Larapinta 10: Serpentine Chalet to Ormiston Gorge

Today was brutal.

We we’re all up by 4:15am and walking out of campy by 4:45. There was a bright moon, but it was the pools of lights cast by our head torches that allowed us to navigate up through the gorge. Climbing river rocks in the dark was only one of the novel experiences for the day.

After the gorge we climbed ever upwards as the day dawned over grasslands. The gentle uplands lasted a while, but then it was a steep set of switchbacks up to an exposed ridge. The views from Mt Giles Lookout were fabulous but the ridge walk was dangerously underfoot and required concentration.

A few kilometres along the ridge were followed by a steep descent. A very steep descent. in turn that was followed by a long, long walk. We were moving more slowly than I was comfortable with, and my knees started to hurt. Thee only highlight of the last part of the walk was seeing tthe Sun set over Mt Sonder. But the setting Sun gave a clear indication of how long we had been out there.

Not long after fat that S fell a couple of times and hurt her leg.

We were a pretty sorry bunch who limped in to meet the troopy after 13.5 hours in the trail navigating grade 4 and 5 terrain with serious elevation gain and loss. We could all barely hold our eyes open for a quick meal before collapsing into our tents.

31 brutal kilometers today.