Belgian Adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke has announced his next expedition, a solo, unsupported traverse of the Simpson Desert in Australia. The plan is to cover approximately 800 km (497 miles) over 35 days, traveling North to South, in what could well be the longest unsupported desert trek without water points for resupply ever.
To over come the challenges of this trek, Louis-Phillppe created a special cart to allow him to carry all of his supplies and water. Since there aren’t any wells along his route, he’ll need to lug more than 140 liters of water with him. He is approaching this expedition much the way an Arctic explorer would a trip to one of the Poles, but replacing the sledge with his cart.
The Simspn Desert is approximately 176,500 square-km in size and is found in central Australia. It’s known for the longest parallel sand dunes in the World. There are more than 1100 dunes in the desert, the tallest of which is over 40 meters in height. Some of these dunes run over 200 km in length. Rainfall in the region is less than 400 millimeters a year.
You can read about Louis-Phillippe’s preparations at his Simpson Desert Trek Blog and you can learn more about the Belgian Adventurer at his official site.
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800 km of desert without water resupply! Talk about crazy.
Yeah. Seems a bit nuts. At least the polar explorers can melt ice and snow for water. Dragging 140 liters of water around is going to be tough!
YEah I know, but had no other way to try the length of the desert. I put the risks very high.
But compared to him I’m still far below : http://planetultramarathon.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/jon-muir-walks-to-centre-of-australia/
To me he’s the biggest adventurer alive. Tougher than Mike Horn.
When I say “a bit nuts” I mean that in the best way possibly my friend. I respect your adventurous spirit and wish you nothing but the best. Can’t wait to follow your trek! 🙂
Very innovative design solution to a difficult problem! When you are done, you can also use it for the Badwater ultramarathon.