Larapinta Trail: THE WATER

Be Prepared

To carry a lot of water...

One day on the track I consumed 6L of drinking water (dangerously hot day), and used extra for cooking and a cup of tea that night as it was a dry camp. Drinking that much, it is very hard to maintain body salts and glucose. Because of this I also took Gatorade, salt packets, and ate lollies on the track. This may sound unhealthy for everyday life, but be prepared to break the rules. Your body may need it... brains run on glucose, and muscles run on salts. You need to be able to make good decisions when in this heat.

The heat during the trip was 5 to 12 degC above average, which meant that the predicted 28 degree days turned into 33 to 40 degC days. Don't be fooled by Alice Springs reported temperatures, as it is about 3 degrees hotter in the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Rocky Bar Gap Water Level - Section 11

The below water supplies are a mix of information from the National Parks website, the Larapinta trail map notes, and what is found on the track.

Section	Location	Supply Type	Distance from last supply (km)
1	Alice Springs Telegraph Station	Tap connected to Alice Springs town supply	0
1	Wallaby Gap	Ranger maintained tank	13.5
1 and 2	Simpsons Gap	Tap connected to Alice Springs town supply	10.3
2	Mulga Camp	Ranger maintained tank	13.7
2 and 3	Jay Creek	Ranger maintained tank	10.8
3 and 4	Standley Chasm	Tap connected to local bore supply	14.1
4 and 5	Birthday Waterhole	Ranger maintained tank	17.7
5 and 6	Hugh Gorge	Ranger maintained tank	16
6	Rocky Gully	Ranger maintained tank	15.9
6 and 7	Ellery Creek	Ranger maintained tank	15.3
7 and 8	Serpentine Gorge	Ranger maintained tank	13.8
8	Serpentine Chalet Dam	Ranger maintained tank	13.4
9 and 10	Ormiston Gorge	Rainwater storage tank	28.6
10 and 11	Finke River	Ranger maintained tank	9.1
-11	Glen Helen Resort	Tap connected to the resort bore supply or purchase bottled water from the resort	4.3
11	Rocky Bar Gap	Ranger maintained tank	14.2 (from Finke River)
11 and 12	Redbank Gorge	Ranger maintained tank	11.8

Water Tank at Rocky Gully Camp - Section 6

Leave No Trace:
I'm very aware of the fragile environment in the Larapinta Trail area, and the impact that walkers have on the surrounds. I simply didn't take detergent, shampoo, body soap, or toothpaste. I took a dropper bottle of Dr Bronner's Peppermint Castle Soap which I used 1 drop of on a sponge for dish cleaning, or on a toothbrush for teeth. Baths consisted of 2 wet-wipe sheets used each night, then a little water to rinse the face. That, two swimming holes (Ormiston gorge and Ellery Creek), a shower and clothes rinse at Ormiston Gorge, and a clothes rinse at Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap bathrooms, proved enough to keep hygienic. Alcohol gel was used in the toilet kit. Beware of 'Biodegradable' or 'Enviro-soaps' as they still mess up water's surface tension and can destroy the ability for skimmer bugs to sit atop the water.

Other water sources encountered:
West to East (August 2013)

Rocky Bar Gap - had a little water, but was yellowed. There is a tank at the camp site anyway.
Pocket Valley - Lots of water here, would be good enough to drink if you have a particle filter, or could collect from the very surface without disturbing. Then also treat it.
Hugh Gorge Waterhole - this was low enough to be useless and had dead animals around it, so not a good source at the time of year I was there. Much better to get water from Pocket Valley.
Fringe Lily Creek - there was talk that there is always water here, but I didn't follow the creek up far enough due to time. Follow the creek south, and apparently there are pools.
Birthday Waterhole - no need to go to the actual waterhole as there is a tank.
Mintbush Spring - water was underground when I passed, which I could tell as the flora was wet, but would need to dig. However no need for water here as the tank at Birthday Waterhole is so close.
Spring Gap was completely contaminated with faecal matter, as there was an unmarked cattle herd in the area.
Fish Hole - Great crystal water. I treated the water collected here with Micropur tablets, no problems. Please try not to disturb the pool, as it is a beautiful and fragile ecosystem.
Bond Gap - very nice looking water, but I didn't drink it as I had no need.
Fairy Spring - also had dead animals around it, not a good source, although looks like it would flow well in wetter seasons.
Scorpion pool - not a good source, very stagnant.

Carrying Capacity:

I took enough capacity to carry 12 Litres of water.

This included a 10L MSR Dromedary with drinking tube, and 2 x 1L squishy bottles (foldable/rollable drink bottles).

The setup was ideal, as there were days when two days water was needed for dry camps. Allowing for an average of 4L of drinking water per day including cooking, means you need about 8L carrying capacity already if you have a dry camp. The beauty of the Dromedary is that it doesn't need to be filled completely. I just filled it depending on what was required for the day and rolled the top down, secured with a mini-carabiner. Having separate bottles was also useful for treating water.... eg. at the end of a long day, if I'd been conservative I'd have about 1L of water left in my Dromedary, which I'd empty into the squishy bottle, then fill the Dromedary and add treatment tablets to treat for 1/2hr. In the meanwhile, I had 1L of water ready to start cooking dinner with, or to refresh after the long day's walk.

Having three containers also means you can allow for 3 points of failure, puncture, loss, give-aways. I gave 1 squishy bottle away to a man who had only allowed for carrying 3L of water for the end to end walk!

Water is important... obviously.