Mount Sonder

Mount Sonder
Mount Sonder from the east
Highest point
Elevation	1,380 m (4,530 ft) AHD
Coordinates	23°35′S 132°36′E / 23.583°S 132.600°E / -23.583; 132.600Coordinates: 23°35′S 132°36′E / 23.583°S 132.600°E / -23.583; 132.600
Geography
Location	Northern Territory, Australia
Parent range	MacDonnell Ranges
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Mount Sonder, or Rwetyepme, its Aboriginal name, is the fourth highest mountain in the Northern Territory, Australia at 1380 metres above sea level. Mount Zeil is the highest at 1531 metres, 27 kilometres to the west. It is 130 km (81 mi) west of Alice Springs along the MacDonnell Ranges in the West MacDonnell National Park. It marks one end of the celebrated Larapinta trail, which extends 223 kilometres to Alice Springs. The shape of the mountain is a double peak, the relative heights of which are somewhat ambiguous from the summit, although easy to identify from the surrounding plains. The mountain can be seen for the western half of the Larapinta trail, up to Ormiston Pound, which obscures it from then on.

Explorer Ernest Giles named the mountain in honour of German botanist Dr. Otto Wilhelm Sonder.^[1]

A clearly defined walking track exists up the western side, taking about 12 kilometres. Water is available from a water tank 50 m beyond the carpark, and a direction plate can be found at the summit. This however is not the true summit, which is 750m away, but has been chosen for safety reasons. The view from the top boasts the taller Mount Zeil to the west, the West MacDonnell Range to the east, Glen Helen, a nearby resort, to the east and Gosses Bluff to the south west on a clear day.

Close-up of Mount Sonder from the south

References

• "Mount Sonder". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.