Alligator Gorge
My day started with a long climb up the Ring Road.
The higher ridges were still cloaked in cloud.
After leaving Longhill Camp this morning I headed left up a fairly long climb up the Ring Road towards The Battery. While this bit of the walk was along another 4wd track it did have a couple of things going for it, the first and most important positive this morning was that as I climbed I started to get some of the early morning sun barking through the clouds to warm me up a bit. The second good thing about the Ring Road climb was that I started to get some more big views, both across the mountain ridges as well as out towards Spencer Gulf (I also picked up Telstra service up here for the first time since I was on The Battery yesterday).
Still climbing up the Ring Road.
I was getting a few glimpses out towards Spencer Gulf near Port Germein.
The cloud was slowly lifting.
Soon after climbing passed the Eaglehawk Dam Camp (just a piece of cleared dirt with no facilities) I arrived at the Alligator Gorge Track. From here on the walking got very good again as I dropped down the walking track towards Alligator Gorge. This walk was a lot like yesterday's walk down through Hidden Gorge in that the good walking track dropped fairly easily into the headwaters of the gorge, however once in the gorge the route became more of a pad as I made my way downstream.
Eagle Hawk Dam Camp is another spartan affair.
I've arrived at the turn off for the Alligator Gorge track.
Dropping into Alligator Gorge from The Battery.
I was dropping into this gorge.
Dropping down towards Alligator Gorge.
The walking got a little rougher from here until I climbed out of Alligator Gorge.
Alligator Gorge.
Nice walking down through Alligator Gorge.
The walk down through Alligator Gorge actually starts by following a side gorge before meeting the main Alligator Gorge in the vicinity of The Terraces. Walking down the bare rock slabs of The Terraces could be a little dodgy in wet weather in thinking, so of course it now started to sprinkle for the first time all morning. Thankfully the rain didn't set in or last so I was able to continue my journey downstream without worrying about slippery rocks. I was now getting close to the main tourist access to Alligator Gorge and for the first time since I'd left Mambrey Creek yesterday I started to meet a few day walkers out and about. Soon after passing through The Narrows my track left Alligator Creek and started to climb out of the gorge up to Blue Gum Flat.
Alligator Gorge.
Walking down The Terraces in Alligator Gorge.
Alligator Gorge
The Terraces.
Alligator Gorge.
The Narrows in Alligator Gorge.
The Narrows.
Blue Gum Flat was the spot where I'd re-filled my water yesterday on the way to camp and once again I enjoyed a bit of a break here today as I topped up my water. Once I'd left Blue Gum Flat I now retraced the 4wd track that I walked yesterday afternoon back through Kingfisher Flat Camp and on down to Hidden Camp. While this section was a little ho hum it was over pretty quickly and once down at Hidden camp I was again walking a good walking track as I followed Alligator Creek down towards Mambrey Creek.
I've left Alligator Gorge and am climbing up to Blue Gum Flat to grab some water.
This afternoons itinerary.
The 4wd track down to Hidden Camp made for quick walking again.
There was still a bit of weather around.
The final drop down to Hidden Camp is a little steep and loose.
The walking along the lower reaches of Alligator Creek features a lot of towering red rocky bluffs, native pines and big old Red Gums so I was in a good head space as I shuffled along. Reaching the junction of Alligator Creek and Mambrey Creek I met up with a 4wd track and swung right (south-west) towards the Mambrey Creek Camp. This was once again a pretty good walk as the, by now late afternoon sun, was lighting up the surrounding rocky ramparts. It was around 4pm when I shuffled the last few metres into the Mambrey Creek Day Use Area this afternoon and pulled off my boots. My walk was over, although the adventure continued as I still had the 1000 kilometre drive in front of me to get home!
There was the occasional pool of water in Alligator Creek as I made my way down to Mambrey Creek.
Late afternoon - approaching Mambrey Creek.
The lower section of Alligator Creek makes for a beautiful walk.
Alligator Creek
The Dirt.
According to my Alltrails App I walked around 23.1 kilometres and climbed about 536 metres today on what I'd call a medium grade days walking. Once again I got water from tanks at Blue Gum Flat and at the end of Fricks Track. Like yesterday I followed a series of good walking tracks and easy 4wd tracks, although the walk through Alligator Gorge was more of a pad really - all the tracks were well signposted and marked. Once again I used my Alltrail App along with my GPS topos along with some old notes and map written up by John & Monica Chapman.
Over the two days of this stroll I walked around 40.6 kilometres and climbed about 1172 metres on what I'd call a medium grade overnight walk. This is a nice walk that I think would be suited to people that are either new to overnight walking or who are looking for a pleasant walk without much in the way of navigational challengers. Now having read all that it might come across that I was a little underwhelmed about this walk however that's not what I'm thinking, while there were no huge challengers (except for the fact that I had to drag my fat arse around the hills for around 40 kilometres!) there was plenty of great scenery to to keep my interested, both Hidden and Alligator Gorge's make for top class walking.
Relevant Posts.
I'm walking down the Mambrey Creek valley now.
Late afternoon along Mambrey Creek.
Time to pull off the boots and head home.
Early next morning - after a chilly couple of hours sleep in the ute I'm on the last leg home.
No comments:
Post a Comment