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Glen Helen Gorge.
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This is another post from our soggy trip up to Central Australia last December. Glen Helen Gorge Walk may be the shortest walk that I've written up I think, actually the swim into the gorge was probably as long as the walk in today. On every other visit here I've been able to walk right up to the waterhole in the gorge before I got wet feet, but the unusual wet weather up here meant that the Finke River had water trickling down it I was left with a couple of hundred metre swim just to get into the gorge today.
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Mt Sonder was cloaked in cloud today.
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Leaving Alice Springs after breakfast we motored out through the Western MacDonnell Ranges, Larapinta Drive and Namitjira Drive were both still open although the creeks and rivers were on their way up that's for sure. I can trace the timelines of my life a bit driving through these mountains with all the different scenic highlights bringing their own memories. By passing Glen Helen Resort we splashed our way across the Finke River, I was keen to show Sam the Mt Sonder Lookout. The lookout today with it's mist covered mountains looked like it belonged in South Gippsland and not Central Australia, the green spinifex and full waterholes in the Finke River below us only added to that perception, although once out of the air conditioned ute the heat gave the game away pretty quickly.
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It might have been pretty wet but at least it was still pretty warm.
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Looking down to the Finke River from the Mt Sonder Lookout, the country was in very good nick on this visit.
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Splashing back through the Finke River we headed down to the car park in Glen Helen Resort. This small resort is probably summed up as being rustic, I stayed here for a night on one of my Larapinta Trail walks and greatly appreciated the warm shower, soft bed and good food. Being the middle of summer the resort was pretty quiet today but it you could still buy a cold drink if you felt the need. We set off in the other direction today though, descending almost immediately on to the wide bed of the Finke River.
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I'm not sure that I've ever seen it this green.
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Once we were walking the river bed the track ends and its just a matter of making your way to the gorge without getting to wet. Today we didn't have a lot of luck getting close to the gorge though, after negotiating numerous small channels of water it became obvious that we were going to get fairly wet if we were going to get close to the towering red cliffs. While I was pretty keen to get wet Sam wasn't overjoyed with the prospect so we retreated a bit and then made our way through a maze of head high water rushes, eventually finding our way through to a sandy beach with a clear line of water stretching into the gorge.
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After negotiating a few channels of water we gave up on getting across with dry feet.
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We just made our way through the water rushes until we got to an open stretch of water.
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This is the best bit about walking in the desert in summer, yep stripping off and going for a swim! Now even though today wasn't perfect for photographs it was still a good day for a swim so it didn't take me long to shed my clothes, grab the water proof camera and plunge in. Now the photos make it look like I was swimming across a huge lake, but it wasn't that far really. Initially at least there were sections that could be waded, although the rocks hidden beneath the murky water are a bit of a hazard to bare feet so it was generally better to swim. Nearing the red bluffs it was time to wrap the camera tightly around my wrist and explore the towering red walls a bit. The bad news was that the wind was howling through the gorge, but the good news was that I was swimming into it so to get back to dry land meant all I had to do was relax and I'd get blown back.
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It doesn't look to far...
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The Feral swimmer.
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As far as I know Glen Helen Gorge never runs dry and every time I've been here there has always been plenty of water. If you are ever here in a little dryer times there's even a rope swing set up on a tree on the south side of the gorge, the local kids have probably put it here because there parents can't see it from the beach I reckon. I thought that I'd better give the rope swing a miss today though , I could see Sam standing in the distance with the tea pot pose...you know the one that says are you getting out yet! Eventually I emerged onto the sand to be welcomed by more rain, no wonder Sam looked impatient. Pulling on some damp clothes I hobbled back to the ute with bare feet, that's how short this stroll was.
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This water was actually a beautiful temperature, it was a shame about the overcast sky but what do you do....
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The Dirt.
Strap yourself in, I walked about 1 kilometre on this stroll (and I think I had to do a couple circumnavigations of the ute to even make the kilometre!) and we climbed 25 metres. It goes without saying that this is an easy walk. This stroll is a great one for the children providing they are OK swimmers, the walls of the gorge and sandy beach offer hours of entertainment for the kids (and me). Nowadays the road from Alice Springs to Glen Helen is sealed for its whole distance and its a bit of a roll call off famous scenic sites as you make your way west.
Relevant Posts.
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| That's Sam in the distance giving me the when are you going to get out look:) |
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