The day begins with an early morning rise to catch sunrise at kings canyon. So were were up at about 5.30am
When we got to the base and start of the walk, we could spot a couple tourist buses arriving as well. Its a popular hike which takes about 3 hours in total. We decided to park our bike at a save spot and gradually begin the walk. We did brought along some food supplies for brekky when we find a good spot.
Mighty Ghost Gum always ever present in the desert landscape
Its a surreal experience again observing how the sun causes the rocky cliffs to glow. The redness of the rocks always amazes me. The landscape here however is very different than Uluru. There are more sharp jagged rocks in this area.
Pondering into the horizon. Plenty of spots to do it here
A close up 360 degrees view of the surrounding Kings Canyon
Winding through the hike, it feels like we were in the pre historic age. The rocks all really appears to be ancient. Rocks that you don’t see anywhere else in the world. Its unique to this area.
After an hour of walking we finally spotted a great spot fitting enough for us to break fast. We chose a sheer drop cliff face. It feels absolutely unreal eating jam and spread looking down a drop that is so steep. Goosebumps were felt. Probably the most dangerous spot of the whole trip to have brekky there. But it keeps us awake and alert.
One for the camera
Classic Kings Canyon postcard shot angle
Tourist from the other end
These are lines embedded onto the rock face showing lines of running water million of years ago. Pretty mind blowing
The Lost Cities
By the time we finish the walk it was about 11:30am. Sun was scorching and it was time for us to pedal back to campsite.
The plan for the latter half of the day was to do pack up and ride for the next 3-4 days to Alice. Graeme would be traveling with us through the Mereenie loop. 3 of us were insane enough to tackle this dirt road.
Some serious laundry hanging out there. This would be our last proper laundry before we finish at Alice.
Team of 3 ready to rock the Mereenie Loop for the next few days. Wooo Ha
We decided to deflate our tires slightly as the roads ahead are unsealed for about 300K. It is written that this dirt trails ahead of us are for 4WD only. So we would imagine it would be a pretty sandy route ahead.
Prohibition is still strong in the middle of nowhere ey?
Before long we we starting to hit some extremely soft sandy patched along the way. Looks like a bulldust traps a long the way. Pretty treacherous for cycling.
300K to Alice and thats it.
Skinny tires onto sand traps…big struggle
After riding for about 1.5 hours we found the going pretty tough. We may have just covered about 6-8km. Wow don’t really wanna think too much on the days ahead the Mereenie. I also dropped my camera on the ground which is not pretty. Soil gets into the lens big trouble.
We decided to set camp earlier. As the route is so remote we just bush camp next to the dirt path. We decided to start a camp fire thanks to Graeme’s pyro inspiration.