The outback of Central Australia with it’s ancient red rock mountains and vast sandy desert has been referred to as the land of lots of time and has been immortalised as such in song and movie. Our team of intrepid walkers were half way through the second half of the 230 kilometre Larapinta Trail with still a few days to go and we were hungry for what might lie ahead.

Day Four of our trek was similar to Day Three, up before dawn, bacon and egg roll, another tough day graded as Difficult, a few serious switchback climbs which tested our supreme fitness levels, rewarded by stunning views from the top of the ridge at Brinkley Bluff. 

As we regathered at the top to catch our breath and breathe a sigh of relief for making the summit it was the 360° views that reminded us why this is all so worthwhile.  The West MacDonnell Range runs a long jagged line across the distant desert plains and at that moment I didn’t want to be anywhere else. 

We followed the ridge line, clambering over rocks, skirting along narrow tracks on steep faces and taking in the views until the trail started to descend, then a long walk back to civilisation at the major public site of Standley Chasm.

Standley Chasm is accessed via a paved road, has a full-on café, camping area and toilets, the later two of which are uncomfortably close together. Never mind, we treated ourselves to burgers and milkshakes in the café while comparing sore muscles and reminiscing on the wonders of the day’s walk.  A hot shower and Hoppy’s tasty tuna pasta finished off a 19 kilometre day on the trail.

The next morning we explored Standley Chasm itself, it’s towering vertical walls little more than an arm’s stretch apart, before climbing straight up the chasm walls itself and attacking a series of steep ups and downs all morning.  These mountains never seem to give you a breather but to hardened hikers like ourselves it was all good fun. 

We passed through areas that had recently been burned from lightning strikes before following a dry creek bed for some ways until reaching the Jays Creek campsite and shelter. 

And here we had another first – the camp was already inhabited by three humongous Brahma bulls, as big and threatening as we would care to meet.  Runaways from a nearby station, they lingered all day and night, more out of curiosity and the power of possession than any menace, even getting to within a couple of metres of other campers’ tents before Hoppy and I gently shooed them away.  Now we’ve seen it all.

The campsite at Jays Creek saw a new addition to our group. Chook’s son Paul had flown in from Sydney and delivered to the camp by Pearcey to join us for the last few days.

Following these three tough days we knew we had a relatively easy walk over the next three days to our finish line at the Telegraph Station near Alice Springs.  The cloud cover and flatish terrain made perfect walking conditions and we covered the 13 kilometres to our next campsite before 1pm.  This was an unappealing bush camp and it was too early to stop so we unanimously voted to push on to the following day’s camp site at Simpson’s Gap.

And what a good idea that was!  By combining those two easy days into one we walked about 26.2 kilometres, a fair stretch for our old legs, and the annoying drizzle at the end of the day added some spice.  We set up camp near the dry creek bed that runs through the huge Simpson’s Gap after covering the distance in 7.15 hours.  And as it was on every night, we were all watered, fed, tucked into our sleeping bags and snoring by 7.30pm. 

The last day of our epic Larapinta Trail was 25 kilometres from Simpson’s Gap to the historic Telegraph Station.  It is graded as Moderate to Difficult which to these hardened walkers was nothin’. 

The highlight of the day was the climb up onto Euro Ridge, a jutted and jagged section of the range which provided spectacular views in all directions, including over the town of Alice Springs.  There was a great sense of accomplishment amongst our team, knowing that it was all downhill from there and we could look forward to big steaks and cold beers tonight in our favourite tavern.

And that’s exactly how it played out.  Pearcey met us at the Telegraph Station where we hoisted icy cold beers in celebration of our victory over the Larapinta Trail and we commuted to our villas for well-earned showers and more beers.  We managed to patronise three different establishments that night, all of which included some combination of drinks, food, footie on the big screen, a busy pool table and a rousing night of karaoke where the locals entertained us with their melodies. 

We had another day in Alice before catching our flights back to Sydney where we bored family and friends with stories and photos of our amazing achievements.  There was at least one retirement amongst us but also a conversation or two on where we could walk next.  I wonder if that will ever happen?