Australia is home to some of the best multi-day walks in the world, covering a variety of environments such as forests, deserts, coastal stretches and alpine mountains. In short, we’re spoiled for choice, both on quality and quantity. But one walk has always stood out on any list, and particularly the one between my ears, and that is the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory. And when all the stars were finally in alignment I joined a group of mates to conquer this iconic trail.

The Larapinta Trail is a 231 kilometre (143 miles) long walking track that roughly follows the spine of the West MacDonnell Ranges running west of the regional centre of Alice Springs in central Australia. The trail is rated as Hard and crosses an arid region featuring red-hued crags, gorgeous gorges, dry river beds, the occasional swimming hole and that famous outback desert. There are some epic steep and long climbs which reward the walker with stunning views, remote campsites but also frequent points for vehicle access, warm days and cold nights, and of course a zillion stars that light up the sky like no other.

A small group of long-time friends had been intending to do this walk, or at least half of it, from 2020 but a combination of Covid restrictions and conflicting schedules meant we couldn’t do it until this year. And so it was that Pearcey, Chook, Hoppy and I all boarded a flight from Sydney to Alice Springs, picked up our hire car, bought the necessary supplies (and some unnecessary ones) and headed off across the desert to the westernmost trailhead of the Larapinta Trail at Redbank Gorge.

Our plan was to spend seven days walking the first half of the trail from Redbank Gorge to Ellery Big Hole, a distance of about 115 kilometres, and hopefully complete the second half of the walk the following year. We had the benefit of superb planning and organisation by our leader Chook and the support of our driver and part-time walker Pearcey.

The first day of the walk was our longest and hardest but featured one of the great highlights of the whole adventure. We left camp at 3.30 am and walked uphill for eight kilometres in the eerie dark until we reached the summit of Mt. Sonder, the fourth highest mountain in the Northern Territory at 1,379 metres, to watch a stunning – and freezing cold – sunrise with a few other hearty walkers. We then walked back down to our camp in the daylight, packed up and followed the trail another 11 kilometres through red mallee gums and gnarly mulga to our next camp on the trail – a total of 27 kilometres. Phew!

After 12 hours of well deserved sleep the trail led us up another steep climb to Hilltop Lookout for more expansive views of this raw and beautiful desert, then lost all that elevation down to our camp in the sandy dry riverbed of the Finke River, Australia’s largest and oldest desert river. It was at Finke we saw the true benefit of hiking with a support vehicle driven by Pearcey, cold beers on arrival and even a short drive to Glen Helen Lodge for more cold beers, large streaks for dinner and Magnum ice creams for desert. Yes, we were really roughing it.

The next day was another gruelling climb up and over the ranges with more wonderful views in all directions, finishing with a swim in the icy cold waterhole at Ormiston Gorge. Ormiston Gorge is a tourist favourite with its high red-rock walls, deep cold permanent water and numerous short walks in the area. Even for the casual passer-by Ormiston Gorge is a must see.

The hearty bacon and eggs notwithstanding, the next day we had more killer climbs ahead of us and saw us crawl up to another lookout at 1,110 metres with fabulous views of the vast desert plains and nearby Mt. Giles. Somewhat reluctant to give up the views and the high elevation we followed the track on a very steep and sketchy section to a dry isolated camp with no facilities near Waterfall Gorge. Never mind, by this time Chook, Hoppy and I were hardened walkers, able to withstand any challenges thrown at us, tough as nails. Or so we said.

From Waterfall Gorge we passed over a series of saddles, each steeper than the previous one, until we came to Inarlanga Pass, the ancient trail that allowed the local indigenous tribes to pass through this formidable Heavitree Range we had been following. This narrow gorge featured steep red-rock walls, a few small waterholes, some beautiful large cycads which might have been over 100 years old, and some serious rock scrambling for the walkers. We rated Inarlanga Pass one of the major highlights of the entire walk.

By this stage the four of us had melded into a single unit of intrepid adventurers crossing the barren desert mountains with strong legs and light packs. There is something to be said about taking on a challenge like this with mates you’ve known for almost 20 years but are all now well into their 60’s and not the finely tuned athletes we once were.

Hoppy was our leader on the trail, walking strongly out front, choosing our rest and lunch spots. Chook usually followed close behind, ignoring a few aches and pains and hard to keep up with. I usually took up the tail position, strong of leg but slow of gait. And Pearcey was never far away, sometimes meeting us on the trail, frequently with a cold beer. Now that’s team work!

But our Larapinta adventure, or at least the first half of it, was coming to a close, and after a night camping at Serpentine Chalet Dam we pushed on up the dastardly steep track (what would be wrong with a couple of switchbacks from time to time?) to Counts Point which features probably the most iconic views of the walk and a fitting reward for the hard slog to get there.

We camped that night at Serpentine Gorge with its high narrow rock walls and cold waterhole before pushing on to our last day on the trail.

The weather during this trek had been very friendly with daytime temps around 20-22°C (say 70-71°F) and 2-5°C (37-40°F) at night. The only challenge had been the occasional strong wind but we didn’t see a cloud all week. On our last day on the trail the weather rose to about 26°C (79°F) and we were tortured with a series of short but steep ups and downs as it followed the spine of the range, sometimes sticking out of the flat desert landscape like the back of a Stegosaurus.

And so it was that we staggered into Ellery Big Hole which marked the end of our hike, exhausted, smelly and sore but absolutely elated at our achievement. Of course a swim in the large permanent waterhole, mind-numbingly cold as it was, was our reward.

The Larapinta Trail had been a bucket list item of mine for many years and lived up to all the hype and anticipation, that’s for sure. The harsh desert, beautiful mountain ranges, stunning red rocks, sandy river beds and deep gorges all made this journey very special. But the other highlight was joining good mates to accomplish this goal together, walking, sweating, snoring, laughing, drinking and bonding together as only good mates can. It doesn’t get any better than that!