A chasm and a gorge

And it was worth it! we camped last night at a bush camp in the heart of the park, very basic. But this morning we were up at 5 o'clock, and on the road by six. It gets very hot later in the day, so the two walks we had to do were to be done early while it was still reasonably cool.

We drove the rough roads to Echisma Chasm first, a shortish walk along a difficult track in a creek bed, loose rocks and shingle.

The 180 mtr deep chasm,cut knife-like into the sandstone, is a superb natural phenomenon and one of the reasons why Purnululu received World Heritage status. Millions of years of erosion along a joint in the sandstone have created the deeply incised gorge and a landscape quite different to the other areas of the Bungles.
As we were very early the chasm was in deep shade, which was a blessing as daytime temeperatures can reach the mid 40s C.

We moved on to Mini Palm Gorge, yet another walk from the car park. The trail took us through land that the aboriginal people have walked for over 20,000 years, and has deep cultural and spiritual significance for them.

The trail was quite challenging over creek beds and loose sand, over three miles, the first mile or so very exposed to the sun which was by now much higher in the sky.

The gorge is largely composed of compacted conglomerate rock, which were deposited byancient rivers flowing from the Osmond range to the north. Over many years the pressure of geological forces has compacted the rock with sand to form the formations that we see today. Some are over 600ft high, and in places so narrow that we had to squeeze through.

Along the way we could see why it was called mini palms gorge: small Livistonia palms cling to the rocks above us, escaping the regular floods and fires that sweep through this valley

We were back at our campsite by 11, already the sun was scorching, and during the afternoon the temperature reached the mid 40s, and we had no pool or even showers to cool us. So it was a sponge under a tap, not a great substitute, but we made the best of it. Thank goodness the evening gave us a little respite, we were in bed by 8, and it cooled to around 25 overnight. Another adventure tomorrow!