2018 Bibbulmun Track
Still running ahead of schedule and after a few more wet stretches through the rest of the Pingerup Plains I arrived at Gardner’s campsite which was another rammed earth shelter. The journey here involved a detour around Lake Maringup and the campsite of the same name due to flooding. I had heard about this detour from Andrew whom I come across a few days before but the parks people in Walpole knew nothing. It appears that this diversion was arranged from the Pemberton parks office and word had failed to be sent out. The diversion actually shortened the track by 10km so it made ‘double hutting’ easier.
I started out walking with Wayne for an hour or so before hitting my daily stride and spending the rest of my day walking by myself. Once I came off the diversion and ended up back on the track, I hit an area of soft sand. This wasnt really an issue except that some considerate trail bike riders, who decided they wanted to ride the Bibbulmun Track, had badly chewed up the track and made things hard going.
I arrived to Gardner’s campsite late afternoon to find three southbound hikers already there. Within the next few hours there were six of us which was the biggest number of hikers I have had to share a campsite with so far. Still a day ahead and tomorrow I head to Northcliffe.
The temporary ‘campsite’ to replace Lake Maringup