Trekking the Larapinta - Day 7: Rocky Gully to Serpentine Gorge

Stu Pocknee

18 Oct 2022

larapinta , trekking

Section 6: Hugh Gorge to Ellery Creek North

Section 7: Ellery Creek North to Serpentine Gorge

[Hike distance: 22.6km / 14mi]

2022-07-30

My alarm went off at 6am (as was now routine). The 30min of darkness prior to the first pre-dawn light was spent dressing, deflating mattresses, rolling tarps etc. Yet again I was ruing my decision to bring a cheap Chinese headlamp without the red-light option most hikers have.

By 7:30am we had finishing dicking around with breakfast and coffee and were on the trail again.

Morning colors as we prepare to break camp.

Samwise leading out, followed by Meriadoc and Pippin. What delights does Mordor hold in store today?

We'd had a preview of the track ahead during the search for a campsite last night, so the gentle undulations between the north-south aligned creek beds and ridges that we were now crossing came as no surprise. Like the day before the view did not offer much, although we were clearly drawing closer to the Heavitree Range.

I found myself out ahead, feeling good about the lack of pain in my right shin. At 8:50am I followed the trail into a sandy creek bed. About 20m downstream and to my right there was a tree hung sign with a large triangle aimed at the far bank. Accordingly I followed along, tromping through the soft sand. At the arrow the bank egress point wasn't super evident, but there was a line of stones helpfully placed leading to a small, grass covered track. I thought I'd better pause until my compadres arrived in case they missed it. Soon enough Phil topped a rise and walked down onto the sand. Instead of turning right and coming towards me he went straight across the creek and kept walking. Yet again Phil had found the true trail while I stumbled around following old tracks. The Larapinta is like that in places. Paths get changed from time to time. Mostly they do a good job of blocking off the old ones, but sometimes you find yourself at a dead end thinking "What the..?" and then have to scramble about figuring out where the real trail is.

Another group selfie. Heavitree Range in the background.

After a lazy 40 minute morning tea break (chairs out!) at 9:10am we continued on to the Ellery Creek North/Ellery Creek Big Hole junction (10am). The junction came as a bit of a surprise, we weren't expecting it for another km or two. One of the few times where a miscalculation in distances worked in our favor. From there it was an uneventful 50 min stroll to the 6/7 (Ellery Creek North) trail head. We had lunch, filled water bottles, and wandered south to explore the gorge. The many dead fish lining the waterhole quickly put paid to any ideas of swimming.

Word from a pair of blokes fresh in from the west was that the Serpentine Gorge Trail Head was infested with mice. Nice. Something to look forward to.

By 12:40pm we were ready to be off again. I soaked my hat, gloves, and shemagh in water. Donning them I lifted my pack and followed the others out of camp.

Elise and Phil marching west out of Ellery.

The track west skirts the northern edges of the Heavitree Range. It slopes gently upwards for about 9km before dropping down through Spring Gap (another one). It then continues for another 3km to the Serpentine Gorge trail head. It is dry open country with little or no shade. Today was our first day without totally clear skys. Wispy and thin, the clouds provided little actual relief from the afternoon sun.

The dry, open terrain west of Ellery Creek.

About 5.5km out of Ellery Creek the trail zigzagged us up to the top of an isolated knoll. There was no reason the route planners could not have skirted the base and saved us the climb. In truth, it was a nice spot with a decent view, but in the heat my patience was worn thin and I had some difficulty in being as appreciative as perhaps I should have been.

Ascending the small knoll.

Convertible pants earning their keep. We'd been careful to stay as covered as possible, protecting skin from the harsh sun, but there comes a time when costs outweigh benefits.

Looking west from the small knoll towards Spring Gap.

We stayed on the small knoll for only 20 min before moving on at 2:10pm. A group of hikers had earlier recommended Spring Gap as an excellent resting place. Accordingly we decided to push on to there before stopping for afternoon tea. It did not appear to be too far away.

In actuality we were still 3.6km from Spring Gap and it took almost another hour of hot uphill trudging to reach it. Once there we were somewhat underwhelmed by what greeted us. A dry rocky gully essentially. Definitely not in the class of some of the gorges we had already visited. The tips you receive from other hikers along the trail have to be treated with a grain of salt. Unsurprisingly, we all experience things differently, and have different context and interests.

Disappointed by the Gap and sensing we were now relatively close to our day's destination we decided to forgo afternoon tea and keep hiking.

Spring Gap. Phil with trousers rigged across the back of his pack to dry after washing them at Ellery Creek.

Exiting the gorge put us now on the opposite side of the Heavitree Range. The remaining 2.6km to Serpentine hugged the range's foot slopes. Even though the southern aspect was less oppressive than its northern counterpart the hike was non-trivial. Multiple ridges buttressing out from higher slopes each had to be individually bested. With some relief, after 45 minutes of hiking, we finally arrived at the Serpentine Trail head. Finding ourselves to be the sole occupants of the camp shelter, we proceeded to lay out our gear in some of the tent sites close by.

That was silly. Elise, not being too impressed with the environment, had wandered off to scout the surrounds. Thirty minutes later she returned and announced that we were moving to a creek bed about 300m to the south west. It was the right decision, but in my state of exhaustion and still pissy about missing afternoon tea (yep, I can be a terrible baby when I want to) the thought of re-packing my gear and moving it all was pretty distasteful. I reluctantly got on with it. I am not brave/foolish enough to defy my sister.

Ensconced in the new camp an hour later, I was sulkily playing around with my tarp when Elise piped up "Oh no. Take a look at this".

"What is it?"

"It's something I don't like."

She sounded a bit disturbed.

"Dingo? Crocodile?"

"Nope."

Curious, I wandered over towards our cooking spot.

Lazily slithering over the creek bed was a big old Nope Rope. Couldn't tell you what kind. Black and sinister looking and "not a harmless python" is about as far as my snake identification skills go. Probably pushing 5ft to 1.5m in length. Nothing you'd want in your sleeping bag with you for sure. We got some video and photos as he meandered off unconcernedly into the long grass on the east bank. Right where we had tramped in 30min ago. Mental note to not leave the same way. Was he heading up to the trail head to feast on some of the mice we'd heard about?

Nope rope at our camp.

Around midnight that night I awoke to the sound of rustling close by. Sticking my head up to look about in the starlight I spied a golf-ball-sized shadow scurrying around my hiking pack. I wasn't worried about mice, all our food was strung up from trees in bags. The thought that the mice might attract the snake didn't please me greatly. I whipped out the Helinox and stuck my pack in it - up off the ground. That was probably the only night where I thought it might actually be a good idea to have a tent - assuming it was snake proof. Not much else I could really do though. If a snake is going to come for a cuddle, then the snake is going to come for a cuddle. I pushed it all out of my mind and slept pretty soundly until morning.

The day's hike. Rocky Gully to Serpentine Gorge.

Dirt - Sparks - Code

Self indulgent rambling. Minimal redeeming attributes.

Trekking the Larapinta - Day 7: Rocky Gully to Serpentine Gorge