Larapinta Trail: Section 8 Serpentine Gorge to Serpentine chalet dam

Day 13 of 19 Saturday

Uber Eat delivery man Heavitree range

 Well for some the number 13 is unlucky and yet here we are on Day 13 rising and shining with a little more Zing in our step than usual, for today was to be a good day and I could feel it in my bones.
Big J Uber Eats was making its second delivery on the trail and it was going to be a cracker. In anticipation of his arrival and acknowledging the perpetuity for the larapinta trail makers to situate our campsites in far flung and often difficult to find place in vague proximity to trail heads, I had at last light yesterday set out some trail markers so he could find us without too much difficulty. Our predetermined 0800hrs rendezvous came and went and I was just about to send out a search party when I hear this all too familiar bogan like voice shout out in the distance, “where the fuck are you guys?” Over here I reply “follow the trail markers ya Muppet”. “What bloody trail markers?” he replies, getting closer.  “Just follow the Uber Eat deliver sign in the sand mate” I reply. “What bloody Uber Eat sign ya wanker, just come and get me”, and so I did. It was good to see the myth of the trail waddling up the trail with a heavy pack in situ and a KFC branded bag in tow.
Now KFC itself isn’t anything to write home about but to see it being delivered in the wilds of NT was quite comical and after 13 days of trail food it was a bloody godsend. To me it was like your favourite delivery driver appearing out of the gloom with his best serving of Thai Green Curry from Tuk Tuk Thai (my Townsville mates will get it), hell I reckon even my Vegan friends might have turned a blind eye to it. Who am I kidding they never turn blind eyes and probably would gouge them out. But you get the picture.  Sitting there with Big J and Irish shooting the shit and inhaling KFC for breakfast – does life get any better. I could feel the daggers of jealousy from our fellow trail hikers piercing my back but you know what, I didn’t care, life was good.

Counts Point vista a top of the world moments

Feast devoured and some leftovers tucked away safely for mornos we were off. Today was scheduled to be a harder stroll than yesterday, with some serious hill climb straight up the side of Heavitree Range. Probably not the best idea on a belly full of KFC but the task ahead none the less.
 The Trail map as per usual mystically attempts to smooth over any perceived hardships ahead for the morning -“the trail strikes the steep flank of the Heavitree Range and climbs to the very top. There are some steps in place, but it’s a long ascent so take your time and look around at the ever expanding horizon”. By now I can translate trail waffle fluently to its real true meaning, that being – it’s going to be a hard slog so take your time fat bastard because if you have a heart attack, we’re not real keen on coming to get your sorry arse down.
We should have set off earlier because just as we arrived at the trail head two buses of day hikers rolled in looking the part in their clean clothes, shiny new boots and poles. Now I don’t mind how you get there, whether it be by tourist bus or hiking the trail in full but don’t go asking me silly questions like is that pack heavy and how far you have come today. Come on it’s O845hrs in the morning use a bit of common sense, of course this pack is bloody heavy. Day trippers are a special breed of people they deserve to enjoy the beauty of the wilds too but I just don’t like how they arrive en masse and take over the trail. It’s a peopley thing for me I suppose. I love the days when you can walk for hours and the only human voice you hear is the little voices inside your head urging you on and the solitude enveloping you. But alas today was not to be one of those days so I just plod on, a tiny number in the masses on the trail today. When I say masses it’s not that many but after 13 days on the trail seeing groups of 12 people at a time was too many for me. Moan over.

Counts Point panoramic view

The morning hike was tough, it was a bloody steep climb to the top, a lot of huffing and puffing was had by everyone on that path today. But was it worth it. Absolutely. It was an amazing clear day and yes Trail map waffly guy got it right today “the ever expanding horizons” were just that. The view was amazing, and you got lost in the moments that rolled into hours as you trundled along the ridgeline towards Counts Point Junction.
The morning hike was tough, it was a bloody steep climb to the top, a lot of huffing and puffing was had by everyone on that path today. But was it worth it. Absolutely. It was an amazing clear day and yes Trail map waffly guy got it right today “the ever expanding horizons” were just that. The view was amazing, and you got lost in the moments that rolled into hours as you trundled along the ridgeline towards Counts Point Junction.

a long way up equals a long way down

Arriving at Counts Point, you turn left here and descend, or you push on for another 700m to actually get to Counts Point. Do yourself a favour here, drop your pack, smash down some water under the shade off a tree and take a water bottle up to the designated Counts Point. There you’ll find a thoughtful bench put there to rest your weary bones and soak up those ever popular top of the world feelings as you encounter on this trail. If you are lucky then you might just get some quiet time to yourself so you can reflect on the meaning of life, at least until the next tour group turns up shattering the serenity. It’s a magical point. Ooh it has mobile coverage too so it’s good if you gotta touch base with the world and put out the mandatory social posts, you can do that too.

The trip down the Heavitree Range is as you would imagine, steep in places and rough on the knees but it’s a good track and is not that challenging. Coming off the euphoric highs of the mountain can be a bit of a downer but it was offset by the knowledge I had heard a rumour about a little waterhole at Serpentine Chalet Dam campsite as a reward after a hard day’s slog.

Arriving at Serpentine Chalet Dam campsite. I was pleasantly surprised.  I’ll have to say this was one of my favourite sites on the whole trail. It is spread out nicely, so you are not camping on top of each other and more importantly it did indeed have a magical little waterhole that is tucked away up in the creek line towards the North of the campsite. It’s about a 200m rock scramble from the main campsite, away from the amenities towards a rugged looking hill and end of the road for the creek. You clamber over boulders and are greeted by a very old man-made concrete dam, it’s not very big or high wall but does the job. Beyond that there is a three or four metre crack in the cliff face to which you can swim through, and it opens up into a tiny amphitheatre like shaped body of water which is clearly the base of a waterfall in wet season. Yep, the water is bloody cold and it’s deep, but damn is it refreshing after a tough days walk.  The cold almost sucks the tiredness away from your aching muscles as you vigorously scrub off the trail dust and dirt with fistfuls of fine wet sand. Leaving you primitively clean and refreshed. All I need now is one of those dehydrated trail beers I’m going to invent and the world would be a perfect place again.

Top of the world view looking south