Day 50: Gardner to Lake Maringup
We acknowledge the Nyoongar People as the traditional custodians of the land and waters along the Bibbulmun Track
Getting soaked from sky and ground!
Use Bibbulmun Track Foundation Map 6 - Northcliffe
The day’s details: it’s a relatively flat day and 17 km is a perfect distance… but the track is getting wetter
After a deafening night in the hut with bucketing heavens and howling winds, we hope the deluge might end… but it is not to be. Our first day of wading will be in rain. But, pluses: it’s not actually cold, just wet, and the terrain is getting flatter, with wide sandy swamps between the higher forested ground.
We begin through dripping greenery. Brushing through this soft vegetation is quite different to that of the spiky scoparia in Tasmania, which would rip our lightweight Visps to shreds!
Aaaand… here it is, our first puddle. We strip off our pants and cross in merino undies and rainpants. We have taken off our boots for this puddle but, long before we get to the tenth or twentieth splosh, realise that this is too time-consuming. We resign ourselves to wet, heavy boots for the next five days.
Different hikers have different approaches to water crossings and extended wading (they are two quite different things). Some wear fast-draining, fast-drying sneakers, trail runners or mesh boots, and these are ideal. Others use sandals, aquashoes or camp shoes like the ones we’re carrying but, with so much wading over five consecutive days, they need to fit well if you are to avoid blisters or foot issues.
We decided before we began this thru-hike that we’d put up with wet boots for five days if our feet would be dry the remaining 69 and, indeed, our feet have been dry up to now (and continue to be so after this wet section). Other hikers choose mesh/non-goretex for the entire hike but, in the weather we’ve had, this would have meant many days with wet feet for them, with an increased chance of blisters. Had it been a drier season, their approach could be preferable.
Alternatively, you could post lightweight runners or hiking sandals to Northcliffe (SOBO) or Walpole (NOBO) and carry your boots for just this section because there are few rough, rocky sections - most is flat sand. When you reach the end of the wading, simply mail the sneakers home. Of course, carrying your boots isn’t ideal because even lightweight ones are about a kilo; this is also why we don’t carry Keen and similarly heavy hiking sandals as camp shoes: yes, you can walk in them too, but they are very heavy to be just carrying (rather than wearing) most of the way.
It is dank and dreary in the rain, but there are countless hammer orchids, duck orchids and king-in-his-carriage in the open sands. And other wildflowers too, their bright splashes of colour brightening the gloom:
Pink boronia (Boronia pulchella)
Wedding Bush (Ricinocarpos glauca)
Stylidium scandens
There’s the yellow of acacia, Melaleuca and peas
as well as creamy melaleuca and ti-tree (Leptospermum) throughout the swamp.
Wading, wading, wading! Fortunately, the Visp pants dry very quickly and are comfortable rather than clammy against the skin.
Purple flag iris, Patersonia occidentalis
The motorbike frog (Littoria moorei) is named for its astonishingly realistic call. There are tens of thousands of tadpoles in all the puddles we cross. No wonder this is snake heaven! In fact, we later hear that our friend Helen steps on a snake as it’s eating a frog in the middle of the track. After a bit of a dance, Helen went one way, the frog another, and the snake a third! She was wearing gaiters, so there was no concern about bites.
Pimelea rosea
Thomasia paniculata
And past more lovely flowers to the hut.
We change into dry clothes and make hot soup. Because it’s been so wet (well, actually, because the rain prevented flower photography!) we have arrived early, about 1:30 pm, so can eat lunch in comfort. Eating meals in the rain isn’t much fun.
Maringup Hut draped with drying clothes
Towards the end of the day, the sky clears somewhat. You can swim in Lake Maringup, right by the hut, but we have had enough water!
Campsites close to shore (apologies for photo quality of the last three, I forgot to change the ISO!).
And finally a delicious dinner of chilli beans and corn chips. Dehydrated food can become a bit boring texturally, so the corn chips are yum! Not only that, but our Inreach Mini is forecasting less rain tomorrow. What more could we ask?
