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West MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range

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Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range

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marklav
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Trail stats

Distance
48.52 mi
Elevation gain
8,727 ft
Technical difficulty
Experts only
Elevation loss
8,294 ft
Max elevation
4,478 ft
TrailRank 
97 5
Min elevation
2,179 ft
Trail type
One Way
Coordinates
7520
Uploaded
September 6, 2013
Recorded
August 2013

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near Glen Helen, Northern Territory (Australia)

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Trail photos

Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range Photo ofWest MacDonnell National Park - Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Chewings Range and Heavitree Range

Itinerary description

This is a fantastic area to walk but is only for experienced parties.

BE WARNED
- This walk is off track through rugged, remote and mountainous terrain. You must be confident at navigation, and route finding. The GPS track may be inaccurate in some of the gorges due to poor signal.
- While we found adequate water in the gorges of the Chewings Range to replenish supplies, depending on season water can be hard to find and of variable quality.
There is no water on the top of the Chewing or Heavitree ranges. Plan to carry an extra days water and have an exit strategy worked out if you can't locate further supplies.
- You need to be fit enough to carry everything you need for a week over and up/down rugged terrain.
- The area is very isolated we saw no other living souls for the entire trip after leaving Ormiston Gorge, there is some phone reception on top of the mountains but elsewhere a PLB is required in case of emergency.
- to complete this route we did a fair bit of advanced scrambling (AKA rock climbing with a pack). You must be happy with scrambling and exposure to negotiate the gorges.
- one of our party, a wild hairy beast called Garn still wanders the Chewings Ranges looking for lost Bush walkers to eat.

We started at Ormiston Gorge and finished at Serpentine Chalet Dam (arriving around midday). With an extra day it could converted to a circuit returning to Ormiston Gorge via the Larapinta Trail.

Waypoints

PictographPanorama Altitude 0 ft
Photo ofORMISTON GORGE Photo ofORMISTON GORGE Photo ofORMISTON GORGE

ORMISTON GORGE

Ormiston Gorge was our starting point and is easily accessed by road.

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Photo ofBOWMANS GAP Photo ofBOWMANS GAP

BOWMANS GAP

Bowmans Gap is only a few hours walk from Ormiston Gorge. It has a semi-permanent waterhole and comfortable camping in a sandy river bed.

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Photo ofMT GILES Photo ofMT GILES Photo ofMT GILES

MT GILES

Mt Giles is the NTs 3rd highest mountain at 1389 metres. It is cold, wind swept and rocky but has fantastic 360 degree views. There are a few 'shell scrapes' left by previous campers where you can roll out your sleep bag. Not much room for tent.

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Photo ofPILLARS OF HERCULES Photo ofPILLARS OF HERCULES

PILLARS OF HERCULES

Impressive rock columns at the mouth of a gorge.

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GILES YARD SPRING

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Photo ofDIAGONAL GORGE Photo ofDIAGONAL GORGE Photo ofDIAGONAL GORGE

DIAGONAL GORGE

We ascended the Chewings Range via this gorge.

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Photo ofPORTAL GORGE Photo ofPORTAL GORGE Photo ofPORTAL GORGE

PORTAL GORGE

We descended via this gorge. At several points you need to climb out of the gorge to bypass steep drop offs. At the bottom it is a narrow 'slot'.

PictographRiver Altitude 0 ft
Photo ofFALSE GORGE Photo ofFALSE GORGE

FALSE GORGE

We had intended to ascend via Red Rock Gorge (which would have been much easier) but in our enthusiasm we went up the wrong gorge

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Photo ofRED ROCK GORGE Photo ofRED ROCK GORGE

RED ROCK GORGE

PictographLake Altitude 0 ft
Photo ofFISH HOLE

FISH HOLE

PictographRiver Altitude 0 ft
Photo ofSERPENTINE GORGE

SERPENTINE GORGE

PictographPanorama Altitude 0 ft
Photo ofCOUNTS POINT

COUNTS POINT

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