Kings Canyon

I know that some of you who know us are going to find this hard to believe, but we were all up at 6:15am this morning to have breakfast and head off to Kings Canyon for our walk around the rim. Yes we were “all” up, the slowest one to get going was Chelsea but eventually she got moving as well.

We left for the canyon at about 7:00am to be there for sunrise at about 7:30am so that we could experience this great area with the rising sun showing the many colours of the rocks.

Here we were, all five of us the picture of fitness ready to undertake a walk that required medium to high fitness level to complete. We were setting off with a seven year old, a seventy year old and a slightly overweight, emphasis on the slightly, middle aged man to walk to three to four hours. The question was at this stage would we make it?

The ‘Rim Walk’ commences with a fairly steep, strenuous climb over rock steps that take you all the way to the top of the canyon. Once there, the walk gets a little easier as you literally wander around the rim of the canyon before returning down the other side. It is not for anyone who does not like heights nor has little or no fitness.

If you are fit and able, the walk is worth doing, and yes the first part is the most strenuous and takes some time to climb. By allowing plenty of time and not pushing too hard, we all made it to the top, with a few stops along the way. This was of course to admire the view, well it was really to recover but we did enjoy the view while we were getting our breath back.

After we made it to the top, it was then a case of following a clearly marked path around the rim, admiring the views along the way. We were lucky enough at one stage to catch up with a tour group and listen to what the guide had to say. Surprisingly the rock begins as a white colour and the wind blows the sand against it which eventually stains the surface and thus ends up with the red appearance that it has. It is hard to picture it as white, but you could see it in the rocks that had been broken.




The walk takes you over and through some amazing scenery and I hope some of the photos show this, although they will not do it justice I am sure.



Mid walk, you come to what is called the Garden of Eden, a water hole in a chamber that reflects the rock formation and makes it difficult to see where the rock ends and the water starts. A truly beautiful sight.










The only real issue we had on the walk was who was going to be in front as Josh wanted to lead and of course, Chelsea wanted her turn as well. We had to make sure that we gave them turns to keep the peace between them.

We were ready mid walk to sit and chew on some of the snacks we had taken and this proved a valuable rest time for weary legs, hungry stomachs and a seven year old who was starting to get a little tired. After a short break, everyone was ready to continue the second half of the walk.



As stated earlier, if you do not like heights, then this is most probably not the walk for you as many of the lookouts were literally standing on the edge of a cliff face and looking down and around the canyon. Cathy was not to keen on this part of the walk at all.





Everyone survived and we made it around safely in just over three hours! A good effort by all!



In the afternoon, Skinny and I headed to Kathleen Springs for another short walk. This was through Kathleen gorge and while maybe not as spectacular, was worth the effort. It had been used as an area to water and feed cattle and the remains of the fences were still standing. If you are in the area and have time, do the walk if you can, but it is not worth travelling great distances to.




After a bit of dingo watching, Josh did take part tonight and saw eight dingoes, and star gazing it was off to bed for a good nights sleep after a very long and strenuous day.