Break 2 Day 4 - King's Canyon

Mike and I slept in till 7:30 and we hit the road with both boys still in bed. And they stayed that way till almost 11:00 when we arrived at Kings Canyon. It was a much longer drive than we had expected. We had a bite to eat at arrival – and headed out on the lengthy walk around the canyon.

The path is now marked so you do not need a guide, and again the long walk was the best route to take since the crowds were much reduced. The trail takes you all the way around the canyon (seen at left) and down into the bottom half way through. The hike is intentionally reversed now - posted signs indicate that it starts with a very strenuous vertical climb meant to ensure only suitably fit people attempt the walk (we managed to pass the test).

There were several spots which triggered memories from 18 years ago. Mike is quite certain that some of the trees he photoed were the identical trees to last trip. We will have to compare when we return home!

Both Pat & Kyle thoroughly enjoyed the hike also. It is hard not to be awed by the physical beauty of the canyon. It is the type of hiking we all enjoy – over rocks and open landscape with views abounding. The photos help to tell the visual story.

The hike takes you through the Lost City where 'beehive domes' cover the landscape (much like the Bungle Bungles in the north of Western Australia which we won't get to see I suspect).

There is a wide variety of plantlife in this area which is due largely to the location. Kings Canyon is at the meeting point of 3 distinct vegetation areas: the western desert which we are more familiar with, the abundant varieties of the MacDonnell Ranges and the harsh vegetation of the Simpson Desert.

Once in the bottom of the canyon, it is a tropical oasis, aptly named The Garden of Eden. The water hole was much fuller this time, and there was now a staircase leading both down and up making the trip easier - we had to scale the rocks last time!

Once back at the van, we had a sandwich lunch and then started our drive back to Alice. We pushed darkness a bit far (luckily causing no roadkill), but managed to make it out to the Stuart Highway at Elrunda Roadhouse and even lucked out with another powered site.

I haven't mentioned the weather as yet - although you can see from the photos the sun is shining brightly (Pat got a bit of a burn today). The daytime temperatures are comfortable, but the nights are MIGHTY COLD. It was a good thing we got a powered site since we need power to run the heater and it went down to -3c that night! Ah, but we're headed north starting tomorrow, and we're told once we hit the Tropic of Capricorn it will warm up nicely.