Kings Canyon

Photos

There is no free Internet here and no cell signal. So I am sorry this post is delayed. We did have an unexpected included hot breakfast though.

We went to bed last night a bit hopeful as it wasn’t raining here and we couldn’t even hear thunder but that may have been due to the super loud music. We were hopeful even though unhappy about spending the morning apart and not having breakfast together. Clay needed to eat at 6am and I thought I needed to sleep. It was not to be. The weird glass-walled giant bathtub next to my bed had a sodium vapor spotlight over the window that was turned on all night. There were a pair of louver doors to close off the tub room but they didn’t fit and so wouldn’t close. Even closed they wouldn’t block light. So every hour or so I startled awake thinking the yellow orange glow was early sunlight and that Clay had overslept and possibly me too. I am exhausted now. Clay got up and packed and left at about 5:55am to walk to the restaurant. He was immediately back knocking. (We were given only 1 key and it also holds the power key that lets the electricity be used in the room. Since we are splitting up for the hikes it is a bit more inconvenient than usual.) He said it was raining and he wasn’t going. I told him that he had to at least go down to the meeting place and let them know so they wouldn’t wait around to see if he showed up. He agreed and was mad. He has not been as upset about this AAT Kings segment as I have. I consider it poorly planned with too much coach time and too many sunrises and sunsets causing it. Clay has argued that if it hadn’t been raining the whole time that we wouldn’t have minded. I see his point and I don’t blame anyone for the weather but I don’t agree. One sunset and one sunrise would have sufficed for me. One view of the waterfalls on Uluru would have sufficed. Knowing what I know and having been here, I would not have scheduled the itinerary this way. Today Clay was questioning a strenuous hike up a canyon rim in the rain the way I questioned wine and nibbles outside in a thunderstorm, as unsafe. He asked why they would continue and I answered for the same reason they’ve all given that the rain event has lasted unusually long in a historical context and every day they think this must be the last day of rain for at least 7 years. But it hasn’t been. He didn’t come back after putting on his waterproof jacket. It is too hot to wear waterproof outerwear even though his is breathable. It only got down to about 75F overnight. It should be close to 90F before we leave. I won’t wear my jacket. It is lined and while it breathes, it is too warm. I’ll just have to get wet.

As far as I can tell today is Y28 from AAT Kings. I suspect the whole overnight package was something like this. Otherwise all the bus rides are like this.

So, Clay went off to breakfast in the dark in the rain. By the time the last of the stragglers had arrived at the bus they were fifteen minutes late leaving and it was light and the rain had stopped. Clay said he thought he was going to die climbing the 850 some uneven rock stairs up to the canyon rim. He said the whole 3 hours was up and down with very little level. He declined to climb down to and back up from the “Garden of Eden”. He waited up top and rested for the opposite side of the canyon rim and descent. I don’t think he thought it was a life risking view. I went to breakfast after 7am and it was not raining at all. Several people in my group of 5 easy hikers this morning said they had seen the Kings Canyon Resorts’ resident dingos either last night or this morning from the restaurant windows, but neither Clay nor I saw them. Bummer. So, our guide walked us through the Kings Canyon valley floor/creek bed walk. We walked just past ½ way maybe as far as ¾ of the way when we came to a big permanent steel wall with permanent signage on it. It had photos of the Garden of Eden at the end of the trail which is what we were told we were going to walk to as recently as yesterday afternoon. It had photos of the rock slide that occurred in May 2016 that closed the trail. The guide pointed out the photo of a cycad that he’d yesterday promised we’d see if we hiked. To be clear he did not promise we’d see a photo of a cycad on a blocked off trail. He said we’d see the cycads if we went to Kakadu. (That is probably a 1000 miles away and while we’re going, probably the others aren’t.) Per the woman who joined us after our guide left, the ranger we’d seen her talking to when we set out told her the permanent wall and signage went up in September 2016. She couldn’t believe that she’d walked up to hear him telling us when we reached the fence. When we came here to see the lay of the land and commit to one trail or the other, 100 feet further yesterday and Clay would have been able to actually see those rock stairs and he wouldn’t have gone. The other thing is that the guide told us what he’d seen on the creek bed walk 2 days ago, and didn’t mention that the trail was closed to the Garden of Eden. This wasn’t just an omission, it was a lie.  AAT Kings knew when they sold this to us through GSR last fall that the trail was closed. The reason they aren’t disclosing, I assume, is because sales would suffer if they were completely honest in the advertising. Certainly neither of us would have hiked at all which would have defeated the purpose of driving hundreds of km there and back. We all raced back to shower and change and pack as instructed. I am not sure what the point was since an hour later we all took another hike in the blazing sun. We had been spoiled by the inclement weather. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and hardly a spot of shade. We stopped at Kathleen Springs. It was at least a 1.6-mile roundtrip hike and we had 45 minutes though the signage said to allow at least an hour. We are all still at least 15 minutes behind schedule due to the late couple from breakfast before 6:30am. Clay balked about 1/3 of the way downhill knowing he’d have to climb back up. He gave me his camera as I was still mad about neither of us seeing the last waterhole at a canyon’s end.  I made it in time to hear the guide tell the group it was time to race back. I told him he’d just wind up waiting for me then. I took a few photos but I didn’t sit down to breathe as I’d have liked.

We stopped at Kings Creek Station for about 40 minutes for lunch as we are still trying to make up that 15 minutes. I had a ham & cheese toastie and Clay had a camel burger. He said it tasted like beef. We stopped at Angus Downs again where the 3 buses met around 3pm to exchange passengers and luggage. We gained over 30 people and went from 17 on the bus to 49. Our last stop was Erldunda for a comfort stop and place to buy drinks and snacks. We saw a most spectacular sunset from the far side of the speeding bus. As our driver pointed out, first sunset in 3 days. Indeed. We got to the Lasseters Crowne Plaza in Alice Springs about 7:30pm. We had some problems on check in as they said GSR had reserved 2 rooms for us for 3 nights. One reservation was made in 2016 and the other in 2017. We booked The Territory Complete package in 2016 and had a booking number. In 2017, GSR started sending us new travel documents with a different booking number on it. When we called to ask, they said it was a new booking system and to just ignore the old booking number. I guess somebody dropped the ball around that time on this one. She said she had sent a query on it. She said she put us in the 2016 reservation’s room. Clay refused to accept the 2017 reservation’s room. I don’t know who’s paying for that one but it better not be us!

I was so exhausted that after we found our room all the way at the end of block 4 with a view of the blank side wall of the restaurant and went back to reception to retrieve our left luggage that I just wanted to fall into bed. Clay insisted we go back to The Juicy Rump to share a chicken parm schnitzel. It was so big last time that I only ate half. Sharing it for $26 for 2 meals was a better idea. Clay cut it in half and kept the big plate with the fries. Since you set your own table and fetch your own orders, you can pretty much do what you want. No wonder no tipping. So Clay took less than half since he had a sandwich in his bag that he hadn't eaten. (He never did eat it.) I had eaten about 8 bites of my share when I got a bite that wasn't right. I spit it out and it looked like chewed up raw chicken. I scraped cheese, breading and sauce and sure enough raw chicken breast. I couldn't eat anymore. Clay was upset because I didn't get much to eat. I was worried about food poisoning from what I swallowed before I spit it out. The girl who took his money apologized and said she'd tell the chef. She offered to refund his money but he wouldn't take it back. I don't know why. I would have.

Sorry. I will get all caught up with typing and posting tomorrow afternoon for sure.

Photos