The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Travels with Clifford

As long-time followers of this blog may know, my youngest brother, Clifford, has both graced many photos and been behind the lens for quite a few more. Beginning with Maui in 1990, Clifford and I explored Belize in 1993, Wales with our dad in 2000, and coastal California and the Southwest US numerous times since 2007. More recently we traveled and hiked together in Tasmania and mainland Australia in 2017, Malta in 2018, Ireland in 2019, and Costa Rica in 2022. Clifford’s innate curiosity, far-reaching knowledge, boundless enthusiasm, and child-like sense of wonder for the natural world enriched my travels in so many ways. Here are some recent fond memories. . .

Posing with stringy bark eucalyptus, Franklin River Nature Trail, Tasmania, Australia, 2017
Scratching an alpha male Forester kangaroo, Tasmania
Smiling from inside a hollow eucalyptus, Notley Gorge, Tasmania
Investigating a termite mound, Bed Boyd National Park, New South Wales, Australia, 2017
Admiring the vista at Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 2017
Enjoying the strata, Kings Canyon, Northern Territory
At a cliff-edge along the south coast of the island of Gozo, Malta, 2018
Kayaking on Dwejra Bay, Gozo
Admiring the cliffs from his kayak, Dwejra Bay
Looking up into the canopy from under a Dragon tree, San Diego Botanical Garden, 2022
Standing with an impressive yucca, San Diego Botanical Garden
Posing with an endangered Elephant tree at Torote Bowl, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, 2022
Under California Fan Palms, Anza-Borrego
At the trailhead of the Domelands Loop, Coyote Mountains Wilderness, California, 2022
Making empanadas with Valerie, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, 2022
At Toroweap Overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2023
Smiling with our brother, Mark (c), and me, the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, 2019

Clifford Blizard

1970-2024

Carpe Diem!

Kent Blizard, the Vagabond Hiker

All About Alice

To say that the more than 500,000 square miles of the Northern Territory of Australia is sparsely settled is a bit of an understatement.  Evenly distributed, each inhabitant would have more than 2 square miles to roam without encountering another human.  Alice Springs, the third largest town in the Northern Territory, is the definition of remote.  With about 27,000 inhabitants, Alice is situated roughly in Australia’s geographic center. It is the largest settlement between Darwin to the north and Adelaide to the south, each approximately equidistant at about 1,500 km (930 miles) away.

As part of the Red Centre (see my previous blog On the Road to Alice), this country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats.  The following photos summarize a series of day hikes I took from Alice, where my brother and I stayed for a week.  All hikes except Trephina Gorge were in the West McDonnell Ranges to the West of Alice, easily the most scenic landscape in the Red Centre.

A Sturt Desert Rose at Ormsiton Gorge along section 8 of the Larapinta Track.  At 223 km, the Larapinta is one of the most famous long distance tracks in Australia. On that day we were only on it a short distance before diverging onto the Ormiston Pound Walk loop.

Ormiston Gorge Water Hole. After the recent rains, we needed to wade across the stream in crotch-high water to complete the Pound Loop walk.

Panorama Trail view at Trephina Gorge Nature Park, the East McDonnell Ranges, in the early morning. Hot days necessitated early starts.

A remarkable Ghost Gum at Trephina Gorge Nature Park (composite photo)

Our 4wd Mitsubishi Pajero at Palm Valley trail-head, Finke Gorge National Park. A “serious” 4 wheel drive road of about 20 km had to be navigated to reach the trail-heads for our two hikes that day.

Clifford at Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge

Morning vista from Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge

A Ghost Gum along the Mpulunkinya Trail at Finke Gorge National Park

The Vagabond Hiker celebrating his birthday on a boulder amongst the Red Cabbage Palms at Finke Gorge National Park

Early morning shot of the West McDonnell Ranges from the road to Standley Chasm, starting point of section 4 of the Larapinta Track

The ridge to Brinkley Bluff summit on section 4 of the Larapinta Track

The view South from Brinkley Bluff summit. 360 degree views were on offer from this local high point on the Larapinta Track.  It is a popular dry camping site halfway through this section of the track, though I encountered only one other group that day.

The Vagabond Hiker on the Brinkley Bluff ridge-line high above the surrounding land

Despite the title of this blog, it would be remiss of me not to at least mention in passing our 2,700 km road trip odyssey from Alice back to Sydney for our departure flights from Australia.  Most of those three days were naturally consumed by driving and sleeping (fortunately, not at the same time!) but we did manage two early morning walks.  Below is one photo taken from each.  Quite a contrast to the Red Centre.

Pastoral view from the southern flanks of Mt Remarkable, Melrose, South Australia

Morning reflections on the Murrumbidgee, Hay, New South Wales (photo courtesy of Clifford).  A major tributary of the Murray, the Murrumbidgee is the 2nd longest river in Australia.

The Road to Alice

The road trip my brother and I made from Eden, New South Wales to Alice Springs in the Northern Territories covered more than 3,600 km (2,200 miles) and took seven days.  With this much time to drive into and appreciate the Outback, we were able to stop and enjoy some of the most interesting sights on the way, including kayaking the Kings Billabong along the Murray River in northern Victoria, going on a sunrise hike to Wilpena Pound in Flinders National Park in South Australia, seeing Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Kata Tjuta rock formations in the rain, and hiking the iconic Kings Canyon National Park rim walk (also in the rain!) in the Northern Territories.  The photos below highlight some of these adventures.

Clifford and a rotted tree creating an interesting sculpture at the Kings Billabong, off of the Murray River in northern Victoria

Pelicans on the Kings Billabong. Billabongs are isolated ponds left behind after a river changes course.  This one was engineered into a reservoir in the late 1800’s to irrigate the fields in the nearby arid lands.

Wilpena Pound in the early morning light, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia. Pounds, a term I had not previously heard, are relatively flat areas surrounded by mountains.

The Vagabond Hiker at Arkaroo Rock, Flinders National Park.  Still recovering from a several day bout of gout.

A Mallee Ringneck Parrot at Pound Gap in Flinders

An atmospheric Kata Tjuta overlook panorama, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.  Kata Tjuta means ‘many heads’ in the local Aboriginal language.

Late season seed pods at Kata Tjuta

A misty landscape at Kata Tjuta’s Valley of the Winds

A rare cascade at Kata Tjuta. Unlike the sandstone of Uluru, the rock formations at Kata Tjuta are conglomerate.

Uluru (fka Ayers Rock), the 2nd largest monolith in the world

The Kitchen Cave, Uluru. The site is sacred to the local Aboriginals who do not want visitors to climb The Rock.  Due to rains, it was officially closed anyway the day we were there.

Rarely seen Uluru cascades.  The rainiest weather I have experienced in two months in Australia was in the desert in the Northern Territories.

The Uluru base track at the point we turned back. Although it was flooded out, the trail had not yet been closed.

Uluru Aboriginal rock art

A gushing Uluru waterfall

A geologist enjoying the rock strata at Kings Canyon National Park

A Ring Tailed Dragon showing his camouflage along the path at Kings Canyon creek

Kings Canyon from the trail up to the rim

Kings Canyon rock textures and vista from along the Watarrka Rim Walk

Perhaps a Mains Frog at Kings Canyon brought out by the rain

The Garden of Eden, Kings Canyon, featuring relict cycads.  Note the rain drops on the pool.

A temporary pool on Kings Canyon South rim.  It rained almost continuously for more than two hours while we were hiking along the rim.

Not quail, these are Spinifex Pigeons at Kings Canyon

Panorama of Kings Canyon South Wall vista

A gorgeous Kings Canyon Holly Grevillea

Next week my travels will take me to Vancouver Island in Canada.  I will do one more short post from my latest hiking photos of the Alice Springs area, possibly later this week during a 2,700 km road trip odyssey back to Sydney.  Meanwhile,

Happy trails,

The Vagabond Hiker

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