Larapinta side trips

[KL_8]

Hi All

I will be hiking the Larapinta trail (end to end) for the first time in August. Are there any side trips you recommend?

Timing is not an issue for me (I have the flexibility to take however long I want to complete the trail.. I plan to take my time out there and savour the experience). However, I'm hiking solo and I don't intend to hike off track / unmarked routes (unless I meet others to join in, the hike is really worthwhile and only involves fairly basic navigation).

Thank you in advance!

[north-north-west]

The sidetrips I enjoyed the most were the off-track bits - Arenge Bluff, Paisley Bluff, Mt Lloyd, southern Razorback. While off-track, it's all open country and unless it's one of the rare days that's fogged in the navigation is pretty straightforward. The ground on the sides of Paisley is rather loose so you have to be extra careful on that, but the others are more stable.

If nothing else, go up to the Serpentine lookout, and also up to the Serpentine Chalet Dam. And Counts Point.
And take the high track on the loop section. And spend a night on Brinkley Bluff. And if you have the time walk around to the northern end of Redbank Gorge; this can be done on either the eastern or western side. If you're starting from the West, take a cheap air mattress with you on the walk around, and paddle down through Redbank. The mattress can then be passed on to someone else at the camp, or left for collection later. Redbank is one of the most awesome places in the West Macs.

[Eremophila]

Redbank should be good for the next few months at least, there has been plenty of rain. Extremely chilly though....

[north-north-west]

Redbank should be good for the next few months at least, there has been plenty of rain. Extremely chilly though....

Oh yeah. Even in a wetsuit I half froze the first time through. Lot of water that trip.

Very first visit to Redbank I did my usual - wait for a time when it's otherwise deserted and go skinny-dipping. An icebath would have been less 'bracing'.

[paradza]

Ormiston pound and going up the look out was fantastic. Go before dawn if you can. Get the sunrise from the west.
[img][img]

[paradza]

I meant East of course. tried to post a pic from recent trip.

[paradza]

[img]

18_6-16%20#3%20Ormiston%20Pound%20outlook.jpg

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[north-north-west]

That's greener than I've ever seen the Pound.

[oysters]

Ormiston pound is well worth a side trip, and its a tough climb, but Mt Giles is sensational! For most people its a full day trip up and down Mt Giles.

[KL_8]

Hi All
I wanted to let you know that I walked the Larapinta trail in August/September. I spent 35 beautiful days on the trail, including some lovely rest days.
I hiked off track at various points, including (in particular): Arenge Bluff, Mt Lloyd, Paisley Bluff, Mt Giles, Bowmans Gap and the real summit of Mount Sonder.
Thank you for encouraging me to go off track. It definitely made my trip more memorable and exciting! And if not for the responses to my first post, I probably would not have thought to go off track.
I loved the small side trips along the way too. (Scorpion Pool, Simpson's Gap, Bond Gap, the alternative high route to Miller's Flat, Birthday Waterhole, Hugh Gorge waterhole, Serpentine Gorge & lookout and Redbank Gorge).
I also really enjoyed camping between the major trailheads (where I could be alone in nature) and camping at high spots including at Brinkley Bluff, Razorback Ridge, Trig Point, Count's Point, and Giles lookout.
Again, I really appreciate the advice given in response to my first post! Thank you.

[north-north-west]

... and the real summit of Mount Sonder.

*smack*
You're really not supposed to do that, mostly for reasons of cultural sensitivity.

[KL_8]

I did as much research as I could re: the various side trips (inc. the true summit of Mt Sonder) before I left. My understanding is that the Larapinta track does not go to the real summit of Sonder for safety reasons, not cultural reasons, though I may be wrong. The NT track notes say there is no path there because "it involves a difficult and hazardous traverse through cliffs". The Chapman book, if I recall right, describes the walk and simply warns not to attempt it unless you are an experienced walker.

I am very sensitive to cultural matters and I'd be interested to know if there are cultural reasons not to go there.

[north-north-west]

PM sent.

[Andrew]

Hi KL_8,
I am keen to walk the Larapinta in June for as long as it takes. Just wondering how you managed food for 35 days.
Cheers, Andrew

[awildland]

Hi All
I spent 35 beautiful days on the trail, including some lovely rest days. I hiked off track at various points, including (in particular): Arenge Bluff, Mt Lloyd, Paisley Bluff, Mt Giles, Bowmans Gap and the real summit of Mount Sonder. I also really enjoyed camping between the major trailheads (where I could be alone in nature) and camping at high spots including at Brinkley Bluff, Razorback Ridge, Trig Point, Count's Point, and Giles lookout. Again, I really appreciate the advice given in response to my first post! Thank you.

Well done. Superb. What a fantastic amount of time to have out there. We 'only' spent 19 days on the trail. Your experience makes me want to head out and do it all again.

[mikethepike]

NNW commented that the Larapinta Trail didn't go to the higher summit of Mt Sonder for cultural reasons but I know of no evidence that supports this view, and if so of course I would like to know. A few years ago I climbed to the higher summit and can readily understand that the trail keeps away from it because of the risk of people falling on steepish rock and which is encountered not on the high peak but in climbing and descending the lower summit. I was actually involved in helping extricate an older walker from thick scrub and which he was attenpting to cross as a way of avoiding steep rock. I am walking the Trail with a small again in August and I would keep off the higher summit if there are cultural reasons behind this. And if so, why doesn't the trail authority just make this clear. NNW, perhaps you could enlighten me,
Related to this, there is a prominant unnamed peak in the Gammon Ranges not far from Iga Warta and which in the local indigenous culture is forbidden to men but not women. I had that peak on a list of 83 Flinders summits I am intent on climbing but of respect, will keep off it.

[ribuck]

... and the real summit of Mount Sonder.

*smack*
You're really not supposed to do that, mostly for reasons of cultural sensitivity.

My understanding is that the aboriginal custodians asked that the Larapinta Trail not be constructed to the true summit, but have never asked for access to the true summit to be stopped.

[Mcspud]

Casually saying that something is culturally sensitive with no proof is not helpful, in fact it’s simply a lie

[north-north-west]

McSpud:
You need to get a dictionary and check out the actual meaning of word 'lie'. And then apologise for the aspersion.
A statement without evidence is simply an unsupported declaration. It is not possible to determine truth or the lack of it.

[Warin]

I am keen to walk the Larapinta in June for as long as it takes. Just wondering how you managed food for 35 days.

Me too.

Some ideas -
3 food drops - a day and 2 nights at each
Add in other commercial places - so another 2

total 8 nights leaving 27 nights? Divide by 4 for start and food drops and so ~ 7 nights/days food for each carry (assumes a lot, would need more planning).

Alice to Stanley Chasm 7 days - 1 day @ Simpsons gap so ~ 6 day food carry
1 day @ Stanley Chasm
Stanley Chasm to Serpentine Gorge Car Park - this is long? ~ 30 km... 6 day food carry
recovery day @ Serpentine Gorge Car Park?
Serpentine Gorge Car Park to Ormiston Gorge - 6 day food carry
day at Ormiston Gorge
Ormiston Gorge to Glen Helen Lodge
day @ Glen Helen Lodge (possibly a food drop by parcel post?)
Glen Helen Lodge to Redbank - 4 days travel -6 day food carry
2 days at Redbank

~ 29 days...