{"id":3310,"date":"2023-06-26T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2023-07-11T11:49:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T01:49:38","slug":"larapinta-track-day-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/larapinta-track-day-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Larapinta Track – day 9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hugh Gorge – 4\/5 Junction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Up at 6 am, per usual. Breakfast of porridge, hot chocolate, and chocolate. Everything packed and ready to go by 7:30 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning started with a walk up Hugh Gorge. It was rocky and the footing was difficult which meant that it required a fair bit of effort. I picked up a stick to help me keep balance. There were many jokes about my resemblance to Gandalf, and I had to say \u201cYou will not pass\u201d many times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephen and Sue entering Hugh Gorge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After about an hour, we reached a chokepoint in the gorge. We had heard from a number of people previously about the need for a swim at this point, and the possibility of passing packs up onto a rock on the side of the water. However, we had also heard of people who had climbed around on the low part of the eastern side of the water, and even mention of climbing up high on the eastern side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to climb high, and I\u2019m glad I did.  The climbing wasn\u2019t too difficult, with plenty of handholds and footholds. And then after a 20 meter climb. There is a gentle ramp down on the other side to a sandy beach. I watched the others as they used various methods to get past the water. Kelvin and Steven did the swim, David did the tricky clamber next to the water, and Sue and I did the high climb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephen exiting the swim at Hugh Gorge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We continued further up Hugh Gorge, and then four of us made a side trip to the Hugh Gorge waterhole. The Larapinta Trail is amazing for passing by these hidden gems. It took about an hour to get to the waterhole and then return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dave contemplates Hugh Gorge waterhole.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From there, the Larapinta Trail climbs up to a pass named Rocky Saddle. There are many places on the Larapinta named \u201cRocky\u201d, eg: Rocky Saddle, Rocky Creek, Rocky Cleft, Rocky Gap, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dave and Kelvin at Rocky Saddle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The track then descends to Fringe Lilly Gully. Here we stopped for lunch. There was a Larapinta Trek guided party also having lunch at the same spot. The guide had brought fresh food, and there were leftovers which she brought over for us to share. Eating fresh carrot and cucumber was a real luxury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next was a climb up Razorback Ridge, an incredibly scenic area up a very narrow, steep ridge line. There were the inevitable jokes about large pigs. We had fun scrambling up the hill. We also met the three Tasmanian brothers that we\u2019ve met at a number of other places earlier in the walk. From the top we took plenty of photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephen and Dave on the high traverse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From here, the Trail continues along the ridge and then descends very steeply to the head of Spencer Gorge. We had a break for water at this point. There had been spots of rain. We walked through the gorge, with its bright orange walls and many boulders to climb over. The gorge is about 1 km long and takes quite some time to negotiate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it was an easy 2 km into our campsite for the night at the 4\/5 Junction. I still have the walking stick aka wand. I\u2019m sure it really helped me today and I plan to use it tomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pitched my tent under the shelter. It was raining, and most of us didn\u2019t want to get our gear wet, although Steven decided to walk 100 m to the river bed and camp there. I think he\u2019s worried that he snores and would wake us up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first we thought we would have the place to ourselves. But then at 4:30 pm a group of three women arrived also with the intention of sleeping in the shelter. As the day wore on, even more groups appeared, all coming from the east, and arriving as late as 6:30 pm, when it is very dark.  Some of these walkers didn\u2019t seem to be particularly well prepared for a long trek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was two-minute noodles and kangaroo Bolognese. We had a bit of a chat and then it was time for bed. Fortunately, all the other groups that had been arriving were quite considerate and by 8 pm almost all the noise had died down, which meant that we could have a good sleep. <\/p>\n\n\nPhoto Gallery<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\n\t
<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tLarapinta Track - day 9 <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>GPX\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/marker>\n\t\t\t\t<\/defs>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t50<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t100<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t150<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t200<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t5<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t10<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t15<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/rect>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\tDistance (km)<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t (m)<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t
No elevation data<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Name: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Distance: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Minimum elevation: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Maximum elevation: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Elevation gain: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Elevation loss: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Duration: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t<\/table>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hugh Gorge – 4\/5 Junction Up at 6 am, per usual. Breakfast of porridge, hot chocolate, and chocolate. Everything packed and ready to go by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[39,38],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bushwalking","tag-larapinta-track","tag-northern-territory"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/img_6080-1-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3310"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3335,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions\/3335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}