The rules.
I followed the same unsupported rules as current FKT holders.
- Carried all my supplies
- The only facilities I used were water tanks, toilets and sleeping platforms
- No food drops, no use of food kiosks or power outlets
- No support from public walkers
The gear.
It was my first unsupported, multi day adventure. I was able to pack into 15L pack, which weighted 10.5kg to start with. It included cold weather gear (the night temp supposed to go down to 5 C, not counting the wind chill on exposed ridges ), electronics (phone, in reach, 2 head torches, power bank- I took big & heavy one, I wanted make sure my navigation & GPS track is backed up ), poles and food. About half of my food was Hammer Nutrition: bars, gels, liquid calories, other half was variety of food to ensure good appetite and sufficient calorie intake. I calculated I need about 17 000kcal.
The trail .
Redbank Gorge to Alice Springs information shed. Same course as most FKTs and West Mac Monster course. I took South Route at Ellery Creek and High Route at Standley Chasm.
I wish I had a chance to check entire trail, this would defiantly help. I was able to recce only some of the sections. The trail is very challenging, uneven with lots of lose rocks. It does not promote fast movement, especially with the heavy pack. The quartzite is razor sharp, there’s lots of sandy & rocky dry river beds, gorges and steep climbs & descends.
The strategy.
Relentless forward progress. I got away with even less sleep that planned. I wanted to have few naps, but was unable due to cold or flies. I had 1 nap of about 5min. I was also worried that once I fell asleep the alarm will not wake me up.
I summited Mt Sonder in 65min and caught an amazing sunset – a what a great way to start the project.
The night was peaceful, I arrived at Ormiston ( 50km mark) in 8h and had a longer stop to refuel, repack and fill up a lot of water ( the next water was almost 30km away).
I got my first sunrise just before Inarlanga Pass and continued to climb well know from my hikes Counts Point.
Early afternoon I arrived at Ellery Creek (106km).
I made to the halfway point in about 22h feeling well. I knew the other half is much more challenging, so did not get too excited. The kilometers before sunset were slow, but consistent. The trail suddenly got easier and allowed me to move a bit quicker. I wanted to have a quick nap, but it was too cold so I kept going.
Hugh Gorge was beautify and majestic in the light of my head torch, but very slow going. I had to travel in very soft and rocky ground for few kilometers, moving from one side the other to avoid water and finally basically side climb the rock to avoid the waterhole. I was happy to finish with this section, but there was more challenging terrain to come. After few steep climbs I reached the top of Razoback Ridge, I was expecting a downhill trail from there, but instead I entered another gorge ( Spencer Gorge ) straight of the summit! It was another spectacular section, yet again very slow going and required a lot of down climbs.
I kept going, climbed more steep hills and eventually got to the summit of Brinkley Bluff – it was very cold and windy, but that’s where I saw the first light of the new day I was looking forward to .
I have had a minor hallucinations before the 2nd night ( certain objects looked like something completely different ) but that one coming to Standley Chasm just before sunrise spooked me. A tree trunk or a brunch looked like a witch. I knew it was not real, kept coming closer and closer, but it didn’t change the appearance till I was right in front of it.
This experience and overall fatigue and balance issues made me think I might finally use some sleep. The sun just started to hit the trail so it was warm enough, but not too hot for the flies to swarm me. I had a beautiful 5 min nap right on the dirt trail.
I climbed the High Route and felt great – about 55km to go. The descent felt good , but that was the beginning of the end of ‘feel good’, from there I had to fight for every step. Runnable single-track turned into sand at Fish Hole, the temperature has risen significantly and my energy levels went down. The 15km to Simpson Gap were one of the hardest kilometers. I was extremely tired, sleep deprived, my knees were aching, my feet were cooked, I had scabs in my nose from the dry air and I still had relatively long way to go. Last, but not least – the bush flies. It’s not something that would usually bother me, but they were an insult to injury.
It was a great relief to arrive at Simpson Gap. The temperature started to cool down and I had the last 25km to go. I climbed the Wallaby Gap and Euro Ridge (recently burnt area). My sore knees were not looking forward to the last descent. I finally reach the train crossing (where I had to wait for 2min for the train to cross ) and the Underpass under the highway.- just over 4km from here.
I knew my running and work friends are waiting at the end and this motivated me more than anything to finish asap. I felt I was moving fast, but the watch data didn’t confirm it: sub 7min/kms was my fastest speed.
It is a weird state of absolute exhaustion when you feel like you giving it all, but actually moving extremely slow. I finished just before 11PM on Saturday greeted by about 10 friends and hot food. The wheelbarrow brought by Simon ( I guess he knows better than anyone how gruelling the Larapinta Trail is) was not needed. I was able to walk last 500m to the car. I have had some low moments and it did not always have fun. In general, I am very happy how my mind and body handled this effort. It is amazing how you can adapt to this sort of challenges.
235km with nearly 8000m +/- through some hard terrain with all the supplies on my back. 53h 50min 40sec.
What an amazing journey the land of Arrente people, a great adventure and new challenge. A perfect way to end another successful and exciting season and one of the highlights of my time in The Red Centre.
Thank you to everyone to came to greet me a the finish line and all the support messages. Special thanks to Simon who held the unsupported FKT ( and still has the overall record of 39h set this year at West Macs Monster) He was a big fan of the attempt from the beginning and provided a lot of support.