Larapinta end to end in May

[Jojo]

Hello to all,

This is my first post on this website and I wish to apologize for my english in advance as it is my second language. After brazzing through this forum and seeing the wealth of experience that poster seem to have, I call on you for as much as possible information on next trip.

I am planning to walk the Larapinta from end to end with my mum as a 60 birthday present. There should be no fitness worries as we both regular and experience hikers. However, due to work commitment we will walk the trail start of May, maybe late April. Did anybody as done so and what was there experience (especially weather wise and temperature)? What are the trail condition at this time? Is the camp site busy?

I have read through the other post but any additional info would be awesomelly appreciate. My mum go a thyroid removed recently and I worry about her adaptation to temperature. Did anybody as somme experience with this condition and hot temperature? I live in Cairns and she will have some time to acclimated to heat (coming from France spring!!) before flying the Alice Springs.

I look forward to your insight and to share my passion of bushwalking with likewise mind.

Cheers

[photohiker]

Hi Jojo and welcome.

Have you checked the Larapinta Trail website, specifically the climate page?

Summer temperatures between November to March are hot and on many occasions are far too hot for any type of long distance walking. Temperatures during these periods can reach the high thirties and mid forties during the day and rarely drop below the twenties at night. Winter temperatures however rarely exceed the mid twenties (on average) during the day but can often drop below zero during the night.

The climate page also has a table of maximum and minimum temperatures by month. The 'best time to go' is listed as May-August

I've been to Alice Springs several times in May, generally the weather has been warm and pleasant, but be aware that daytime temps can exceed 30 on fine days that time of year. Depending on water availability, May should be a good time to go, I think.

I have no information regarding long distance hiking after thyroid removal. I would be making sure she is fit and well and has approval from her doctors to do such a walk before attempting it. You also need to become familiar with Outback Australia; it is a harsh place and unforgiving to those that venture in unprepared, but for the prepared it is a magnificent place.

Larapinta is on my list...

[forest]

Hi Jojo.
I've no personal experience on the Larapinta trail in may but I'm planning on doing the whole track too at the end of May/June next year.

In my search for information, just like you are doing it appears that those temps on the website look a little to friendly. What I mean by that is that from what I have been told by people that have lived in Alice Springs (my brother has just come home from 18 months out there) is that temps in May can easily hit mid 30's and plumet below freezing at night. I'm not so concerned regarding the cold temps at night but walking in the middle of the day in full sun and hot carries it's own risks.
Just something else to manage I guess.

In a perfect world temps will be as stated on the website, all I'm trying to say is be prepared for it to be a little warmer and a little colder.

I'd love to walk it in July/August but the burnoff closures this year have me keen to plan when the window looks best to finish the track. Not sure if thats just me being careful but it's a lot of my leave to plan and then be turned around mid route.

I'll be watching the responses with great interest, never know, we might cross paths on the track !!

[Rico]

Hi Jojo, i have done the Larapinta few times, and it is definitely worth the effort... The MacDonnell ranges are breathtaking. It can get very warm during the day, this is why most people start to walk before sunrise, and spend the warmest part of the day in one of the many waterholes you will find along the track. The rangers do an excellent job and they look after the water tanks , so you can confidently find drinking water every 2 or 3 days (you still need to filter or boil the water). Also there are 5 very touristic picnic areas along the way with access roads, so if you need help, it is never too far away.

Still, there are few things to be aware of:

The cold - at night there is a drop of 20 degrees, dont forget a warm sleeping bag and warm clothes...

The rain - Central Australia is a place of extremes... You can have strong rain and flash flooding in that area, especially in that season, which can cut you from civilization for days. If you decide to don't use the official campgrounds, never camp on a dry river bed, as they can flood even when it is not raining. Sometimes it is raining several kilometres away, and you will not be able to see it.

The flies - millions of them, everyday from sunrise to sunset. Bring a good quality fly net, and some good quality insect repellent. The fly net is more important then your hiking shoes in this walk

I suggest you to start from Alice Springs, not from Mt. Sonder, because it makes much more sense. You will leave the town walking, and you will see the top of Mt Sonder for days. The track will become every day better, which will help you to get the motivation you need to fight the flies off. But you will need to organize a lift back with one of the local tour companies, or you will need to walk another 20 km to Glen Helen road house.

[north-north-west]

While some time in Cairns will help a bit with acclimatisation, there's still a big difference to cope with. Cairns is humid - it's in the wet tropics, after all. The heat in the Centre is drier. Much drier. Some peoplke may find that easier to deal with.

Personally, I never had much trouble with the heat there as there was almost always a cool breeze. Sometimes a quite cold one, in fact. As has already been said, the big change from daytime to nighttime temperatures is something to beware of. The coldest night I have ever experienced was out near Redbank Gorge.

[photohiker]

Agree with that. North of the Alice, I've been very hot during the day but woken in the swag with frost on the whiskers.

Desert climate is about extremes.

[peregrinator]

You can find some basic climate data for Alice Springs at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_015590.shtml and at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_015540.shtml

Note that the Date column in these shows why it might be useful to look at both pages.

[Aushiker]

Hi

It has been awhile but a group of us walked in July 2005. Temps where good at that time of the year but they varied depending on where you where. Climbing was warm, on the ridge lines it got cold (see the photos), in the canyons it got hot and overnight we got ice. Oh we also got a month or two worth of rain in one 24 hour period. Could only see a metre max in front us at one stage when climbing to the ridge.

I have a bit of write-up from my walk at http://www.aushiker.com/2009/12/larapinta-trail/ and suggest you get a copy of John and Monica Chapman's Guide Book.

Regards
Andrew

[Jojo]

First thank for the multiple response. It is well appreciated.

photohikers, I knew the website but it is a confirmation that it is a good source of information. I lived in Oz for the last 9 years and bushwalk almost every weekend as well as rogaining and whitewater kayaking so I know a little bit about the outback but certainly not enough about Central Australia.
Regarding the temperature, it is a bit hard get a clear idee as the bom and the website do not show the same range. We will pack for extreme to be safe.

Rico, you raise the flies issue. What about the mice plague that I read about in previous topic. Is it a sure thing that happend each year at this period or was it exeptional? What do you do with your food drop to secure them from rodent? We will not flight with plastic tub, what other users have done and how many drop have they done per trek?

N-N-W, mum love the heat and dreamed of desert walking. Guess the Larapinta trail should deliver! On cold night would you go has far a down jacket in May or just a good fleece and thermal base layer?

I will definetly get a copy of the Chapman book as everyone seems to recommend it. Should I bother with the larapinta package from the National park or a good map of the area is enough?

Regarding gear, I read from no tent to hammock to good tent. What people that done the trail think? Is morning dew a issue? My current reflection was just a flytent against insect but with the stary sky in plain view?
I guess from Rico answer that you should treat the tank water. Steripen or do you need to filter the water for particles in suspension? Do you risk running in empty tank at this time of the year and how many liters do you carry when walking in central Australia?

I am sorry to ask so many questions. thank for your kind answers.

Forest, to the pleasure to cross path on the larapinta.

[jez_au]

I've walked parts of the Larapinta Trail for a week in August of 2010 and a week in August this year. This year was much hotter, dranks lots. The nights were much colder in 2010, hovering around 0. Definately pays to get up early and walk early.

Flies were not an issue either year.

Mice were not a problem by August this year, with the cold nights their numbers had dropped significantly, we only saw one this time. With a La Nina weather phenomenon forming again it will probably be a wet summer, so mice numbers will probably go back up if the rain comes again.

The Larapinta Trail maps are worth buying, I didn't much like John Chapman's. I will compare later so I can be more objective and say why.

Didn't treat water, most of it is town water brought out by truck. Some tablets just in case you need to source water from elsewhere maybe.

I dont recall dew on any nights of the two weeks I have been there, I don't think there is enough moisture in the air for that.

[Rico]

First thank for the multiple response. It is well appreciated.

photohikers, I knew the website but it is a confirmation that it is a good source of information. I lived in Oz for the last 9 years and bushwalk almost every weekend as well as rogaining and whitewater kayaking so I know a little bit about the outback but certainly not enough about Central Australia.
Regarding the temperature, it is a bit hard get a clear idee as the bom and the website do not show the same range. We will pack for extreme to be safe.

Rico, you raise the flies issue. What about the mice plague that I read about in previous topic. Is it a sure thing that happend each year at this period or was it exeptional? What do you do with your food drop to secure them from rodent? We will not flight with plastic tub, what other users have done and how many drop have they done per trek?

N-N-W, mum love the heat and dreamed of desert walking. Guess the Larapinta trail should deliver! On cold night would you go has far a down jacket in May or just a good fleece and thermal base layer?

I will definetly get a copy of the Chapman book as everyone seems to recommend it. Should I bother with the larapinta package from the National park or a good map of the area is enough?

Regarding gear, I read from no tent to hammock to good tent.
I guess from Rico answer that you should treat the tank water. Steripen or do you need to filter the water for particles in suspension? Do you risk running in empty tank at this time of the year and how many liters do you carry when walking in central Australia?

Flies are a problem in April/May, but they will disappear totally in July. The temperature needs to go below zero at night to kill the flies, and usually it is not that cold in May. More then a problem they are annoying... But a flynet is a lightweight, cheap and effective solution. Never had problems with mices, the snakes eat them all

Regarding the water issue, a steripen will do. The tanks are quite warm, and bad things can grow in them... Nothing worst then a big belly pain but there aren't many toilettes around. You will not find the tanks empty, dont worry, you will be fine carrying 4 litres each and refill them on each tank.
You definitely need a tent. The hammock is not the best solution on the larapinta, as the only trees are the river red gums, which have the ugly characteristic to drop large branches without advising (they are called widow makers because the first explorers had few bad experiences with them). This is more an issue in summer, still it is not worth the risk. And there is a chance of heavy rain, so you need a fly. There are few mosquitoes around the water holes, not many, but in a bad year you may need to quickly setup your tent when cooking lunch to keep the flies away (yes, really!).

I strongly suggest to call The Lone Dingo, the only specialized hiking gear shop in Alice Springs. They have topographic maps of the area, plus any possible book ever written on the Larapinta. Plus they are locals, and they know the conditions of the track at any time of the year.

Another problem is the food drop. There are lockers along the way, because the Dingos love hiking food! but you will need to pay a specialized company to organize the food drops and give you the combinations of the locks. You can look in internet, there are 3-4 companies that do this service and they are all good. You can do that yourself, but you need to rent a 4wd, drive 400kms to reach all the food drop areas, and at the end you will spend almost the same money.

Last the temperature... As your body is warm all day, you will feel really cold at night, and especially at around 4am. I would suggest the down jacket, they are ideal in such a dry weather, and they are light to carry.

The Larapinta is an unforgettable walk, dont be scared by those small problems, but you need to be ready. I live in Cairns as well, and the conditions are extreme in both places, but they are not comparables, you will find that in Central Australia your body gets less tired and you will be able to walk longer distances.

Rico

[jez_au]

The Larapinta Trail maps are worth buying, I didn't much like John Chapman's. I will compare later so I can be more objective and say why.

Ok, the book is better. I walked one week with the maps without ever seeing the book. Following year I planned a week using the book but wildfires meant a change of plans so did not walk the trail, instead climbing some peaks.

The maps in the book have more detail, some unofficial campsites marked, more features named and more detailed elevation profiles. However the topo maps, despite being the same scale, have less contours (25m spacing instead of 20m), they also shown less of the surrounding area. They are a bit heavy on the ink.

The book descriptions are better, the is a version written for each direction. The photos are excellent as a planning, encouragement and comparison tool.

The photos in the book look like they were taken in 1985, and the book looks like it was printed in 1992 a but all his books look like that, even ones printed last year.

On which direction to walk, if you are from out of town, Redbank Gorge back to Alice Springs makes more sense as you can do food drops as you are driven out - paying for one drive not two.

The food drop places are all locked rooms, they give a large plastic tub to put your food in. You leave the tub in the room when you leave. There are also boxes there to swap unwanted food and items.

[north-north-west]

N-N-W, mum love the heat and dreamed of desert walking. Guess the Larapinta trail should deliver! On cold night would you go has far a down jacket in May or just a good fleece and thermal base layer?

I will definetly get a copy of the Chapman book as everyone seems to recommend it. Should I bother with the larapinta package from the National park or a good map of the area is enough?.

Personally, I think the book is good enough. I did the track long before the book was written, but it's a very good guide - better than most of the Chapman ouvre, in fact.

For nighttime temperatures, it depends to some extent where you're camping. I woke up early one morning at the ridgetop camp at Redbank to find half an inch of ice on the car windows. And that is not an exaggeration. If you're camping somewhere a bit more sheltered it won't be quite as bad. But if I was doing the walk this coming May, I'd take my down jacket - and not just to use as a pillow.

[Eremophila]

From memory, there is tank water available at the start/finish of each section. But not all of the overnight sections have water along the way, so you would need to carry enough for 2 days. I would allow no less than 4 litres per person per day. The climate is very dry and you can dehydrate easily if not used to it. Groundwater is not reliable at all.
May should still have warm days but the nights may be cool. There is generally a variation of around 20 degrees from day to night, so if it were 25C during the day, you would be looking at a minimum of 5C at night. This can vary at times particularly when it's overcast. Keep an eye on conditions for a few weeks before you go.
It would definitely pay to take a tent if you are doing end-to-end, although you may not need to use it. Dew is not normally a problem.
I don't know the extent of the fires, having left Alice Springs early last year. But they should have killed off some of the mice. I'm still finding mouse poo in some of our stuff packed by the removalists!! However, if there is more rain between now & then, the seeding grasses will regrow and the mice will return.
We did a couple of sections in early 2010, after there had been significant rain and parts of the track had barely been used as it was still the start of the walking season. There were hundreds of large golden orb spiders strung across the track which kept us alert.
A flynet is a necessity.....
And the dingoes are fond of everything, not just food Make sure you pack everything away at night.
Some of the "campsites" on the overnight sections are pretty basic.
I would do east to west, so you're not walking into the morning sun.
And yes, chat to the folks at Lone Dingo, they will give you up-to-date information on conditions.

[Sparx]

Hi,

First post here.

I am planning to walk (well run actually) the Larapinta trail solo at the beginning of May. I am going to book a trail transfer and was wondering if anyone wanted to share the cost of the transfer? I haven't checked exactly but it seems to be around $330 from Alice to Redbank Gorge, not too sure if they charge per person or what but it should work out cheaper I guess. I will also possibly put one food drop in.

I am able to go any time from the 29th April till the 1st of May (i.e a 3 day window).

My flights are booked and I am committed, so anyone who is also keen just give me a shout.

Cheers,

G

[srforum112]

Shame you weren't planning the walk a week later as my friend and are are planning to walk west to east starting on 7 May. Unfortunately we cannot bring our walking dates forward due to other committments.

Sparx, it will be great to hear about your trip, especially with your plans to run the track.

Thank you everyone for all the valuable information in this post. Its been really useful. It is very different planning this walk in comparison to the other walks I've planned in Tassie. I am really looking forward to the walk, it looks spectular and a real walking challenge.

Sonja

[Sparx]

I'll let you know how I go, plan is to run the track in 4 days, covering between 50 and 65 k's per day. Getting extremely excited now!

I have a mate who is planning on running the whole thing in one go - 233k non stop. he has also done the Great North Walk in 66hrs!

[under10kg]

I was told to walk to alice springs as you have the western sun behind you in the afternoon.
Is this an issue if you walk early?

[Eremophila]

Personal preference really. I think most of the transport options make it easier to start at the western end.
My own preference is to walk away from the sun - east to west.

[north-north-west]

I'd like to have the time to do it as an out and back. If I could find somewhere safe to park the car at the Alice . . .

[jaymac]

thanks for the tips everyone. i'm planning a trip in early june and would be interested in hearing how critical full length gaiters are on the larapinta or would shorties do the trick to keep out the dust?

[Aushiker]

thanks for the tips everyone. i'm planning a trip in early june and would be interested in hearing how critical full length gaiters are on the larapinta or would shorties do the trick to keep out the dust?

When I did my walk (July) I wore full length gaiters but that was as much about the fact that is all I had as anything else.

Andrew

[Eremophila]

Not so much dust - more spinifex, grass seeds and other prickly things, and scratchy shrubs.

Try the local club: http://home.austarnet.com.au/longwalk/

or the guys at Lone Dingo, to see what current conditions are like. There were a lot of bushfires last year, just depends whether there has been enough rain to promote regrowth.

[Sparx]

I just finished my walk on Friday. I did all 12 sections in 5 days (took one day longer than expected). Was an awesome experience, such a beautiful place. Track conditions were great, the only place I found a little tricky navigationally were between Hugh View and Ghost Gum Flat, but Rangers were working on it. No mice.

I didn't use gaiters at all, spinifex is just prickly grass after all and I am a soft Sydneysider.

Plenty of water out on the track too.

[Dale]

Sparx - glad to hear your adventure went well.

Thanks for posting about gaiters as I was pondering that choice myself. I'm planning on wearing some lightweight Innov8 shoes - how did you find the rocky terrain with respect to footwear ?

[Sparx]

I am quite familiar with Innov8, though I don't use them myself. I used Salamon XT Wings - probably offer a bit more protection than most Innov8 models. They were probably right on the edge of offering enough protection - my feet were pretty sore and beat up by the end, though not catastrophically so. The shoes themselves were pretty trashed too!

I would certainly not go with any of the really lightweight Innov8's, a good rock plate and toe protection are pretty useful out there!

I did use some gaiters - not bushwalking ones - Dirty Girl Gaiters.com make some lightweight running ones, just to keep debris out of shoes. No protection from spiky grass!

[Dale]

Good to hear the water levels are OK Sparx - were you able to refill each day ? Most of the info I've seen show lots of creeks with a 'streams are normally dry' disclaimer.

[Sparx]

There is a lot of water about. Because I was travelling relatively quickly I was able to rely completely on water tanks, so I did not need to use any creeks. So I can't really point out specific places but there are quite a few creeks and waterholes with water in them as well as all the tanks.

[wildlight]

I'd like to have the time to do it as an out and back. If I could find somewhere safe to park the car at the Alice . . .

hey north-north-west,

What about for absolute freedom- leave the car at home and fly there? It would be an incredibly awesome out-and-back in the outback.

The Chifley, just out of the town proper, will look after your vehicle, as will the Wintersun Caravan Park. Two opposite ends of the spectrum... both will want a minimal fee- you could do it easily, logistics wise.

I've found that Alice is a place where you can just rock up and things will happen- if the first person can't help you, they'll know the right person who can.

That would be an absolute humdinger of a walk.

SafeStaps

WildLight

[Eremophila]

You really can't rely on groundwater at all, if there is not regular rain (as is the norm) they will go off pretty quickly.

As for parking the car - try some sites such as GlobalFreeloaders??? Hosts will generally be helpful if they can.