Day 124

 Day 124
 Wow, How have I kept count!

 We are well into spring here in Alice Springs, and it's feeling like an Ontario summer heatwave.

 I have just emerged from an incredible walk-a-bout across the West MacDonnell Ranges. While I did fall short of my sightly over ambitious goal of 450Km in 15 days, I feel like what I took away from the experience was exactly what I was intended to get.

 The Larapinta Trail is a [roughly] 225Km track stretching from Alice Springs historic Telegraph Station across the West MacDonnell Ranges to the summit of Mount Sonder (1297m). It is now rated as one of the Worlds Premier hiking tracks, and I couldn't resist the chance to take it on! On average it takes 12 - 14 days to comfortably reach the end from Alice Springs. My goal was to reach the summit of Mount Sonder and return to Alice all within 15 days, [roughly] 450Km, carrying all of my food, and supplies, plus 5L of water as I set off each morning.

 Sounds pretty keen, eh? Pretty stupid if you ask me! What kind of idiot takes on something like that? (Never mind the fact that we are sitting in the middle of desert country)

 Well, that idiot would be me! Like they say, better an Ambitious Idiot than Ignorantly Stupid!


 Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who says that, but it makes sense to me! After all where would we be with out overly ambitious yahoos doing rediculous thing? Probably over-crowding Europe...

 The trail varies in grade from section to section, and was, I will admit, much more challenging than I ever imagined it would be. When they say very hard track they mean it! I crossed everything from sand flats, grasslands and mulga flats, to river beds, chasms and gorges, to some of the highest mountain peaks and challenging ridges and scrambles in the Northern Territory.

 Over all it was an incredible experience. 7 days "gone bush" as the Aussies say. Every night camping out under the stars, just in time for the full moon to last my entire stint! There was, and still is a very high fire warning in effect, so a toasty fire to end me off every night was usually out of the question, though. In fact, I was actually two weeks late setting out on my expedition due to bush fires that tore through the Ranges the weekend I was due to arrive in Alice Springs. The effects of the fires were very harsh n some sections, every day I wandered through the burnt out country side, ash and char as far as the eye could see at  times. But, thankfully there were some untouched areas, holding some of the most spectacular wildlife and vegetation I have ever seen.

 But in the end, the heat caught up with me as a result of having to embark two weeks late, as well the weight of my pack played a big factor in my having to leave the trail early. Setting out from Alice Springs with near 30Kg in my bag was pretty stupid, and that kind of weight doesn't drop quickly on rationed food and constantly refilling water supplies.

Bruised, blistered and broken I sit here at Alice Lodge Backpackers happier and far more content than a pig in warm... well, you get the picture. A long story short, I am personally quite thrilled at where my trek took me, the things I saw and did and the awesome people I met.

 Stay tuned for the detailed version of my trip, including some sweet photo's. But first - and I thank you for baring with me on this - to finish catching you up on my earlier adventures out of Queensland and Darwin!