Three Minutes from Ghost Gum to Counts Point

Larapinta End to End from Alice Springs to Mt Sonder
This is the short version of Episode Three of our Larapinta E2E hike in July 2023, showing the sections from Ghost Gum Flat campsite to Counts Point via Ellery North & Serpentine Gorge. For more detail and commentary, see the full version Episode Three: Ghost Gum to Counts Point.
Day 9 Ghost Gum Flat campsite to Ellery North 22km (Section 6): Knowing we had a long hot day across open and burnt country, we made an early start and were underway by 6.30am. We made good time to Rocky Gully campsite. We didn't think much of Rocky Gully and were glad we had opted to camp at Ghost Gum. We were pleased to reach the Ellery North shelter mid afternoon. I had a swim in the waterhole and we enjoyed watching the large flock of major mitchell cockatoos. We opted to lseep in the shelter for the first time. There werer many camped down by the river, most heading east.
Day 10: Ellery North to Serpentine Gorge 12.8km (Section 7): we weren't excited abiout the day ahead as it appeared to be a pretty boring section through to Serpentine Gorge. Fortunately, we were wrong. It turned out to be a cruisy section with some lovely scenery and lots of birdlife. We arrived into Serpentine Gorge by lunchtime. We were pleased to resupply from our food drop. As we wanted to make an early start to Counts Point, we opted to sleep in the shelter again for a quick getaway in the morning.
Day 11: Serpentine Gorge to Counts Point 8.1km (Section 8): we were up super early and away from the shelter before 6.30am. By 7am, we were climbing and could turn our torches off as the sun came up. The ridge along to Counts Point was very windy but had some of the best scenery so far. We arrived at Counts Point by 9.30am. An early start meant we had a rest day as we chilled on the point. We were soon joined by Erica, Hiep & Ash (but sadly Peter and John didn't push on to join us). We enjoyed one of the best sunsets yet over Mt Sonder in the distance. Our end point was finally in sight.
Camera gear: Sony A7C, Sony FE 2.8/24 lens, Sony FE 4/pz16-35 lens, Sony 4-5.6/28-60mm lens, Sony ECM B-10 shotgun microphone, iphone 12, iphone 14.
Photos by Matt Suddaby
Edited on Final Cut Pro