Day 7 - Wilpena Campground

When I woke this morning I was not sure what walk I was going to do - Easy, Medium or Hard. Right up until I reached the trailhead, I still had not decided. I arrived at the trailhead and made a quick decision to make it a hard one today, I bought a sandwich, took along some dry biscuts and a litre of water and off I went to The St Marys Peak Direct route. The sign stated 6 Hours, 14.6km return.

My first stop was up the top of an even closer peak, I think it was called Wangara hill, there didnt seem to be any track to the top, but there was a cache up the top, so I had to give it a go. Well, around 45 minutes later, I was on the top with the cache in hand, with a very nice view across one side of the range and also down to the caravan park and Wilpena Resort.

Now it was time for the real stuff, I was back down on the track, fairly easy at this point, with very gradual ups and downs, nice easy walking. well, that continued on until ~2.6km to the peak (Yes there were still markers every 200m) where the track became very rocky and rough with many steps up to half a metre high. anyway, I eventually made it up to where the track junctioned with the St Marys Peak Inside Trail which is 21.5Km Return, 9 Hours of walking I was not ready for. Here is where I was surprised with a Phone call from Mr Paul Schembri, I was mainly surprised there was coverage here. (Thanks for your concern Paul). Anyway, now onto the last stretch, ~1.4Km of windy Rocky uphill track to the summit. I finally arrived at 12.15PM, where I sat and ate my lunch and drank a good proportion of my water. I then spent the next 30-40 minutes trying to locate the solitary cache on this peak.I found it eventually and started to head back via the same track. I found the going on the way back down much easier for the most part, except that it really was prime ankle rolling territory. I got to within 4Km of the Information centre when I ran out of water and could feel the de-hydration hitting me. I pushed on, and made it back to camp at 3.25, quickly re-hydrated myself and was feeling good again. I think the rest of the day can be a take it easy kind of day.


Oh, I had forgotten an event from yesterday, When I drove back into Wilpena, there was 3 emu's standing on the road. I got within 20 metres of them, and 2 of them scampered off, but one just stood there bleeting at me, he eventually ran off after a toot of my horn. They really are a scary animal. I am now afraid of them :)

Big scarry Emus

Distance Driven: 0.00km (1723.8km total)
Geocaches Found: 2 (2 Traditional) (77 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 9/10 (Ahhh, the serenity still)