Rescue Broken Cart in the Simpson

 

 

EN: Last weekend, with 3 cars and 3 drivers from the 4WD Outback Club of Alice Springs, we went North of the Simpson Desert to retrieve a broken desert cart from a 2023 expedition. The mission was a total success and the cart is now back in Alice Springs and can be even sold (to cover the fuel expenses) if someone wants to buy it; I can give the contact details of the person who has it and will repair it.

FR: Le week-end dernier, avec 3 voitures et 3 chauffeurs du 4WD Outback Club d'Alice Springs, nous sommes allés au nord du désert de Simpson pour récupérer un chariot de désert cassé lors d'une expédition en 2023. La mission a été un succès total et le chariot est maintenant de retour à Alice Springs et peut même être vendu (pour couvrir les frais de carburant) si quelqu'un veut l'acheter ; je peux donner les coordonnées de la personne qui l'a et qui le réparera.

Day 21

 Boring road. Visited Mac Clarke Reserve. Few cars passed. Now with cattle station people who invited me. Fire, first beer since March. Learning how they work.

Day 20

 Walking in a pulsed air oven. Fortunately Madigan Line is good surface. Did explore caves in hill. Fell asleep under cart to be awakened by 4wd. Gave me treats.

Day 19

Arrived on flat dirt road at Madigan camp 1A. Cart finally manageble but carefully. I must not tear ligament of ankle. Knee tendon pain stable. Six days of water left.

Day 18

 Almost no wind today. Valleys are getting scrubby. Lots of plants, trees and beautiful carpets of flowers. Zigzag and ankle hurts more. Hope body will hold.

Day 17

 Good wind all day helped decrease heat and flies. But climbing dunes west is harder on muscle and tendon. Pain knee and ankle stable. 8-9 days supplies.

Day 16

Sun so strong, sky is pale blue. Ground radiant. Between 1 and 4pm I rest under cart. Madigan track can only be driven west to east. No pick up before 1 week. New plan: off track to Madigan Camp 1 - 29km.

Day 15

I think I’ve got it now. Low dunes west close to each other = more soft sand. Heavy cart super slow. Track mostly sandy today. No fun. Boring. Probably Madigan Line west.

Day 14

 Self exit in process. After 1 hour I found dirt track and decided to follow, as going north. Track has hard or soft ground. On phone app mapy.cz found ireach (track? JMc) Madigan 50km

Day 13

 Did some filming. Forgot tripod and went to get it. Then in the afternoon less breeze. Drank  1 litre in 2 hours. Evaluated risk. Poeppel possible, but not Birdsville. Quit. Walk to Alice now. Safer. 

LouPhi called to add additional explanation;  daily progress eastbound remains insufficient to achieve the original goal. He has spoken with his Alice Springs logistics advisor Ian, and his parents at home in Belgium about his decision. The new bearing NNW is near parallel to the dunes and should therefore allow greater progress for a controlled self-extraction. A rough 4WD track in that direction might give some relief from fighting the vegetation with the cart. The revised intermediate goal of Low Dunes West is still a long distance away. JMc

Day 12

 Third of a moon. I see my shadow but not clear enough to walk. Saw a sand tornado 2m wide by 7m high. Fly entered eye at 4pm. Discomfort. Took it out. Made flaps for sunnies.

Day 11

 I finally started earlier and shorter breaks. Good breeze all day helped. Pain left tendon knee stable. Slight twisted ankle as cart makes me stumble on bumpy spinifex.

Day 10

 Routine starts but must progress more hours. No breeze this morning, so hot. It came at 2pm. Even enjoyed some dune crossings. Headlight low: recharge. 64 litres of water.

Day 9

 At around 4pm I messaged Louphi to ask for his state of mind today, and to let him know that he has received a lot of support comments on his Facebook page. His encouraging response was as follows: “Cart rolls better as valleys are becoming wider and this means hard dry crust of sand. Still too heavy to not break crust but in a few days it will roll. Higher dunes. Mood ok. Thanks.”

And just now, his evening public post:  “Thanks for the support. John told me. I haven’t called with iridium. No need. Thirsty hungry now. At 6pm I trek shirtless till camp. Travel with stars hard. Too many.”

John McLaine

Day 8

 Many doubts today. Thinking too much, hauling too little. Went for a random walk to take photos. First big dune I had to go back down because it was too steep.

Day 7

 Already one week. I observe insects mating. Cart load better. Around 77 litres of water left. Finally took photo of a lizard. Left knee small pain, so sleep. New moon here. Good.

Day 6

Left after mist. Now will camp here, but first solve big mistake. Find my camera that fell from cart. I forgot to attach it.

Day 5

 Haul cart to dunes without 30kg backpack. Then walk following cart track in sand back to backpack. Go back to cart. Cows. Cloudy. Drizzle. Stopped at 5pm because of rain. Ggrrr

Day 4

 Terrain has so much vegetation. Cloudy day and night. No stars so too hard to navigate. Any error is lost time, energy and water. To bed. First eat and science.

Day 3

 Day 3 terrain is like a giant potato field. Soft sand too. I go up dune with backpack while scouting passage for cart. Still short days to train body and avoid injury.