Larapinta Trail - Day 9 - Hugh Gorge Junction to Rocky Gully

First light hits the gorge at Hugh Gorge Junction

I was right about the light being better from my camp at sunrise! That first morning glow was so pretty - I loved capturing it within the gorge.

I was a little nervous about the day ahead - just getting through Hugh Gorge with the amount of rain they’d had. I was prepped mentally for boot removal, swims and wades. I thought the first section might take a while to traverse and I was conscious that I had a fairly big day to do, in terms of kilometres - around 19km in total. I hadn’t covered much ground over my previous two days so I was worried it was going to be a challenging day for me!

To begin with, the trail headed off through Hugh Gorge, seen in the image above at the gap in the cliffs to the back-right of the photo. My first section was to get through Hugh Gorge to the designated trail shelter, 3.6km away.

I did take a few shots within the gorge, and it WAS beautiful. But, I was so occupied with getting through the challenge that I probably didn’t shoot as much as I should have. Within the first 100m, I’d removed my boots for a knee deep wade through the water. I could probably have scrambled around on the rocks, but decided it was much less risky to walk through, even though it would take much more time with taking the boots on and off.

My first wade through the water, looking back to my camp

My second water obstacle was very soon after and was much trickier than the first. The bottom was very muddy and it was much deeper - probably about waist height so I had to make sure I was leaning forward to keep the bottom of my pack out of the water. The camera was in a dry bag, but it sits at the bottom of my pack and I still would much prefer to keep it out of the water if possible!

In the photo below, I basically made a beeline for the tiny blue arrow you can see on the left bank (just attached to a tree… to the right of the biggest white gum. I could then scramble around the muddy bank barefoot in the mud!

My second boot removal, within the first 500m or so of walking.

I was starting to fear this was going to be a very long 3.6km! Each bag off/boot off was an ordeal! First I removed everything and did a slow wade through water first (without the pack to check depth and plan a route), then back to the pack to grab my gear and slowly walk through the water with all my stuff - I did not want to fall or slip! Then re-boot and re-bag…. it was a half an hour ordeal every time! And that doesn’t even factor in the photo time!

I should have used a tripod for these shots - the dynamic range was huge - dark dark shadows and bright highlights. I was bracketing shots, handheld. I was very conscious that it had taken me an hour to walk about 500m - I was trying to save time from also unpacking the tripod and messing with that as well! I had a lot of kilometres to cover!

After the first 500m or so, I began to focus on moving and getting through the gorge quicker. I didn’t have to take my boots off again, but there were a couple of rock scrambles to avoid water. I was zig zagging through the creek a LOT. The “Friends of the Larapinta” guys had been through with the pink surveyors tape as track markers which I was very grateful for. The water had obviously pummeled through there for a time - there was a lot of debris and trees to avoid as well as the deeper pools of water. Even despite the additional track markers, I still ended up having to backtrack a couple of times, coming to areas impassable due to debris. In terms of photographer, although the gorge itself was deep and beautiful to look at, in terms of photography it was challenging - with the debris it looked messy! And the extreme light contrast made it a difficult environment to shoot outside of those lower light periods around sunrise and sunset.

As the gorge began to open out, I saw a lot more people! First I came across a group of 4 who had started walking at Hugh Gorge shelter (accessible by 4WD vehicle), and were heading back to Alice with their Easter holidays. I then came across the same “friend” of the Larapinta Trail that I had seen at Birthday Waterhole! He’d come in from the other side this time, to check out the water levels in the gorge. He said they’d dropped significantly in the few days since I’d seen him.

I then saw another young couple who were guiding a group of hikers through the entire trail within the next week or so and wanted to check out the conditions of the section they were worried about impassibility. This couple also explained that normally the view down the gorge was clear! It was amazing to realise how unusual it was to see this destruction within the gorge from water volume. I passed many pools, cascades and trickles. I still managed to get some shots, but I think this is another section I’d have to revisit and ensure I was in there during sunrise light with a much shorter day planned. With hindsight now, I probably could have spent almost a whole day shooting and wandering through the gorge just to get to the shelter at junction 5/6 - Hugh Gorge shelter. There were lots of birds - I saw my first glimpse of (I think) Star finches here? Although they could have been another type again…. I just know they weren’t zebra finches or budgies, I’d seen gazillions of them!

I am not sure what time I eventually made it to Hugh Gorge shelter. There was another couple of people sitting in the shelter as I arrived (day trippers, feeling the heat and deciding a plan of action!). I filled up my water quickly, used the toilet and had a snack before pushing on with my day.

The next section was to cross from the Chewings Range to the Heavitree Range. I was sad to be leaving the beauty of this first part of the Larapinta Trail. It seemed like a bit of a trail halfway point for me! The next part of the walk intersected through tourist locations accessible by roadtrippers driving the West MacDonnell Ranges. Although the terrain I had travelled was closer to town, it felt more remote to me as it was much less accesible by road. Coming up I had well known landmarks such as Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine Gorge, Ormiston Gorge and Redbank Gorge - all accessible by road, and the Larapinta Trail intersects through these landmarks.

Looking back toward Hugh Gorge, crossing from the Chewings to the Heavitree Ranges

The terrain from Hugh Gorge to Rocky Gully was relatively flat for Larapinta Trail standards. However, I was learning that never means easy! The map looked fairly flat, but as always there were gentle rolling hills, and the terrain was rocky and very exposed to the sun. I was traveling relatively quickly now though. Conscious that I had another 15.3km to go and it was already mid morning.

I came to Hugh View quickly, and didn’t stay long, pushing on toward Ghost Gum flat which I was considering my half way point. It was my only potential for a shady lunch spot! And I took it!

I hadn’t expected much from Ghost Gum Flat, but the reality was even lower than my expectations! The march flies were crazy here! As were the mosquitoes. It was boggy ground, the grass was high, it was hot and I was tired! I had a quick satchet of tuna before continuing on.

I ran out of water around half an hour before arriving at Rocky Gully. That last kilometre or so seemed to go on forever, and when seeing signs for the campsite the short detour to the water tank also seemed exceptionally long! To get to the campsite, you follow a (normally dry) creek bed. But I was so hot, I was sure some of the pools of water were easily bath-able!

In the creek bed at Rocky Gully

One of the many bush cockroach things I saw!

Arriving at Rocky Gully I made a beeline straight for the tank. But, I was excited to see I had camp buddies already setting up their tent - I gave them a wave, but needed to get water after rationing it and running out! Well, I thought I ran out. When actually pulling the camelbak out, I realised I had around 500ml left but I must have squashed the tube or bladder somehow as it wouldn’t come out through the tube!

I have campsite buddies tonight! My first time! A couple who were on their first night, walking from Ellery Creek South and back in to Alice Springs on their Easter holidays. After chatting to them for a while and recounting stories, they told me of the two girls who the solo guy must have been talking about a couple of days earlier! I figured out they must be half a day or so ahead of me, and were also hiking end to end - Alice to Sonder.

Rocky Gully definitely wasn’t a “must camp” location. The scenery of course was nice, but it wasn’t spectacular! However, to walk from Hugh Gorge to Ellery Creek in one day would have been way too much for me so the pitstop served a purpose ready for another day!

Sunset silhouettes of the “corkwood” tree against the red NT rock