So in our 20 day hike of the Larapinta trail day 10 would mean that we are somewhere around the halfway point and certainly double the length of our previous longest hike but still a long way to go roughly about 100km.
Last night was the coldest yet and while we both managed to get sleep it was a pretty tough night. Our expectations of spending evenings sitting under blankets of stars relaxing are certainly not eventuating and instead it’s eat dinner and get everything ready before the sun disappears then watch sunset before diving into the tent to get in the sleeping bags. The temperature just falls off a cliff once the sun disappears and to be fair it is not exactly getting too warm through the day anyway with our maximum temperature unlikely to be much above single digits.
I think if we had our choice again we would have come when it was a little warmer and braved the midday heat but unfortunately we couldn’t pick our time so we are just viewing it as adding to the adventure.
Yesterday we pitched camp so as to maximise our exposure to the sun this morning and we were very happy to wake up and see clear blue sky and watch the sunrise in our beautiful spot. We took our time packing up the tent and enjoyed a hot cup of tea and breakfast watching the sun rise and slowly start to warm us up.
Our friend Lachy that we had been having good chats with along the last few sections had camped on the other side of the river to us and came to visit in the morning and we all relished in the fact that we had each had campsites to ourselves which was really quite nice. It certainly has been a bit busier than I thought it would be but in comparison to others we have been pretty lucky with getting some quieter campsites.
The day’s hike was meant to be about 13km again and we were starting a second day of crossing the relative flats to the next mountain range. The going was surprisingly tough as most of the views were behind us and we felt a bit as though we were just plodding along. The most amazing thing was when we crested the small hills and were able to look back and see where we had had lunch the day before way in the distance and then when we looked further we saw the mountain range that we walked across before and then when we thought about it there was plenty more behind that that we couldn’t even see! We have certainly covered a lot of distance.
We enjoyed a couple of stops along the way and had quick chats with most of the hikers travelling in the opposite direction which once again would have been about a dozen. We finally made it to our destination of Rocky Bar where we once again caught up with Lachy but one quick look around the campsite and it wasn’t particularly inspiring. There were very few campsites and those that were there were very close to the toilet.
Lachy decided to go on another 7km to another site and we had a look at my maps app and thought we would try our luck with a campsite marked about 5km further down the path.
We stocked up with another 6 litres water and headed off. I have to admit the extra 6kg on my bag was a little heavy especially at the end of the day and considering we were also carrying 6 days of food but as we headed up the track we passed at least another 10 people who were headed to the campsite we just left so that would have certainly meant for a very cramped evening.
Our campsite that we were headed for wasn’t as established as others we have seen on the track in fact it really was probably just a little bit of flat land in between the rocks but we were quite happy with it and within 30 mins we had set up and were sat in our chairs enjoying a cup of tea and having a chat whilst taking in the beautiful surrounds. The relax at the end of the day is certainly something we both enjoy and the countryside is while stark very captivating. Also our dinners while not exactly the most exciting are a joy to eat when you are in such amazing locations.
So glad to be halfway down the track and still very much enjoying ourselves just keeping fingers crossed for a little increase in temperature. T