11th February 2010
With yesterday’s heat towards the end of our Valley of the Winds walk having affected a number of people the group concensous was another early start, before the sun was up so we could hike the rim of Kings Canyon in relative comfort. The bonus about today’s walk though was that we would also get to cool off in a water hole half way round. Also, after talking to a lovely Canadian woman, Patty last night, she has given us her Emu Cream to try (my adopted name for Desert Dwellers and of much amusement to Paul our guide who says it must work because we haven’t seen any Emus!).
The walk began with a well-constructed stepped ascent up to the canyon’s rim. The views of the surrounding countryside along with the early hour made the climb bearable and the emu cream seemed to be working so I didn’t need the claustrophobic fly net.
Once we reached the top, we were greeted by a fairly flat plateau dotted with trees growing straight out of the crevices in the rock. The rock here is sandstone and holds a lot of water, the trees have adapted and push their roots into the tiniest crack to find water and take the moisture directly out of the rock. As a result some areas on the top of Kings Canyon have quite a variety of plants including the prehistoric cycad.
As we were walking around the top, we spotted the two members of our party who had elected to do the shorter walk along the canyon bottom. It was really weird to hear them so clearly from so far away as their voices were naturally amplified by the canyon walls.
We continued along the top of the canyon, walking through a maze of sandstone domes known as the Lost City accompanied by splendid views out to the plains beyond. About half way round we climbed down the steep steps into the palm filled chasm of the Garden of Eden, bursting with greenery and with plenty of little green frogs.
On reaching the opposite bank we took a short detour down to a water hole where we went for a fabulously refreshing dip in the lovely cool, albeit quite murky, water. Lots of photos taken of us all in the water and once we got out, one of the guys from London called us togther for a group photo.
The rest of the walk was conducted in full sun with many, many stops for photos around the top of the canyon. We had some exellent views of the strata in the rock where large boulders had sheered off from the cliff face. You could also clearly hear the cries of the birds flying around in the base of the canyon.
It was getting on for 11am when we started the gentle descent back to the car park and by now the sun was beating down. We were all glad to get back to the cool bus but happy that we started early so no-one felt unwell as had been the case yesterday.
Back to Kings Canyon Resort for lunch and another swim in a rather more murky pool than yesterday with a unique hairy bottom. A swim really is the only way to cool down out here. Today’s drive was mostly on unsealed roads, so it was very bumpy but we still managed to grab a little snooze here and there.
We stopped at the viewing point for Gosses Bluff, an extraordinary two kilometre wide crater formed by a comet impact 140 million years ago. This is another sacred Aboriginal site which they believe was formed by a star falling from heaven.
Next we visited Glen Helen Gorge, where of course another swim was in order. This was only after we had said farewell to the people who were on a three day trip and leaving us at this point to return to Alice. Then onto our campsite for the night where we experienced our first true bush camp with long drop toilet, no shower and no running water. Now we are truly wayoutback!