Larapinta Trail: Section 1- Reality bite.
Day 1 of 18 Monday
Well there’s no going back now, we’ve told friends and family we are doing this so let’s get the show rolling. After dropping our cars off at a good mates place for safe keeping he kindly offered us a lift out to the trailhead at the old telegraph station. There’s something very special about arriving in style at a trailhead and pulling your packs out of the back of a Police paddy wagon … screams these characters are shady. It felt almost like the crusty old police Sergeant was running us out of town and I’m sure the onlooking tourists thought so if the stares from the cars driving past was any gauge. Infamous or not it was a laughable moment. Pausing for a quick picture at the start, a look at the map and we were away off into the wilds of the Northern Territory. Our good mate Jason (Big J or just plain J) was joining us in a couple of days on the trail so having him in the back ground as back up was reassuring and proved to be a life saver in days to come.
The cleanest I will be for the next 18 days
Setting out at a cracking pace all full of piss and vinegar, we had what I thought was an easy 14km to our first nights camp at Wallaby gap. This vigour lasted only a couple of Kilometre’s before the realisation of just how heavy our packs were began to sink in. Carrying 6L of water, 5 days of food and all of our equipment weighed in at around 18kg and it was fast becoming a serious pain in the butt. I had prepared for heavy packs by doing 15kg pack hauls for up to 25 km at a time in Willowra but this did little to help, as all of my walks were on flat and somewhat graded dirt tracks (yes Mum and Dad you were right). This part of the trail however was vastly different with up and down gradients on uneven terrain. At the 3km mark I took a little tumble which dented the pride so I decided to take a rest, look at the map and break out my trekking poles. Now trekking poles, they can be a hindrance and a help, you either love them or you loathe them. Previously I was in the loathe corner, but I got to admit walking with these on the LT became a must for me. Let’s face it 18kg on your back makes for an unbalancing load and carrying it for hours on end does fatigue you. It can contribute to loss of concentration for footfall on uneven ground which results in a wee little tumble. The poles act as an additional point of contact on the uneven ground and help to stabilise you, so much so I lost count of the number of times I nearly rolled my ankle to only be saved by a trekking pole steadying my stumble. Another purported purpose for there use is they can take up to 15% of the load off your knees and let’s face it any offload helps. So Man up, come to the dark side and use them, you won't regret it. Plus these days a lot of ultra light tents have replaced their poles to lighten your load. Moreover, they also act as a good snake redirector as I found out in Ellery Creek big hole when one came slithering my way - I used a handing pole to flick him out of our camp site. About the 8km mark I started to really hurt, took a lunch break, checked in on my hiking buddy Irish and found she was about a kilometre behind me, all good. We had agreed that we’d walk the trail at our own paces and as long as we knew where each other was it was safe enough. Day dreaming as I munched on my snacks it was here I was starting to suspect maybe this little 231km stroll wasn’t going to be a walk in the park as I thought it would be. But I distinctly remember thinking Pfft only about 7km to go I got this, what more can Day 1 throw at me, I’m over halfway. Setting off again at a pace that was somewhat subdued I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the scenery. I was getting my *kilometres* in and despite the moaning about the pack weight and fatigue creeping in I was feeling okay and it was a beautiful day. It was one of those living the dream moments I've mentioned previously, put simply didn’t have a care in the world. I was in the zone, that is until I came to my next obstacle. Ooh that looks like a bit of a climb, I wonder where I am. Pulling out the map again for a quick look see it was then that I noticed a feature on this NT Parks and Wildlife’s map that I hadn’t paid much attention to before because I was coming to this trail to get my mountain fix. It was the elevation cross section. Shit this bad boy is going to give me a little bit of curry! It's about 800m up and I have to get up and over this “Euro Ridge” to find my bed and water for the night.
That’s the first big hill ticked off only 800m its a baby one
Euro Ridge isn’t that hard in the scheme of what was to follow, but it's a deceitful little bugger with a couple of false ridges that leave you feeling like you have hit the top only to be beasted by another one when you get there. The view on top is pretty special and encompasses the surrounding Alice Springs and the nearby West Macs. The climb down eventually leads you to your camp at Wallaby Gap. Day 1 done and dusted. Irish came into camp right on dust looking as buggered as I felt. Today the trail has taken its toll and given us a bit of a reality check. We're both so buggered that we can’t be arsed to set up our tents and opt to “cowboy camp” right there on the picnic tables provided. It made for a very uncomfortable night with the wind blowing and the slippery ground sheets under us sliding all over the table but it was a lesson to be learnt. It seems this whole trail is about learning lessons but hey that’s what we are here for, tomorrow is another adventure.
‘Cowboy Camping” Larapinta Trail
