Optional first step; visit the award winning and nearby Alice
Springs Desert Park, it is one of best interpretations of landscape
anywhere. It is run by Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife and
they have done an excellent job in partnership with the local
Arrente people. You will come away from this with an understanding
of the landscape and a respect for the Arrente, custodians of this
land for millennia.
Allow a half-day for this, details at www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au
Finish the Park visit at the theatrette, which leaves you with a
stunning view of the feature on which the cache stands.
Now that you have a sense of place, get prepared. You
absolutely must have:
- A good hat
- Shirt
- 30+ suncream
- Stout walking shoes
- Minimum 1 litre of drinking water.
Start out well hydrated.
Download or key in the additional waypoints NOVOTEL,
BOTTOM and TOP shown below.
The route is short, only 900m horizontally and 200m vertically
from the road, but it is steep and rubbly, November to April can be
dangerously hot, there is almost no shade and there is no water
whatsoever en route. Just because the route is entirely within the
Alice Springs town boundary doesn’t make this place any less arid.
Allow 40 minutes to the top, 25 minutes to get down, you will want
to linger on the top, it has lovely views over the Alice and to the
empty South. A map will not help other than to interpret the
view.
The local harriers run up here in ten minutes but they are
acclimatised, you just take it easy, OK? There is a safe route
passing through the two waypoints BOTTOM and TOP; try
to pass through these waypoints. The route winds up the spurline.
Before you leave BOTTOM try to identify the safe ramp up
through the rockband to TOP.
There is actually a zigzag track marked by the harriers with
little white arrows on the rocks leading from BOTTOM to
TOP but it is not obvious, it is criss-crossed with roo
trails and you will almost certainly lose it. When you do lose the
track don’t worry just stay out of the gully and keep to the crest
of the spurline until you hit the rockband cliff, waypoint
TOP should then be on your left up a safe ramp. You should
stay on your feet throughout, if you find that you are using your
hands, get back onto the spur and reassess your route. The rock is
crumbly and makes unreliable handholds; don’t go rock climbing, it
is not necessary. If you do arrive at the ridge summit anywhere
other than TOP get a GPS fix before you leave the edge to
avoid getting bluffed out on the descent.
Once on the top you can romp around safely and easily for miles,
you’ll love it. Thirty meters around the cache is safe territory,
so if your GPS is leading you to search around anything you can
fall off there is an error somewhere. The whole route is safe, up
and back, if it doesn’t seem safe to you go back and reassess.
On descent go to TOP, look for the ramp down and to your
left leading to the spur. Stay on you feet.
Early morning or evening avoids the heat November to April and
the sunsets can be lovely from up there but check the moon to avoid
getting benighted as you need to see the way down the scarp. Back
at BOTTOM reward yourself with a cold drink at the
conveniently placed NOVOTEL waypoint.
The two best ways to experience the Territory are on foot or
from the air. You have to use the road but really, get airborne or
get trekking. If you can’t get airborne, climb something. Ask Parks
about the Larapinta trail in the West MacDonnells if you want a
camping trail. TOP RED CENTRE is as near as dammit to the centre of
Australia. The really-truly centre depends a lot on the mathematics
used and what land mass is included in the calculations. The
official geocentric point is not far away and there is a cache
there, GEOCENTRICAL GC7CED, which you can visit with a 4WD. Find
out more about the centres of Australia at Centre
of Australia by this author.