After the Madigan, Central Australia 28-6-2019

[Big Red]

See previous trip report for the start of this trip, this section resumes at Alice Springs after crossing the Madigan Line.

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After a feed of KFC Brett and Jeff headed to the Caravan Park and will head north tomorrow then Brett will head East on the Sandover.
Phil is heading west to Ormiston Gorge.
I headed to Owen Springs then down though Lawrence Gorge past Redbank waterhole and south to Uluru.
I had a quick shower at Yalara then drove out to Uluru to get some night time shots then waited until the moon came up for another shot.
The wind came up around midnight and has been gusting pretty strong all night … not looking good to be able to climb it in the morning .

[Big Red]

Saturday 29th:
The Ranger turned up before sunup and closed the climb due to high winds … as expected … so I went for a drive getting a few shots before sunup.

[Big Red]

The sun came up and lit up the rock, by the time I had done the full circle the Ranger was back and locked up the gate again so I started to make a coffee and when I turned round he had come back and opened it so I abandoned the coffee and hit the climb.

[Big Red]

Bloody hard work but after numerous rests I had made the steep section and got hit by the freezing cold winds roaring up the sides and over the top.
The winds were strong enough to push you sideways but going across the top was easier even if the windchill factor was extreme.

[Big Red]

Once at the top I got a few pics and the obligatory selfie and posted a Check In then the phone died.
I then decided to go across country to the other end of the rock for the hell of it.

[Big Red]

I did a nudie pic from the high point for a laugh but I’m sure the people around the cairn couldn’t see anything looking directly into the sun … man it was freezing and I was shaking like mad trying to get my clothes back on.
The hardest part was getting back across to the cairn through all the steep sided valleys but I was soon back on the trail then hitting the down hill sections.

[Big Red]

I didn’t need the chain for most of it but the passage of so many bums made the extremely steep bits very slippery and I had to grab the chain several times when my boots started sliding.
At least the wind was at my back so I was fairly protected by my beanie and hoodie and celebrated my safe arrival back at the carpark with an Icecream.

[Big Red]

I headed back to Yulara but the diesel pump was showing “LO—“
So I headed to Curtin Springs and fuelled up there.
I drove north to Kathleen Spring and did the short walk which hurt bad at the start but was fine by the time I got back to the Ute.
I laid down for a rest in the canopy away from the flies and woke up at Fly O’Clock so cooked dinner and decided to camp there as there was no time to do Kings Canyon anyway.

[Big Red]

Sunday 30th:
I sticky taped up the blisters then packed up and headed to Kings Canyon getting there at sunup and making my morning coffee in the carpark.
I decided to do the clockwise direction of the big walk thinking the sun would be in the best position but I was walking straight into it a short time after I made the climb to the top.
Don’t ya just hate it when you get to the top and as you go over the rise you see another climb in front of you just as big!

[Big Red]

Anyway, I made it and after a while I caught up to a big group of people taking photos with their legs on either side of a narrow gap in the trail.
I waited quite a while then the woman in front of me said “OK, lets go” so I followed her through the gap not taking much notice but she also did the splits thing as she turned around and i nearly ran face first into her crotch and didn't have time to stop so I just ducked and went between her legs, she squealed as she didn’t know I was behind her which caused the whole crowd to burst out laughing … by the time I got back to the carpark it was being talked about by everyone … lol … I’m a celebrity!