My favourite wildlife on the hike was the emu. I had surprised a pair of them in the burnt area before Dwellingup when I stood up after a muesli bar break. I saw more than a few in my 5 weeks, but they were always in a rush and usually ran across the trail or down the trail ahead of me seeming startled. I saw kangaroos every so often but rarely near the trail; they were usually jumping around in the undergrowth.
I already felt the hardest part of the hike was over because the track towns are closer together than Perth to Dwellingup for the rest of the way. Five days only to Collie. I was also finding my pack lighter to carry and I no longer felt a daily onset of discomfort after I’d been hiking 14 kilometres or so.
It was raining as I left Dwellingup so I put on my waterproof pants. First time I’ve used them for their real purpose, not just worn them as trackpants. Then I soon took them off again as I was uncomfortably warm. Big mistake. It soon started to rain more heavily and my shorts quickly became soaked. I couldn’t put my pants back on because they would have been wet on the inside and not pleasant at all. I reminded myself how often I have run in the rain in shorts and been perfectly ok; I temporarily forgot that I wouldn’t be able to have a hot shower this evening.
Very soon I was really cold and hiking through wet plantation forest on a trail that seemed unnecessarily convoluted. Eventually I reach Swampy Oak shelter, where I saw an emu and this perked me up a lot, and I was able to remove my shorts and replace them with my pants. I drank some soup (I know, I don’t like soup, but I had bought it so I decided to have some) and listened to the rain on the shelter roof. After a long time I peered outside, then ventured outside, and I realised the rain had stopped but the trees were dripping noisily onto the shelter roof.
So I headed out again. I had a long 18 km afternoon ahead. Soon I met 3 hikers in quick succession, and one of them told me the rain was not forecast to return anytime soon. The trees were still dripping a lot so I still got wet but it was much nicer walking than before my break.
The hikers I met had told me there were 9 hikers at Murray shelter last night but I was there alone. The shelter was by the river. It was a real river with water unlike the many dry river beds I had seen. I put up my tent rather than use the shelter, partly because I liked looking at the stars as I lay in bed listening to podcasts, and I ate a freeze dried meal (as a novelty, and I won’t need to do this again in the future except that I bought 2 of them in Dwellingup). The overgrown trail vegetation around this part was thigh high and very wet; people called it car wash trail.
It was very cold in the morning and foggy and I worried a bit that I didn’t have enough clothes with me, especially if I was going to have more rain. I felt a touch despondent. I also found that I had worn right through the soles of my socks and I had to put on my spare pair. That didn’t matter but I resented having to carry a pair of useless socks.
I had looked forward to walking by the river but this was one of those trails that appeared on the map to be by the river but in reality the river was out of sight mostly. It was especially out of sight when I somewhere took a wrong turn, or missed a turn and went way off the Bibb. I sat down and examined map, GPS on my phone and the map on my watch for about 20 minutes then decided which way to go to regain the trail. Within 2 minutes of starting out I saw a Bibb marker! It wasn’t a proper marker but one of the sort they use for a temporary detour and they must have neglected to remove it as there was no detour in place here. But the markers were all there for a few kilometres until I rejoined the main trail. I had done an additional 3 kilometres and this was the last time I went seriously wrong on the entire hike.
After 48 hours of not seeing anyone at all I chanced upon a family hiking, and they stayed at Possum Springs shelter while I camped close by. The parents carried an unbelievable amount of gear but still got very cold at night. They assured me this cold weather was unusual and I would not have such conditions again.
I was hiking day after day in jarrah forest. Normally I prefer open expanses and views but the forest was all lovely. For lunch one day I made a detour off the trail to a shelter that was in an even better stand of jarrah, no signs of past burning and perfectly shaped trees. Not surprisingly there was no fireplace.
That afternoon I sensed a strong smell of smoke as I hiked. My experience from a few days ago was still in my mind and when I heard a helicopter I was even more alarmed. I hiked fast and was pleased to see a couple at the next shelter. They hadn’t smelled any smoke. The man gave me some tips about places to eat in the coming weeks, not all reliable I’m afraid. He also said that after the rain that night there was no rain forecast for the next 10 days and this was correct. The night rain was quite light. I was pleased they were there to guide me (by yelling directions) when at bedtime I couldn’t find where I had erected my tent; it was so black by 5.45pm and there were lots of little trails not leading to my tent. BTW bedtime was generally 6pm.
I walked quickly into Collie. A town day always raised my heart rate as I walked. Collie is an odd place - there is a fenced off railway line running the entire length of the town centre but not many trains. I checked into a motel and had my first shower for 13 days, and rinsed my clothes. Then I went to Maccas. Honestly, I did not see another cafe. I bought 2 new pairs of socks and food for the next stretch. I ate at one of Collie's many pubs: schnitzel with pepper sauce, chips and salad.
Daily distances hiked: 32km, 17.8km, 25.4km, 33km, 21.2km
No comments:
Post a Comment