Water and food for the horses had failed altogether and with the depot now some 400 miles distant it was unlikely that Sturt or any of his men would be able to get back without the horses if they died. Spinifex was the predominant vegetation, and was close and matted, restricting movement. The deep red sand ridges of the desert extended in all directions beyond the range of Sturt's vision.

Charles Sturt had spent sometime explaining the options he now faced at this stage in his expedition: the lack of water for men and horses, symptoms of scurvy among the men and the character of the country they had now encountered. The high red sand-hills and the appearance of spinifex, which would lacerate the legs of men and horses were the last straw. He had been turned back previously by the gibbers (wind polished stones) of the Stony Desert, and now by the sand-hills of the as yet unnamed Simpson Desert. There was no evidence of bird or beast, or at this point of Aboriginal people.