinkley Bluff tonight came in over the course of the afternoon, not wishing to risk the weather conditions in such an exposed campsite. Several reported that the descent was quite stressful, having to stop and brace with their hiking poles each time another big gust came through.  One couple set out for Brinkley Bluff from Standley Chasm mid-afternoon – determined to stick to their plan – only to return 90 minutes later due to the dangerous winds. Tonight, there were nine campers that had all come into Alice Springs on the same flight, including two who were doing a short section from Serpentine Gorge to Standley Chasm with tonight’s planned stay on Brinkley Bluff intended to be the highlight of their trip.  All agreed that it would not have been a pleasant night in the conditions, and potentially quite dangerous. By evening we had decided we may have to stay an extra day at Standley Chasm depending on what the weather was like in the morning.  We have plenty of time in our schedule and can be flexible. If we need to make up time we can always skip the rest day we have planned for Ormiston Gorge, as we have done the Ormiston Pound Walk before.

Statistics

Hike Distance                 5.70km

Hike Time                        3h 21m

Ascent                              305.5m

Descent                           345.6m

Walk Distance                2.00km

Walk Time                        42m

Ascent                              60.9m

Descent                           53.7m