After an early night , and an earlier morning( the alarm didn’t even want to work - too early) we arrived at the start of the walk at 7am .
Backpacks loaded with 3 drink bottles each , flynets , hats , we hit the hill . Part way up we stopped , Lyn’s flynet had disappeared in one of the wind gusts and wasn’t to be found again - fortunately we didn’t really need them today . The temperature was quite pleasant - today was forecast to get to 37 degrees , hence our early start .
The spinifex is nearly finished it seeding and looks spectacular in the sun .
The creek below us looks good with bright green leaves on the trees , above , we could see a group of people already at one of the lookouts - it looks like they were just standing on top of a rock near the cliff’s edge - they were !!
The climb was getting our heart rates up - there are a lot of steps to go up , and they are all different heights and widths , so climbing them is an interesting exercise . Before long we’d reached the top and stopped for a drink and a few photo’s . Here’s another of the canyon , one at the top with spinifex grass , and one of the ridgeline to the west of us , with a ghost gum clinging to the side of the rock face .
Further up the top , the rocks got interesting , with layers of the rock at different angles - cross bedding occurred when the the rock was just a sand dune and the wind came from different directions , leaving layers flat and others at an angle .
The sandstone has formed domes - similiar to the Bungles in WA only much smaller and much rougher . There are 2 types of sand stone - Mereenie and Carmichael .The sand that formed the Carmichael sandstone is much softer and easily erodes away - it is a whiter colour and very easily breaks down , so much so that you can stand on smaller pieces of it and it crumbles back into sand!!!
Anyway , back to the photo’s , there are domes all over the place and there are also large flatter areas as well , we walked through a lot of them on our way to the cliff edge , for another view of the canyon .
We found many sections showing cross layering , here’s another .
We took a 600m return detour to a lookout - the one in the photo before - and got great views down the canyon toward the start , and across to a smoother section of the cliff face that has circular patterns on it . They say that the patterns were caused by stress when that section cracked away from the rest of the ridge . There’s also a section of patterned rock on the same side we were on .
There was also a section of ripple stone from way back when this area was covered in a shallow sea .
Wandering down the track we came to some timber steps that led us down into another valley , and then across a bridge , before some more steps up to the top again . Before going up , we headed along the the valley to the Garden Of Eden . The valley is full of cycads and gum trees and a creek with water in it . After going up & down more steps , we reached the end of the track and a beautiful rock pool . It was even better when there wasn’t anyone else there , as it was nice and quiet , except for the budgerigars and finches chirping away .
After having a peaceful time and relaxing for a while , we headed back to the top and started the return trip around the south rim of the canyon . We found the entry into the canyon from the waterhole , made an interesting photo .
On one side , we had the cliff edge , and the northern cliff face ,and then on the southern side , was an expanse of rock domes stretching off in the distance .
This part of the walk was also hotter , with fewer spots to shelter in the shade - big lack of trees up here !! There are some trees , but not many , plenty of cycads , some of which must be very old . Starting to descend through the domes , we came through many smaller valleys and looked out over others .
Looking back out towards Kings Canyon Resort and the carpark , the flat land down below showed just how many wild flowers there are here - you can see the creamy white colour on the orange flat land - something that wouldn’t show up unless there were thousands upon thousands of flowers !!!!
The domes were thinning out a bit , and started to move into rocky slopes , spinifex , wild flowers and some scrubby trees .
Then the steps started again - everyone had told us the steps were all on the first section - WRONG - they were on this side as well , just not quite as steep and better formed . This side was also much hotter as well , with the heat coming off the flat land below blasting us as we came down.
Back to the ute , we unloaded ourselves and jumped ??? / crawled into the ute to get the aircon going . It was 37 degrees according to the ute , and it felt like it too . Back to the station for some late lunch and then an ice bath - sorry that should have been swim in the pool , but it was freezing - just as you get in , the thought comes to mind - Why am I doing this , then you get back out again , refreshed , cold , but refreshed , then sit on the side to warm up again !!
We were rewarded with a nice sunset and a great nights sleep .
Today was a surprise after yesterday , after being not overly taken by the canyon , we are quite happy we’ve done the walk and seen this spectacular scenery .
Kings Canyon is a bit out of the way to get to - 160klms from Lassetters Hwy , the turn off is 108 klms from Stuart Hwy . It’s 360 klms from Yulara , so it’s a destination in itself . There’s helicopter rides , quad bike rides & camel rides at Kings Creek Station as well , but there’s not a lot else to do apart from a 22klm 2 day walk that can be done .
