An earlier wake today, 6.30am, for the walk the Standley Chasm to ensure I could sample the Chasm Burger vs dehydrated food. Even at this hour most people had either already left or were leaving, especially those tackling the high route into Standley Chasm that added an extra hours and 360m climb to the day.
This morning was the first “wet fly” of the trip as clouds had settled in the valley between Mt Lloyd and the Chewings Range. After packing up the tent it was time for breakfast and the daily “patching of feet” before heading off on the trail to Standley Chasm again under grey skies.
Note across the entire trek it took me about 2 hours from waking to leaving every morning, something I had expected to speed up. This wasn’t an issue as I had a relaxed itinerary but not sure how others seemed to move on in the mornings so quickly.
Today exposed me to some epic scenery walking in the valleys and creek bed towards Standley Chasm. First being the walk south between Mt Lloyd and the Chewings Range to Fish Hole then turning west again towards Tangentyere Junction for the high route. As I walked the clouds started to lift creating incredible scenes as many of the hill tops were still covered in clouds.
From here it was all walking in the creek bed towards Millers Flat where the high route rejoined the main track. This portion of the trail was so rewarding if not a bit confusing at times. Walking along the creek bed provided several opportunities where water had pooled in small water holes and allowed for some interesting vegetation to grow.
In several shady spots the MacDonnell Ranges Cycad grew these fern like plants would make an appearance several times in the gorges.
While the trail markers had been very consistent up until now the walk to Millers Flat seemed to be devoid of markers. I had to refer to my maps and GPS a couple of times to make sure I was still going in the right direction and hadn’t missed some turns. Half way to Millers Flat the trail turns south again requiring some serious rock scrambling skills, training for the next few sections.
At Millers Flat I met up with Katrina and Ann Marie who’d taken the high route and confirmed it was very hard – I was pleased with my decision to stay on the low route.
The closer we got to Standley Chasm the more amazing the scenery became as I climbed through Gastrolobium Saddle and Angkale Junction. While this final couple of kilometers was amazing it was also hard walking with lots of scrambling and some serious climbs – I’d heard this portion was tough and it lived up to it’s reputation. At one point I ended up off the trail as I’d followed Katrina up a scramble and we went too far so had to cut back through the spinifex to the track.
We went up and down several times in the final lead up to Standley Chasm with the last 800m or so being rather painful as I knew there was a burger waiting for me on the other side.
I only carried 2L of water today and it wasn’t enough with a top of 23c and I ran out in the final stages, which was ok as I was close to the end but this changed my water carrying approach for the rest of the trip.
On arrival to Standley Chasm I immediately got a Chasm Burger and Gatorade and both went down a treat. So did the warm shower to clean off the dirt that had accumulated. The kiosk also had more large band aids which I bought a box of as I was going through 2-4 band aids per day on my feet plus tape to hold them on.
The camp site at Standley Chasm was fairly small and got very busy as everyone arrived, in the end I had another tent only about 1m from me. The place was super busy with everyone doing the “food drop shuffle” as this was one of the key food drops for people going in either direction. In the end I left about 1kg of gear and reduced the food I was carrying – a decision I would later regret. Food wise I wasn’t having tea or hot chocolate so they went, along with some heavier lunch items. In reviewing my gear I realised I had a couple of duplicate items camp sorts and board shorts so camp shorts were left long with a “spare” mid layer and my Kindle. As part of the shuffle I added extra electrolytes for the hot days tough ahead.
In preparation for the climb to Brinkley Bluff a dry camp I loaded up almost 8L of water for the 2 days plus the “7 days” of food until Serpentine Gorge. As the kiosk here does catering and public events they had plumbed water that was fully treated so didn’t need to use any tablets, although by now I’d realised I had more than enough for the trip I just hadn’t looked in the right place as they had been split across two locations in my gear – this changed and they were all now centrally located.
There was also mobile coverage and lots of charging options so sent my Dad a couple of messages including my snake picture. Charged the phone and topped up the power backs.
In the end while busy the camp site had a great vibe as everyone was preparing for their own adventures and all the tents squeezed together reminded me a pictures I’ve seen of Everest Base camp.
For dinner I had my lunch as the burger had been lunch and early to bed for the trek up to Brinkley Buff in the morning.
Down Under Treks 