Larapinta Trail - Day 1 - Telegraph Station to Wallaby Gap
It’s so hard to know where to start talking about such an amazing experience!
Hopefully you’ve seen the Introduction and Itinerary posts which give a bit of a general overview of my experience.
On day 1 I hiked Alice Springs Telegraph Station to Wallaby Gap which totaled 13.7km.
Day 1 was a strange day for me, in that it did not reflect my experience of the trail very well at all!
It was very hot.
My pack was heavy and uncomfortable.
I started too late in the day.
I was not feeling as though my pack and supplies were organised!
I was not feeling as fit and ready for the trail as I would have liked to have been.
One of several red-back spiders I saw on the trail
The trail was much harder than I had expected on that first day. I had read that the first couple of days were relatively easy when you compare it to the whole trail (which is true, looking back now). But, in my pre-hike brain, I took that research as simply “the first days are easy”.
I was going in with the wrong expectation and the wrong mindset, completely! I was expecting those first days to be almost completely flat, which it was not.
That’s something that I wish I’d read somewhere - the whole trail is hard, including the first days!
Being from Darwin, I was expecting to cope well with the heat, but it really got to me on that first couple of days. The trail is very exposed (unlike Darwin/Top End hiking which can have more shade). There is also no option of mid-hike swim stops like I’m used to!
The grass was quite overgrown, making the trail quite hard to see and follow in some places. Looking for the trail took up more time than I had expected!
I began my hike on 25th March 2021. It would have been early in the season by any average standards, but Central Australia had had a much higher than average rainfall season with a huge amount of rain falling around 7 days before my hike start date. As a result, the landscape was looking lush but the trail was very overgrown.
I am very glad I made the decision to wear gaitors, as I nearly didn’t!
The trail starts from the Telegraph station in Alice Springs, and I’d expected the trail to actually walk past signs of the township, but it didn’t at all. From the very start of the trail you feel as remote as you do along the entire trail. You pass under a bridge and the train line, but that’s it until you drive back to town!
My first rest stop!
My first rest stop was just after the trainline, where I stopped in a sandy creek bed for a quick shade and snack stop. This was my first time using a trekking pole (just one), and I accidentally left it behind at this first break - I had to backtrack about 400m before I realised I’d forgotten it! I didn’t make that mistake again!
There’s a couple of relatively flat kilometres before the rise up Euro Ridge, and I remember thinking the entire way on these flatter parts, that my bag was very uncomfortable and I hoped I would become more acquainted with it as time went on! I had the same issue the last time I used this pack on a long hike (7 days). To the point that it gave me blisters and almost burns on the waist straps on the first two days. But, on that hike, I’d managed to be comfortable after a bit of repositioning, so I was hopeful this trip would be the same.
Heading to Euro Ridge in the heat of the day!
A quick pan around from the top of Euro Ridge
Day 1 dinner - some sort of beef mince stew/gravy concoction which was great to replenish my salts!
The view from Euro Ridge was much more spectacular than I’d expected and the distance back to Alice Springs looked much greater than the number of kilometres I’d walked. The rock formations were stunning at the top of the ridge and I’d wished I was more excited by them but I was just feeling incredible overwhelmed with the strain of getting to that point…
I was heat-fried. My bag was so uncomfortable. The terrain was much harder on me than expected. Plus, the view up the trail ahead was daunting. I could see much higher ridges in front of me, and I was feeling a bit emotional at the sight of what I had committed myself to!
The last 700m into Wallaby Gap from the top of Euro Ridge seemed ridiculously long and hot, and I ran out of water around 20 minutes from my days’ end (despite consciously rationing it since the top!). I was very relieved at the sight of the shelter, a chance to relax and rehydrate!
Wallaby Gap
Moonrise from nearby Wallaby Gap
I carried a Sony RX100 which has a bit of zoom on it (unlike the Canon 5DSr and 16-35mm I was carrying!)
Here’s a video of my ramblings and experience of day 1 - it’s definitely not very happy and positive haha, but as I said - this day was not a reflection of the rest of my experience! However, for anyone planning a hike, I think it is important to understand that this hike has challenges regardless of your previous experiences.