Larapinta Trail

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Larapinta Trail

Postby OG1 » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 12:56 pm

Hi,
I will be doing end to end of the Larapinta Trail late August/early September this year. Going from West to East. Can anyone please recommend what maps are best to get?
Regards,
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby north-north-west » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 3:34 pm

Get Chapman's book and/or the walker's info pack from NT Parks Service. They're perfectly adequate even for newbie's to go end-to-end, and also for more experienced walkers who want to do a bit of off-track stuff.
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby OG1 » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 5:26 pm

Many thanks NNW
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby ribuck » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 6:15 pm

Hi OG1,

There are also the freely-downloadable section maps, in A4 PDF format. These are black and white, but are very clear with a lot of detail:
https://nt.gov.au/leisure/recreation/bu ... inta-trail

I'm going east-to-west, starting 1 May.
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby OG1 » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 6:41 pm

Excellent, thanks for the info Ribuk. The last couple of people I talked to suggested doing West to east... I'm just starting with the planning so would be interested to hear any details around your planning and your choice to travel East to West.
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby north-north-west » Mon 12 Feb, 2018 7:14 pm

East to West means:

You can get an early start and walk through the morning with the sun at your back instead of squinting into it. Thus you can avoid walking during the worst heat of the day.

You finish with one of the best bits (the climb up Rwetyepne and back).
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby ribuck » Tue 13 Feb, 2018 1:40 am

Which direction to walk is a close call. I'd be happy to go either way. People who have walked west to east describe the appearance of Alice Springs and the final walk into it as very rewarding, and people who have walked east to west describe the final ascent/descent as very rewarding.
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby Mark F » Tue 13 Feb, 2018 11:47 am

Agree with nnw about walking in the mornings with the sun on you back but I believe the key reason for the E-W or W-E choice is logistics. If you have a vehicle then it makes sense to do it E-W as you need to leave the vehicle in AS and it is easier to hitch back from Sonder rather than try to hitch out to it. If you don't have a vehicle then it is cheaper to get a charter out to Sonder and place your drops on the way out.

I also agree with ribuck that the free download and print maps are adequate for the job.
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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby Rileyr » Tue 13 Feb, 2018 6:34 pm

We enjoyed walking west to east. Mostly because we preferred the idea of walking towards and into town. We also liked that in the arvo and during the heat that we didnt have the sun in our face.

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Re: Larapinta Trail

Postby canthardlywait » Wed 04 Apr, 2018 2:34 pm

I did it east to west and liked that the first couple of days were relatively flat, giving you a little bit of time to ease into it. Finishing on Mt Sondor for sunrise was also really special.
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