Larapinta Trail – Tjoritja Ranges NT – Day 12

Monday 13 June 2022
Fringe Lily Creek to 4/5 Junction – Section 5 Part 2
Distance 8.86km
Moving time 3:28
Track time 5:12
Temp 3′- 23
Up 413m Down 470m

4/5 Junction to Birthday Waterhole return
2.5km

I had a shocking sleep last night, I thought I would try not using the sitpads under my hip. Silly me! I woke with a freezing hip during the night and struggled to get warm. Fringe Lily was a beautiful camp spot at 800m elevation but very chilly. Our campsite was the best, as it got the sun first. Still didn’t leave till 2nd last but that is ok.
We left camp and started climbing straight away. Up 200m elevation over 2km. It was a brutal start to the day. Lucky it was switch backs or it would have been a lot worse. The view at the top was spectacular from where we had come and also where we were going. We then climbed the Razorback Ridge. This was a spectacular cliff of razor edged rocks. It was magnificent but it was tough, another 100m elevation over the next km. We then headed down some switchbacks to Windy Saddle. We passed some flowers but it still had some challenging rocky sections. We continued down Rocky Talus, then through Spencer Gorge which was through the river bed and was boulder hopping the whole way. There were some tricky big boulders to negotiate, as well with some big drops, one we had to remove our packs and pass them down. Then back up another 50m elevation, followed by the last 2 km of pleasant track walking. We moved well throughout the day and our moving time was very fast but our track time was quite long as we enjoyed lots of the views and had quite a few stops. We arrived at 4/5 Junction camp at about 2.30pm.
We found a nice little camp near the shelter, setup the tent and headed for Birthday Waterhole for a swim and muscle ice bath. It was very cold yet again but invigorating for my tired muscles. David once again stood ankle deep for a few minutes. Too cold for him. We then walked back to camp for dinner. There were about 10 people in camp again tonight. Sadly we are on the count down now. Tonight is our 11th sleep on the track and we have six more to go. Today was another favourite for David, the track was tricky, steep and a little challenging with the most spectacular views. The next couple of days should be the same. What an amazing adventure!

: A cold morning , many a day has been started snuggled inside our sleeping bags, not daring to venture out until it was absolutely necessary. For David he hoped for the sun to be shining on the tent first.

: Eric certainly was a unique character on the trail. He looked like a little minion or a character from Heidi in the Swiss Alps..

: I got a head start on David this morning as the first section of the hike today was straight up 200m elevation. You can see him still down at camp between the 2 trees in the riverbed..

: As I climb the switchbacks up 200m..

: David meets me very quickly at a rocky outcrop..

: ..with views back to where we have been..

: ..we had a short break to recover from the quick ascent and prepared for the next big up..

: ..a bit further along we meet a group coming from the East, as always David enjoyed his chat which gave me a bit more rest. Yeah!

: ..this is the type of rocks we are walking on – you can see where the ridge gets its name from – Razorback Ridge..

: ..it is amazing where a tree can find a spot to grow..

: ..another break after more uphill climbing to enjoy the view..

: ..looks like I have a shoe problem, a little rest to fix it..

: You can see Penny at the summit of Razorback Ridge just near the lone tree..

: ..me looking up to where Penny is with the challenge of climbing up there..

: ..off I go on the tricky terrain..

: David moving along nicely across a ledge..

: ..I have still got a long way to go, you can see me still not far from the bottom..

: ..as David gets closer climbing over the jagged rocks..

: ..as I traverse the narrow ledge being very careful to stay balanced as it is quite sheer on one side..

: ..another scramble up the cliff or Razorback Ridge, needing my hands for support this time..

: ..David keeps on ploughing ahead, I do think he is part goat..

: David is almost top the tree at the top..

: ..we finally both make the summit, almost 2 hours after we started climbing this morning..

: Beautiful view at the summit back from where we started this morning

: ..Looking back to Liza who is still coming p the ridge..

: ..once you get to the top the next step is going back down..

: ..as we keep descending further..

: ..a couple of pretty flowers.

: ..going down further..

: ..we enjoy the pretty flowers along the way..

: ..as we keep going down..

: ..the rocks once again are amazing..

: ..a bit further along we keep descending..

: ..we finally have a rest and some nourishment on Windy Saddle..

: ..then in to Spencer Gorge we go..

: ..in to the boulder hopping stage now..

: ..and along the river bed in the gorge..

: ..up and down large boulders..

: ..and big drops we can’t quite reach – we had to take our packs off here. When we got down we found an arrow around the corner showing an easier way down. Oops!