ROAMING THE GAMMONS
Australia is a predominantly arid continent, with vast potential for walking experiences markedly different to those usually encountered by residents of the temperate southeast.
One such opportunity lies roughly 500 kilometres as the crow flies north of Adelaide: the Gammon Ranges. Lying at the northeastern end of the great sweep of folded mountains that are the Flinders Ranges, the Gammons are a high but substantially eroded plateau of flat-lying quartzite strata, where the highest summits rise to over 1000 metres above sea level. The range has been long dissected, forming spectacular gorges, and this distinctive mountain landscape rises from low country surrounding the gleaming salt flats of Lake Frome.
1940s desert explorer Warren Bonython walked extensively in the region. “At their edge the slope,” said Bonython, “which was gentle near the crest, progressively steepens and then changes dramatically into a precipice plunging down to a rock-strewn creek bed perhaps a thousand feet below”.
The Gammons are dry. Walking here is totally reliant on finding and carrying water; any weight saving achieved by ditching items like tents (in favour of a light fly in our case) is cancelled out by the need to carry water. And if you’re a couple of keen photographers
