Day 226 | 15 km past Inglis Gap: another day, yet another gorge
74 km | Heading west total: 10,169 km
When I got to the Imintji shop a few days ago I asked whether Lenard Gorge is worth seeing.
The manager scratched her head and said she’d give it a miss.
She’d gone there once a few years previously but had turned back before reaching the gorge itself: it’s a 15 minute walk from the carpark. No, you can’t drive all the way. A young English guy had died when he had slipped down the waterfall earlier this Dry Season. His tour guide who fished him out was apparently still in therapy.
Later on that evening I met Kevin from the Iminji tyre repair shop when he came down to walk the dogs. Business wasn’t quite as busy now that there were fewer tourists ripping their tyres up on the Gibb River Road. He’d been in the area for quite a few years now and he’d seen the gorge in both the Dry Season and when there was mega water in the wet.
Kevin’s opinion: it’s awwsome.
Well, it’s only 7 km each way on a 4WD track, I thought I’d give it a go.
The gorge turned out to be a severe slash through solid rock. There’s a deep pool with a lovely, if somewhat unhealthy, green tinge that is about 10 m below the rest of the waterholes that are downstream: the river isn’t currently flowing.
The photos don’t do it justice.
My opinion: it’s awwsome.