Yulara: Uluru … Mala Walk

20,652-steps … nearly an 8-mile day. This footprint will tell the story of the 1.2-mile walk that kicked off our day.

We were out earlier than yesterday … at 8:00a. The plan for the day called for us to drive to the Mala car park for the Base Walk around Uluru. With the high temp forecasted to reach only 76F, we figured this would be a good day for a long walk. In fact, it was 53F when we set off from the trailhead, with a strong wind adding a serious chill factor. No worries. We were comfortably bundled up for the conditions.

The nice thing about the low temps and the wind? They kept the pesky flies at bay. In fact, it wasn’t until we were ¾’s of the way around Uluru that we had to get the fly nets out.

Before beginning the base walk that circumnavigates Uluru, however, we detoured to the in/out Mala walk … which dead ends at Kantju Gorge.

It would have been nice to do the Mala Walk with a ranger, but the timing did not work out. Of course, it probably was best that we didn’t do a group walk as we were able to wander at our own pace, stopping to take photos of the sheer vertical cliffs and the rock art in some of the caves. It was fascinating to see how sunlight and shade changed the colors of the rocks. And interesting to note the “scaly” nature of Uluru, which — from a distance — looks so smooth.

The first part of the trail has several caves of significance to the Anangu people. This section was very crowded, with multiple large groups blocking the trail where the guides stopped for explanations. We are normally slow walkers, but were fleet-of-feet until we got well ahead of the groups. And then we slowed down to enjoy the area, read the signage, and explore the caves.

Kantju Gorge, on the other hand, was peaceful … with only a few others around. We would have dallied here, taking advantage of one of the benches for some respite. But with a much longer walk ahead of us, we felt it was best to move on.

But that story is for the next footprint …Read more