Kings Canyon

We had intentionally left some time up our sleeve before the start of the hike to be able to get out to Kings Canyon. Last trip we missed it due to Griffy not being allowed in due to it being a national park so we both definitely wanted to see it this time around.

After a quick one night in Alice to restock we headed out towards Kings Canyon on the Stuart highway. We could have taken a far more scenic route along the West McDonald ranges but as this was going to be the scenery for our hike we thought we would wait. The road we took was one we had travelled before to get out to Uluṟu so we put on a podcast to eat up the time. We had decided on a podcast called Lost in Larimer which was very fitting as it’s about an unsolved murder in a tiny town called Larimer north of Alice on the Stuart highway. Not sure if it was the right thing to listen to considering we also drove past the place where Peter Falconio and his girlfriend were attacked and we were both a little unnerved. No talking to crazy strangers for us!

When we arrived at Kings Canyon we were pleasantly surprised with the campsite and we had scored a great site along the edge of the camp with views of the canyon. We spent the first late afternoon and evening just sitting back and enjoying the views.

Everyone who we had met along the way kept telling us that you had to do the rim walk if you were fit enough. We obviously would always have done the big walk anyway but when we looked at it we laughed and quickly realised how much we walked as the rim walk seemed like a walk in the park for us. So Tim came up with the brilliant plan of riding our bikes the 10kms out to the start of the walk doing the walk and then riding back.

The ride out was pretty easy so first leg complete! We then locked our bikes and started the hike. Pretty much from step one it was spectacular and other than the first 10 mins where you had to ascend from the base of the canyon to the rim it was a relatively easy walk. The rock formations and gullys along the rim made it feel like you were on another planet! Then when you got to the edge of the canyon the sheer cliffs were impressive. It was slightly disconcerting realising that on some parts you were walking on an overhang which you didn’t realise until you saw it from the other side of the canyon.

When you experience first hand the wonders of Mother Nature I often laugh at the signs that then explain in geologists terms how they have come about. You look with awe and believe that magic exists in the world and then a geologist just comes along and bursts your bubble by saying that it was really just a bit of water flowing over sandstone for a million years or so. Nothing really to see here 😂😂.

We managed to walk a little off the path and ate our lunch with no one around and continued our walk along the rim and back down the other side. We then completed a little walk in the valley of the canyon along the dry river bank and then jumped on our bikes and headed home. I can honestly say this was the hardest part as the wind had picked up and we had a 10km journey home straight into it.

Needless to say we both thought we deserved a drink after that and sat down with our lovely neighbours Ian and Cathy to enjoy the sun going down over the range.

There was an overnight hike that we could have completed along the range of Kings Canyon called the Giles track. Unfortunately we didn’t think we had enough time to hike and sort logistics while out here. So on the next day we had planned to walk a section of it where we would drive to the end of the Giles track, ride our bikes back halfway and then walk back to the car. Unfortunately it started to rain during the night into mid morning so that plan was scuppered. We ended up just driving to the end and doing a little circuit walk which was nice but no where near as spectacular as Kings Canyon. But it was good to do two walks consecutively considering we were about to embark on 20 in a row!