The Collective Canyon Crawl

Have you ever gotten to rump around in a geological wonderland? If your answer is not then we were in the same boat until a few days ago.

It finally became time for me, along with my class of 14, to explore the beautiful landscape of the Carnarvon Gorge.  I was particularly excited about this part of the trip for two reasons: 1.This is the location I chose to focus on before we ever left our classroom.; 2. Our previous guide, Barry, mentioned the beauty of this location more than a few times in Binna Burra. I decided to interview him about it before we left and he said that he believed that he thought that the Gorge would be there forever. This statement was both refreshing and surprising since we’ve been caught in a bit of doom and gloom about the inevitable environmental drawbacks of climate change. I wanted to know more and a week later I was to find out.

It was a bumpy, 10-hour transport but before we even get to our camp there were some exotic wildlife to see. I saw heaps of kangaroos, wallabies and emus grazing in the golden woods of the outback. Suddenly we were in our campsite on the outskirts of the Gorge and there was green to be seen for miles. We officially met Simon, our last guide, the next morning and he informed us that we were to go on a really “fun” optional hike through a canyon in the Gorge. I’m not going to lie; I was pretty scared. We were warned to prepare for water as high as our chest and so far all of our hikes had been dry ones.

It started out normally but we quickly met what seemed like a crack in the earth. Surrounded by rock we entered the canyon and the view was just incredible. I felt a small, cool wind that made a soft whistle that brushed past my ear. I felt as though I was in a moss-covered room created by the earth with a permanent sunroof and then came the obstacles. I cradled my camera and set one foot forward through a series of logs and rocks. I went into survival mode and strategically made my way through this geographical labyrinth. It was a bit easier when we started but there was one point where everything was up and down. We had to use strength and balance to navigate over slippery sediment. I saw people struggle, which made those behind pretty nervous but when we got to the water we were presented a whole new challenge.   

I made sure there were no leeches before I stepped in but this water was so dark and icy that I was still afraid to plunge into the unknown. When we all descended you could tell that this wasn’t a popular part of the trip for anyone by the collective swears, moans and sighs echoing throughout the rocky walls. It was a trying excursion but we waded through and finally made it to the end of our journey and got to experience the whole thing again on another trying trek back to the entrance.

During that hike and every endeavor after it I kept my group topic fresh in my mind, which was essentially “How was this landscape explored here versus now?” I feel so caught up in the comforts that were available to us on this trip that it seems impossible to imagine experiencing the habitat as a truly wild setting with no paths, signs or guides to lead the way. It really is humbling to think that we, as humans, have rose above thinking of ourselves as a particularly susceptible part of nature but being in places with such a rich natural history reminds me that it wasn’t always that way. It has taken resourceful steps and technological advances to get to the levels of comfort and safety that a lot of us have the privilege of accessing. It really makes me aware that I am a part of something larger than myself, a collective conscious similar to what Aboriginals believed in. Needless to say, it was beyond cool.