Why would I want to walk the Larapinta solo?

The Larapinta is an iconic trail through a beautiful part of Australia, a landscape of ghost gums, spinifex, and red rock gorges unique to Australia, - but why do it on my own?

Well, I like my independence, I like to stop and rest whenever I want to, and I don’t want to be restricted to a set itinerary. Although I’m walking solo, there are other people on the trail, so I’m not totally alone. Being an enthusiastic photographer, it’s not unusual for me to stop for ½ hour or more to take photos and I can’t do this if I’m with a group. These are the main reasons; the question now is, am I fit enough? The Larapinta is a 230km trail over some very rugged country in central Australia. That wasn’t my main concern, (I’ve walked much longer distances, e.g., the Bibbulmum track, the Camino and many treks in Nepal), but I was younger! I needed to be self-sufficient on the Larapinta, and my pack at times would be 20 kilos or more and this was of some concern to me.

I booked my trip with the World Expeditions group and the logistics of the trip were handled by Australian Walking Holidays in Alice Springs. Their itinerary for solo walkers was 12 days but this was too quick for my liking. However, they were flexible, and it was no trouble to extend my itinerary to 16 days. This enabled me to break a couple of very long days into two. It also meant I would be carrying a maximum of 4 days food at any one time, which would lessen the weight as well. I started with 4 days food and had food drops placed at Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek and Ormiston Gorge. (Included in the cost of the walk.) Of course, water adds weight and at 2 overnight camps I needed 5 litres of water. (There are waterholes along the way but not all fit for drinking, so don’t rely on that)

My pack weight without food and water was about 13-14 kilos. This included all my clothes, tent, camping equipment, first aid kit and other things such as a personal locator device. (an EPIRB is a must have, especially for a solo walker)

There are permanent camp sites along the track. These all have a covered shelter with a sleeping platform, toilets and water tanks. There are campsites between the permanent camps, but if camping there, you must carry extra water. The Lrapainta Trail by John and Monica Chapman is full of information on the trail and what to carry. (Incidentally I met the author on the trail!)

I carried a Fuji X100F camera, a small,fixed lens camera that I easily carried around my neck all the time. The lens is a 35mm equivalent i.e. a slight wide angle lens. This may have some limitations, but it is small and light, - an ideal travel camera.

On the following pages are a few of my photos which may convince you to walk the trail yourself. If you would like to see more, I published a photo / travel book with Blurb called Larapinta Dreaming. Follow the link to view,

  https://au.blurb.com/b/10868505-larapinta-dreaming

Sunset Brinkleys Moonrise Heavitree Range                          Ghost gum

Sunset from Brinkleys                         Moonrise over Heavitree Range                    The ubiquitous "ghost" gum.