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April 2016 Blog Posts (23)

Day 47

Day 47. Well that turned out differently than I had planned, in more ways than one.

I left Murray early because I knew the track would be difficult to follow and I wasn't sure how long the burnt area continued. It turns out it wasn't far before I left the affected area and moved into clear areas and hence fully marked. It would have been probably 2km before I found track markers again. This is not to say it was easy to get there, but all the same it reiterates my previous comment… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 28, 2016 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Day 45

Day 45 Possum Springs to Dookanelly. I will start with the previous night at PS. As mentioned there is no hut as yet, or at least one with a roof. So it was a tent night. It rained most of the night but the tent performed ok. Very little water inside this morning. It is a bit of a pain packing up the next morning when raining. Everything gets wet to some degree, but I managed to do most between showers. I also discovered some rodent damage to the tent mesh. He or she had eaten through the mesh,… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 28, 2016 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Day 44

Day 44 Anzac Day, Yourdamung to Possum Springs.

Fittingly I was awake and up before dawn at around 5am. I guess when you have slept enough you wake up. Sunrise was disappointing in that there was heavy cloud and showers about. But still it was nice to be awake to pay my respects to our diggers from all conflicts. I would have preferred to be at a ceremony somewhere, but I guess it doesn't matter where you are as long as you mark the dawn respectfully. It also reminded of me of all… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 28, 2016 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Day 46

Day 46 Dookanelly to Murray. The track is officially closed from Driver Road to Yaragal Form, some 25km, which includes Murray Campsite which sustained minor damage in the recent fire.

There is no diversion in place so the only other option was to walk Nanga Road and add an extra 20km and a day to the trip. I passed a couple heading South who took this option and said it was completely dangerous, being a 90kmh zone and vehicles can barely see you on corners and in the shadows. The… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 28, 2016 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Day 43

You will note the gap in days which is explained in Day 39 post.

Day 43 Harris Dam to Yourdamung. Sadly today I had to say goodbye to the family and friends in Collie. I had a belter of a weekend for my birthday and seeing my beautiful wife and children was just the tonic for my heart and soul. I honestly believe my leg improved with their presence and also gave me motivation to continue on the end-to-end. The same could be said for my great friends Sherrie and Andrew and new found… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 24, 2016 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Day 39

Day 39 Yabberub to Collie. A still considerably uncomfortable walk in today, but the left leg hasn't got worse. But I was very pleased to reach the Collie Ridge at around 2pm. The thought of walking 18km out to Harris Dam tomorrow is not appealing in the slightest.

James the manager of the Collie Ridge has booked me an appointment with the physio this afternoon, so maybe I can get a few answers and some treatment. The physio took one look at the swelling and my pain reaction and… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 23, 2016 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Day 38

Day 38 Tuesday 19/4/16 dawned into a beautiful morning. The clouds had all but blown over after light rain overnight. I was awake at 3am, I guess stressing about my leg, but managed to doze off for some more much needed sleep.

When I did get up the leg was stiff and sore, but there was little I could do but massage some anti-inflammatory cream into it and wear the ankle brace I had wisely packed in Perth. I have now adapted a more toe out walk, which seems to take most of the… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 19, 2016 at 5:38pm — No Comments

Day 37

Day 37 was the trip between Grimwade and Noggerup, some 23km. I knew when I woke up my shin was no better, as it was stiff and painful. I did what I could to support it but I'm not carrying much in the way of tape.

Well I guess there's little point in sugar coating it. Every step of the way was painful. It took me about 8 hours to cover the distance, mainly due to rest stops and of course the slow pace I had to walk. I had plenty of time to think of different scenarios and where I… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 19, 2016 at 5:35pm — No Comments

Day 36

Sunday 17th April 2016, Day 36. Truth be told, not the best so far on the track.

I don't enjoy writing a blog after a tough day. So it will be short and to the point.

The main issue I have is my left shin. It did unfortunately get worse as the day wore on. I have rethought my amateurish diagnosis, and I may have a shin splint. It is quite painful to touch and quite a bit of swelling just above my ankle. I have anti-inflammatory cream that I hope will settle it down. But it… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 19, 2016 at 5:33pm — No Comments

Day 33

Day 33 dawned to the sight of the Blackwood Valley below filled with mist. Quite a spectacular sight indeed. The photos I took really didn't do it justice. There was also some rain clouds about, but after a brief shower, they moved along. Considering the crap sleep I had endured this was a nice consolation. The hut is infested with mice, and all the night the little buggers were going about their business in a loud and obnoxious manner. I had my food and pack hanging, as is the necessity at… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 14, 2016 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Sandpatch to Muttonbird

Day 2

After a restless nights sleep (lots of tossing and turning - not really used to our very lightweight thin airbeds but it would have been 100% better than sleeping on the ground) we woke just after 6am, made a coffee and walked up to the lookout to watch the sunrise. Just beautiful! We then walked back to our campsite, had breakfast and packed up. We were on the trail by 8.10am and got about 10 minutes out of the site when it started to rain. We quickly took off our packs, grabbed out… Continue

Added by Kathy Pangler on April 14, 2016 at 3:29pm — No Comments

Day 32

Day 32 was the walk from Gregory Brook to Blackwood. Everyone raves about the views from the hut over the valleys, and now I am sitting here writing I can see why. It is disappointing that all the pines have been chopped down after the fire that went through, but still it is a view that even money cannot buy.

The walk out was quite pleasant and apparently the last sightings of Karri trees as you head north. This is also the first encounter with the Blackwood River and of course the… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 13, 2016 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Our first day

Day 1

After a good nights sleep at the Wheeler's, a lovely coffee and breakfast we headed out to view the newly refurbished Gap. Quite spectacular and well worth the visit. Still had a number of idiots scaling rocks with their children but some people can't help themselves I guess.

Moya and Ernie then dropped us off at the drop off point at Bayview Drive car park. From there we put on our gators, legionaries hats and packs (an attractive looking site) and said our goodbyes. We… Continue

Added by Kathy Pangler on April 13, 2016 at 4:29pm — No Comments

Day 31

Day 31 dawned to rain, rain and more rain. It had been coming down most of the night and didn't look like abating. I procrastinated until about 0930, said my goodbyes to Matt and the girls, and decided I must push on from Donnelly. By 1000 I had wasted more time at the general store but the rain seemed to be easing. And by 1030 it did stop which was a real bonus. I only copped one heavy shower over the course of the day, so it turned out well.

This is quite a nice walk out to Gregory… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 13, 2016 at 4:07pm — No Comments

Day 30

Day 30, in terms of the walk, was a big disappointment. There was a diversion in place into Donnelly for bridge works. For the last 10km you are following gravel roads, which is not what I call inspiring. Apparently they plan to reopen the Tom Road to Donnelly section tomorrow, so I missed it by that much..... It is what it is.

I had a house booked for the night in Donnelly so I managed to wash my clothes and body and hitch a lift in to Majimup for supplies all in the space of an… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 13, 2016 at 3:55pm — No Comments

Day 29

Day 29 dawned and it was a really nice morning with a great walk in store. Dean took all our rubbish for us, so a bonus and less we have to carry. After seeing him off I headed back to the trailhead and set off.

Not far in I wasn't feeling too flash. Not sure why but some more food seemed to do the trick and it passed as quickly as it came. This section is one of my favorites so far. You follow the Donnelly for the best part of the day, and it is a very beautiful river. I followed… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 13, 2016 at 3:53pm — No Comments

Day 28

Day 28 Saturday 9th April 2016 sees the walk from Beavis to Boarding House. Even from the topography on the map and the terrain profile you can see it is going to hard going.

And the walk didn't disappoint. 3km in is a very sizeable climb from 45m above sea level to about 220m in the space of about a kilometre. Basically you climb out of a deep valley to the top of the hill. And there were another two or three sizeable climbs over the course of the day. So not an easy day by any… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 13, 2016 at 3:51pm — No Comments

The eve of our first overnight hike

It has been a long time in the making but we are finally about to embark on our first overnight hike on the Bibbulmin Track. It has taken many months of planning and preparation to get up to this point and half the fun has been purchasing our gear ready for the trip. Dave has planned every aspect of this trip, weighing every item to go in the pack several times and adding it to his spreadsheet. The packs are all loaded and even though we've kept the weight to a minimum I think we are going to… Continue

Added by Kathy Pangler on April 12, 2016 at 5:32pm — No Comments

Day 27

Day 27 Friday 8th April 2016 was a particularly early awaking at 4am. No particular reason, probably just uncomfortable sleeping on the ironing board. Mind you I will give the product a plug. It's a Therm-a-rest prolite plus regular size. It's not too bad if you get the mat inflated to the correct hardness for your body/comfort. Compacts down to a small size in your pack and weighs around 780gm, so it's a good mat when all things are considered. Anyway enough about gear.

Phil was up… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 9, 2016 at 10:42am — No Comments

Day 26

Thursday 7th April is day 26 and time to leave Pemberton. Sad in a couple of ways. I enjoyed the stopover, Matt has since left and of course this was Kev's favorite holiday destination. He used to call it "Pemperton", a Kevism if there ever was one.

I was awake at 5am but it was too chilly and comfortable to get out of bed. I guess the next four nights I would be sleeping on the equivalent of an ironing board, so who could blame me. I did manage to head off just after 7am, which was… Continue

Added by Stuart Parks on April 9, 2016 at 10:40am — No Comments