Day 24: Yourdamung to Harris Dam
We acknowledge the Nyoongar People as the traditional custodians of the land and waters along the Bibbulmun Track
Another fun day with a short distance, perfect hiking temperature, no big climbs and plenty of flowers! Plus a bit of excitement when, for the second time, we smell smoke and then see fire nearby… very nearby! It’s clear the fire has only just started but we’ve seen no signs anywhere on the track or in the hut about a burn.
Overview map for today - almost at our second town!
And the days details: 14.3 km with only 170m elevation gain - yay! Use the Bibbulmun Track Foundation Map 3 Collie
There are no campfires permitted at Yourdamung, perhaps because the campsite is surrounded by orchids. Here, Rattlebeaks (Lyperanthus serratus)
Helena enthusiformis! You can see how the Peak Designs Camera clip holds the camera on the shoulder strap of the backpack, and how a mastectomy helps the fit! The camera’s universal baseplate locks into the clip; you press a button to release the lock and slide the camera upwards. It works with DSLRs but is perfect for Micro 4/3 cameras.
White spider orchid (Caladenia longicauda)
Bracket fungi
I think this is the fruiting body of a Cordyceps, a parasitic genus of fungus that infects caterpillars and grows to the surface. Think: dinner table scene on the spaceship in ‘Alien’!
Sowerbaea juncea (Vanilla Lily)
Amazing regrowth with coral pea draped triffid-like over everything
Isotropis cuneifolia. When closed, the flower veining looks like butterfly wings!
An open clearing rich in orchids
Paracaleana nigrita (Flying duck orchid). These look spectacular in photos but are incredibly cryptic in real life because they are tiny, and the dull brown colours blend in perfectly with leaves and debris.
Caladenia magniclavata
Drakaea livida, the Warty Hammer Orchid: another tiny species that’s hard to spot. You’ll walk straight past them unless you’re specifically looking for small flowers or insects.
Drakaea glyptodon, or King-in-His-Carriage, widespread, common, but rarely seen!
Thank you, track vollies!
We stop for lunch and have just prepared the makings when we smell smoke. It is strong, nearby, and very soon we see it. We’re within 200m of a forestry track and we’re pretty sure it’s a control burn but we hurry on. There were no signs in the hut about a control burn, nor have we seen any enroute. Between the trees we spot a fire truck rolling along the track and we try to wave them down, but to no avail. The flames are right there, burning within metres of us and on the continuation of the Bibbulmun on the other side of the forestry track.
The flames are low and there was a fire truck; it is probably a backburn but I confess I’m quite frightened. Wouldn’t there have been some kind of notification in the hut if a burn were happening today? We check our map and see that we can walk around the burning section but we’re unsure it’s the right thing to do because we don’t know the extent of the fire. It’s very smoky and ash is falling on us and around us. Just then, a Ranger drives down the track in a ute filled with gear. He confirms that it is, indeed a backburn.
He shows us on the map where the diversion is. “Didn’t you see the sign?” he asks. Sign? What sign?
This sign! It’s on the side of the road where we emerged but, in our rush to flag down the fire truck, we hadn’t even seen it. It has only been put up yesterday and no, there was no notification in the huts either side. But I’m much calmer now I know it’s all under control and that we only have a short 2 km diversion; we’ll soon be upwind of the smoke.
The ranger drives away and we begin to walk. The smoke is quite thick and within minutes there is a dusting of ash on our packs, not great for asthma. But then the Ranger reappears in his car.
“Hop in, we decided it’s really a bit too smoky to walk along here,” he says. “We’ll drop you round the other side but can only do one at a time as there’s too much equipment in the cabin.”
Well, that’s a relief. We enquire after a couple of hut mates ahead of us and indeed they have been shuttled through already. On the other side, we eat a belated lunch and continue on.
The sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa), aka stumpy tails or shinglebacks, look different to those back home in South Australia. These are much more differentiated in colour with tan heads. It is perfect camouflage.
And here we are at Harris Dam Hut with John again. He’s a great bloke despite the T-shirt!
We’re sleeping in the tent tonight with good weather and a smooth substrate, and it’s what we prefer.
A few nights ago* we had a diminutive hut companion who was quiet as a mouse: we couldn’t even hear her breathing at night. However, she had an extraordinarily loud air mattress - the new model Neoair Xtralite - the loudest we’d ever experienced. Noisy mats or snoring hut companions don’t bother us as we consider it part and parcel of communal sleeping; in fact I got the giggles at one point listening to this very quiet lady suddenly turn into a rampaging elephant when she rolled over during the night. How did she find her new mat, I asked noncommittally the next morning. “Oh, it’s a bit noisy, but not too bad. I don’t wear my hearing aids at night!” I managed to keep a straight face but Geoff had a sudden coughing fit.
We’ve mentioned this before but sharing a hut includes accepting other people’s foibles, it’s a waste of energy getting worked up about them. The campsites are generally plentiful and well spaced.
*Timing has been edited to protect privacy - this happened somewhere on the Bibbulmun!
