Hiking the Larapinta Trail
The Larapinta Trail starts (or finishes) just outside of Alice Springs (depending on the direction you’re heading in). Wikipedia will tell you it’s 223km. The NT Government website says it’s “over 230km.” I recorded 246km with over 7000m of elevation gain. It’s gnarly, isolated and requires detailed planning. I met one guy who was running it in four days but most people take somewhere between 12-18 days to hike the trail.
You need to carry everything you might need for the duration of your trip and you need to plan where you’re going to pick up your water and food.
The idea popped into my head as I was agonising over another painful relationship breakdown whilst sitting at my desk at work. This combination of sedentary work and heart break seems to be the recipe for most of my adventurous ideas. I had never hiked with a large heavy pack before but I’d run a lot of multi day races before. How hard could it be?
I decided I would hike the trail in 16 days. I had no idea if this was a good amount of time, I just randomly picked the days. I would do the trail solo. I had zero idea what I was doing but figured I had a little bit of time to learn. A quick Google search told me that the majority of hikers who hike the entire Larapinta Trail choose to do it solo (I have no idea if this is true) and the majority of those solo hikers are women, so that was all I needed to convince myself this was a fantastic idea.
I chose three food drops spaced out over the course of my hike and I booked a transfer to take me out to Redbank Gorge where I would start my hike. I chose to hike from Sonder to Alice, mostly because I really didn’t know how long I would take and I liked the freedom of hiking from the middle of nowhere back into Alice. This proved to work well for me as I ended up hiking the trail in 14 days rather than the 16 planned and I was able to walk straight into Alice into a hotel room with a shower with no delay.
Other than Google searches, I reached out to friends who knew more than I did about hiking and about the Larapinta Trail. They all gave me pearls of wisdom (thank you Emma, Jan and Celesta!) and I joined the Larapinta facebook group. As much as I despise social media at times this page was an incredibly useful resource for a novice like me.
So with my brand spanking new Osprey hiking pack, I boarded a plane to Alice Springs ready to take on this adventure. Having never been to Alice before, I was already moved by the presence of the land I was standing on when I arrived. I could barely wait for my adventure to begin.
Day 1: Mt Sonder Return 18km
The bus picked me up from my hotel around 8am and off we went to Redbank Gorge. I was the last to board the bus with new friends already seated, belted up and brimming with excitement. It was a couple hour drive to get to Redbank Gorge and as we got closer we could see Mt Sonder in the distance. We all held our breath with awe and excitement.
When we got to Redbank Gorge, we all went our own ways to set up camp. I found a quiet, flat spot in the dry riverbed.
It was around midday when I decided I simply couldn’t wait for sunset to hike Mt Sonder, I had to do it now! You can’t camp on Mt Sonder so this part of the trail is an 18km hike out and back from the Redbank Gorge campground. As it’s out and back, there is no need to take your full pack, so I took my day pack with 1.5L of water (mistake number one – thinking like a runner) and off I went in the midday sun.
It took me around 4-5 hours to complete the hike with a generous lunch break at the summit. I was overflowing with excitement and stupidity and cake. I decided the cake I’d bought in Alice was too heavy to spread out over two days so ate it all in that one hike up Mt Sonder and I didn’t take nearly enough water. I returned to the camp site dehydrated and stupidly happy…and thinking about cake. Damn, it was going to be 16 days before I got to eat cake again
Day 2: Redbank Gorge – Hilltop Lookout 16km
I awoke with the day light on day two and whilst the priority of the hike was my mental health, not the physical adventure of it all, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a race – against who I have no idea. Old habits die hard. I threw all my shit in my pack and got on the trail as quickly as I could. What a fool! In my rush I had packed my bag so poorly that nothing fit right. As I was planning to camp at a dry camp, I also had 6L of water in my pack. I vowed not to rush in the mornings as a poorly packed backpack could ruin the day.
In my journal reflecting on day 2, I’ve written, “every step was a Ta Da! moment.”
The climb up to HIlltop Look out was hard with the heavy pack, full of water and food. My body hadn’t adjusted to the warm temperatures or the demands of the hike and each step felt challenging but the excitement won out. I watched the sunset from my tent and the most magical sunrise the following morning.
Day 3: Hilltop Lookout – Ormiston Gorge 20km
I honestly can’t recall much of the scenery on this section of the walk other than getting into Ormiston Gorge. My journal is a ramble of past hurts so all I can reflect on this is that on Day 3, the hike started to do exactly what I had hoped. The long days on my feet, the isolation and the heat were turning my thoughts inward and I finally had the space and quiet to reflect on the shit show of 2020, the dissolution of my marriage prior to that shit show and all the other circus events that have occurred in the past five years. But! The joy of the Larapinta is that you can’t feel too sad. You’re reminded of the beauty of the world and just how small we are in this huge old universe.
I set up my tent in the campground at Ormiston Gorge and then went down to the towering walls of the gorge and pound. I thought about having a swim in the waterhole but it was so cold. I sat on the sandy beach by the waterhole and grew increasingly annoyed at the music being played by two young guys sitting nearby. One of the problems with Ormiston Gorge is that it’s open to vehicles so these weren’t hikers but day trippers. Of all crimes they could commit – they were listening to fucking Cold Play. But they were so nice. One of them asked me if I minded the music. In my head I said “fuck yes!” Out loud, I heard myself say “no that’s okay.” Then he asked me if I had any requests. I wanted to ask whether he had any grindcore or at the very least to ask him to turn that fucking Cold Play off, but instead I politely said “no no, you’re fine.”
Ormiston Gorge was also the first night I was confronted with one of my fears – mice! At first I felt my heart lodge in my throat and I wondered how I was going to sleep with mice running around my tent. There was one mouse in particular who seemed to have a thing for me. Getting to know him on an individual level quietened my fears a little. I could see he had a funny little personality. I’d also been hiking for three long days in the heat and it didn’t take long before I was dead to the world.
Day 4: Ormiston Gorge – Hermitt’s Hideaway
I left Ormiston Gorge with a very heavy pack. I knew the next night would be a dry camp and it was hot so I took 7 litres of water. I also had just picked up my first food drop so I had five days of food in my pack. My inexperience was showing. Hiking with an extra 7kg is no problem for me, but hiking with 7 litres is a different matter. The water moves throwing out your balance. Add to this my fear of heights and day four was turning into a beauty! As I got to my first real exposed height on the trail, I felt the pack pulling me back. I was struggling to see the markers and I started to get anxious. Rock scrambling with sharp drop offs put me off my game and I started to tremble. Then I took a wrong turn. On this high section of the trail the markers zig zag around the obstacles but I didn’t realise this. I just saw the marker two markers ahead of me and so went over the very scary shit that the markings were designed to avoid. When I got to that section of the trail I couldn’t see the next marker and I was convinced I was going the wrong way. The trail was so narrow there was no where to stop so I shimmied over the rocks to a spot where I could take my pack off. I drank some water, ate some food and did some deep breathing. Then I pulled out my AllTrails map and I could easily see where I had gone wrong and where I had to go to get back on track. That was the worst of it over and best yet, I had been afraid and I had worked through it and moved on. I love that shit.
Hermitts Hideaway was not a planned stop but a recommendation from a guy on the bus out to Redbank Gorge. He had said it was at the 17km marker of this particular section, and sure enough there it was and it was fantastic. Another stellar sunset and sunrise to nurture the soul.
Day 5 Hermitts Hideaway to Serpentine Dam 17km
It was a warm night on Hermitts Hideaway and in my -27 degree sleeping bag, I was a little toasty (I don’t like being cold, don’t judge). I didn’t sleep well and when I did sleep, I had vivid psychedelic dreams. I put it down to all the parmesan cheese I had put on my pasta the night before. CHEESE DREAMS.
The good part about insomnia when camping is you can get up and watch the stars. I had never seen a shooting star before and within ten seconds of looking at the sky I spotted one, then another one and another one. I thought I must be hallucinating. Maybe. Who knows? Could have been the cheese.
It was a hot day on day 5 and for the most part I ”Deb Stepped” it. ”Deb Step” is that extra gear you find after eating Deb. It’s a real thing. Trust me. Sometimes you can find Deb Step without having eaten Deb any time recently if you’re an avid potato fan and can draw on the golden memories of past potatoes. I Deb Stepped it. Right up until Inarlanga Pass. Then I wigged out. Nature is amazing. Unfortunately for you the reader, I didn’t take any great photos of Inarlanga Pass, so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself.
Day 6 Serpentine Dam to Serpentine Gorge 13km
It’s hard to pick favourites, but this day was a pretty magical day. It started with a climb up to Counts Point. Counts Point is as magnificent as every brochure and website will tell you. 360 degree views of magic. Mt Sonder, Giles and Zeil can be seen in the distance.
From Counts Point, the trail follows the ridge line and it was spectacular views for much of the day before a descent into Serpentine Gorge. The gorge itself is a short walk from the campsite. I took myself down there after setting up my tent and I was the only person there. So many different kinds of birds were coming to the gorge to drink, completely oblivious to me. The green budgies and red zebra finch were definitely the stars of the show. As I sat there, they flew over me, around me, making a stampede sound as their wings fluttered, synchronised, in the acoustics of the gorge.
Serpentine Gorge
Day 7 Serpentine Gorge to Ellery Creek South 12km.
One of the unexpected awesome things about the Larapinta is that you will run into the same people time and time again at camp sites. Up until Serpentine Gorge, I had pretty much been keeping the same itinerary as two awesome women who were travelling together Michelle and Jo. From Serpentine Gorge, you can either go South or North. I was going South and they were going North so I felt a little sad knowing I wouldn’t hear their cheery voices at camp that night. We exchanged phone numbers though and given we were all from Adelaide, we figured we’d catch up again one day and share stories of the North versus the South.
This was the first time I felt tired. Whilst the trail distances don’t seem so far, with 20-25kg on my back, across this technical terrain I was hiking anywhere from 4-10 hours a day with most days being around the 6-7 hour mark. So seven days of solid hiking were catching up with me. I was also feeling insanely hungry and I hadn’t really packed enough variety of food. I was doing what I knew – which was sweet food with a salty dinner. When I run I can’t tolerate savoury food, only sweet so I had figured hiking in the heat I would be similar, but I wasn’t. I was craving something more substantial during the day, but I remembered Pop eating polenta during the war for 8 months straight and I sucked it up and figured I would survive. I was losing weight though. My pants kept falling down and I had to do a pack readjustment to make sure it was actually fitting snug.
As I was tired and hungry and knew I had a food drop at Ellery Creek South, I rested a lot during the day. Whenever I saw some shade, I took a rest and ate something. In fact, I ate pretty much everything in my pack but for two muesli bars.
When I got into Ellery Creek South, I could see why people preferred the North. The water hole was spectacular but the car park was full of 4 wheel drives and the camp site was a river bed right next to the car park. I dumped my pack and sat down to write in my journal, in no hurry at all to go and get my food drop from the locked room. Chris and Sirja were passing through – two hikers I’d met earlier. They stopped to tell me of the massive king brown snake they’d seen and that I most likely just walked past completely oblivious. Then they left and I was officially alone. Yes, I was hiking solo, but I hadn’t felt alone from the moment I boarded that bus and made all my new chums. I’d collected chums at every camp site. Now, everyone I knew was either North, ahead of me, or a few nights behind of me.
Eventually I went to the food drop room. I put my key in, opened the door, scanned all the food drop boxes and didn’t see my name. My box isn’t there. Stay calm Tash. Let’s just do this again. So I stepped out of the room, let the door shut. Then put my key in and walked in a second time. I slowly read every name on every box. Definitely not there.
Breathe.
I looked at my phone. No reception. I hadn’t had a bar of reception the whole hike. Okay, maybe one of the 4 wheel drivers will have phone reception. So I walked out to the car park. I asked one nice man if he had phone reception. He said no and when I told him what I was doing and what had happened he said he was driving back to Alice and could take me. My heart dropped. My trip couldn’t be over. Not like this.
I thanked him and scouted the car park for others. I walked over to a woman and asked her. She replied rather annoyed ”I don’t have my phone on me. It’s in the car.”
“Please, I’m not asking because I want to update my Facebook status. I’ve been hiking for seven days and I have another four to five days to go before my next food drop and I have nothing.“
”Well don’t you have a car?” She said.
”No, I walked here!”
She looked at me like she just couldn’t understand me.
“Love!” a kind farmer looking man called out to me.
“Love! That sounds like an emergency! and there’s an emergency phone a couple kilometres up the road. I’ll drive you.”
I hadn’t had a shower in days! There was no way I could let that poor kind man put up with my stench. I thanked him, got directions and assured him I could walk.
I finally got to the phone and I picked up the receiver ”fire, ambulance or police?”
“I don’t know!” I cried.
The operator put me through to the police. The phone kept cutting out as there was such poor phone reception, but the police were on it. Every time I called back I’d be put through to another operator and they were yelling out to one another, keeping one long file note. Basically I had the entire Alice Springs police department helping me out (well it felt that way). They were so kind to me. Assured me that they’d sort this out and that there was nothing to worry about now they knew my whereabouts. They told me to call back in 2 hours to give them time to try and solve the mystery so I walked back to camp. I could see dingo prints all over the road.
Take note of the emergency phone! 
Big Hole at Ellery Creek South
When I got back to camp I found the nice man and I thanked him for being kind and offering me a practical suggestion that I would never have thought of myself. He told me he was staying overnight and he pointed out his red Hilux. He said if I needed anything to leave a note on his car and he would come find me and sort me out. What a legend.
So I tried to relax and enjoy myself while I waited for the police. I had a dip in the Big Hole. Then I raided the left over food box in the food drop room and found a packet of Deb, some custard and some muesli. I was starting to think about whether I could Bear Grills it to Standley Chasm when I heard a voice yell out ”You wouldn’t happen to be Tash would you?” I looked up and he had my food box in his hands. I clapped with joy and almost hugged the guy before I remembered how bad I stunk. He explained that with all the border closures, my box had simply got misplaced. Shit happens. The adventure was to continue!
As I got myself ready for bed, I thought about the practice we’d all been following of tying our food up in the trees to keep it away from the mice. I thought of those dingo prints and I thought fuck the mice. If my tiny chihuahua can jump on the dining room table, a dingo can steal my food from the tree. Trees don’t grow that tall in the desert! There was no way I was going to be separated from my food again. I took it into the tent and spooned it all night.
Day 8 Ellery Creek South to Ghost Gum Flat 23km
Day 8 was a long hot day. The terrain was fairly flat but it was hot and I had a heavy pack with food (yay!) and water for two days.
I got to Ghost Gum Flat around 3pm and I was cursing the Larapinta Trail notes that says there is ample shade here. There was no shade! I had to set my tent up quickly just to get out of the sun and away from the flies but it was putrid in there. I lay there motionless waiting for the heat of the day to subside. Eventually, the heat eased off and Ghost Gum Flat transformed. In my journal I’ve noted:
When the sunset yesterday, I realised why people say Ghost Gum Flat is beautiful. During the afternoon it is a fly infested hell hole. Come sunset, the colours of the sky pop, the trees stand out in the vast red landscape and the birds chirp their bloody heads off.
Ghost Gum Flat
Day 9 Ghost Gum Flat to Fringe Lily Creek 14.5km
I passed through Hugh Gorge on this section. It’s slow going as you’re basically rock hoping the whole way, but I loved the variation of movement. Plus I saw wild flowers on this section that I hadn’t seen anywhere else on the trail.
Some of the wild flowers spotted across the Larapinta Trail
Day 10 Fringe Lily Creek to Section 4/5 Junction 8km
After another night of vivid dreams, I awoke feeling anxious and worried about my mum (mum was fine). I was also anxious about this next section of the trail with my fear of heights. As I ascended, I kept thinking ”We’re not really going up there are we?” and in every instance, that’s exactly where we were going. The trails was very narrow here – like a knife’s edge at times and the drop offs were terrifying.
Once at the top it was a descent into Spencer Gorge with more rock hoping and bouldering. This section might have only been 8km but it was mentally tough. It required so much concentration to not fall, die, roll an ankle or get lost.
Section 4/5 Junction is a pretty enough campsite but the best bit is Birthday Waterhole which is about a km walk from the campsite. You can camp down there too but I chose not to as you can get a 4 wheel drive in there. I prefer to camp with hikers. Frankly as a solo female, it’s just safer that way.
The waterhole was spectacular. This is one of the only water holes that gets sun so whilst it was cold, it wasn’t icy like the other water holes. I enjoyed a swim and relaxed by the water most of the afternoon watching the birds play.
Day 11 Section 4/5 Junction to Standley Chasm 18km
This part of the trail was so different. At times I felt like I was on the razorback in Victoria, other times I felt like I was in South America and other times it reminded me of the Aosta Valley in Italy. I felt so incredibly grateful to live in such a diverse and beautiful country.
I hadn’t really wanted to do this section in one go but it was all so high and exposed that other than Brinkly Bluff, there aren’t really any other camping options. I was making good time even though I was thoroughly enjoying myself and taking it all in and I realised I was going to make it into Standley Chasm in time for a burger (those burgers every bit as good as they say they are!
Day 12 Standley Chasm to Jay Creek 13.5km
I had thought about having a rest day at Standley Chasm. Standley Chasm has a great kiosk so it’s a great place to rest and eat. You can also wash your clothes there. But after eating a burger on day 11, washing my clothes and then eating two breakfasts on day 12, I decided I was going to push on. There was a TV in the kiosk area playing the news and after 11 days of tuning off to the world, I wasn’t ready to tune back in.
So two breakfasts later, I started the steep climb out of Standley Chasm. I didn’t start hiking till 11am and the heat of the day in combination with two breakfasts made for an awful start. I felt so sick as I climbed and climbed and climbed.
Then there was the bouldering!
This section was so much harder than I anticipated and whilst it was beautiful, the two days prior were jaw droppingly beautiful and so this was just hard. I had completed all the other trail sections much faster than the predicted times on the map guides but this section I took the full six hours. Did I mention it was hard?
Day 13 Jay Creek to Wallaby Gap 37.5km
This was the day I well and truely got my Deb Step on. The plan was to stay at Simpsons Gap but I had heard that it was the absolute worse camp site for mice. I knew it was going to be the hottest day on the trail so far but the next few days were going to be hotter so I decided today was the day – let’s just Deb Step it all the way. It turned into a ten hour day. The trail was flat and most of this day just felt like meditation. I was really happy and content and had stopped with most of my obsessive thoughts.
Wallaby Gap was an awesome last campsite to walk into. Friends I’d met on the trail earlier were there and new friends that I hadn’t met were just waiting. Wallaby Gap is only 14km from the trail end so no matter what our itineraries were, we all knew we were finishing the next day. We sat around talking and cooking up our last meal(s). I couldn’t think of a better way to end the adventure.
Day 14 Wallaby Gap to Telegraph Station to Alice
I cried as I packed my tent away for the last time. I cried as we ascended Euro Ridge and got one last ’Ta Da!’ moment. I walked slowly trying to draw out the last little bits of magic of this trip. I reflected on the journey I had made. The challenges I had faced both mentally and physically. The problems I had solved both internally and externally. The beautiful people I had met along the way. Some of them just passing through in that moment, others who I know will stay special connections for we have shared something special together.
If you’ve read this far, you’ve shared some of this journey with me and I hope it’s ignited something in you too, whatever that may be.
I didn’t listen to music the entire hike but it’s a 3-4km walk from the end of the trail into Alice Springs. I put on some tunes and I sang as loud as I could…and it felt so good “Shipping Steel, Shipping Steeeeeel.”
Tasharama_A_Go_Go 