Gill Goes... Trekking The Bibbulmun Track End to End... Monadnocks Shelter

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Day 6

Canning Temp Camp to Monadnocks Shelter

km's - who knows, officially 27.4, maybe 30 plus-ish



Today was a 6 hours of walking (and 1.5 hrs of stopping) on the really long gravel powerline road day. The start of the day was awesome- my first experience of packing up a soaking wet dewy tent (I'm sure the backpack weighed at least 2kg more with the wet tent!) and then a dewy, misty, atmospheric walk. The vegetation was dripping and before long so was I- literally- walking through the fog I got supersaturated and big fat droplets started falling off my hair. The light was very striking, the spider webs were sparkling and I really enjoyed watching the mist lift as the sun came out.

What I didn't enjoy were the

30 alcohol cans (Bundy and Coke or Carlton Dry drinkers mostly)

2 Corona bottles (higher end bogans?)

12 solvent cans

2 water bottle targets

12 bullet casings

large amount of other associated pieces of trash (lots of cigarette packets)

Seriously, I don't get why people do this!

End of rant.

Arrived into Monadnocks at 3:30 somewhat hot and sweaty but it was lovely to be back in the "bush". Beautiful campsite. It felt pretty busy after my 2 solo nights. Spent an enjoyable evening sharing milo and chocolate bars and chatting, either at the table in the shelter or around the campfire. One of the couples (4 time Camino De Santiago Veterans- Doug and Pam) were super friendly. Really enjoyed my dinner tonight, it's the first night I have actually been really hungry. I'm not sure if it was because I had a longer walk today or if it was that the Thai green chicken curry with noodles were so awesomely tasty (a solid 9/10). Goes without saying that the chocolate was a solid 10.




Impressions of Monadnocks

Great campsite with a nice elevated outlook, you can easily lose your way to the toilet at night, a tiny hint of 3G reception

Body assessment-all good

Total people seen for the day - 0 walking, 6 at camp- Goncales from Portugal (close to the end of his S2N E2E and hammock sleeper), Mel and Melinda (recent sweethearts who met on a tour and live in different states), Pam and Doug (Day 1 walking south for a few days), and Mel (walking for 2 days trying to get back into it after a long break).




Want to know more about dieback?

https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/pests-diseases/phytophthora-dieback

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Photos

Social Spider Web
Pretty sure this is a social spider web- a spider species whose individuals form relatively long-lasting aggregations. Whereas most spiders are solitary and even aggressive toward other members of their own species, some hundreds of species in several families show a tendency to live in groups, often referred to as colonies. There were masses of them throughout the bush here.

Aerial Burning Sign
I actually love the trees in this shot.

Gompholobium confertum
My plant biologist brother in law comes in handy

Drosera erythroreza
A Drosera, this plant is carnivorous and is also known as a Sundew. Its worldwide centre of diversity is found in the South West of WA. The leaf is covered in multicellular hairs that secrete a mucilage to trap and subsequently break down captures insects.

Flat, Flat, Flat
Not the most inspiring of walks this afternoon.

Blazed Tree / Grid Reference Tree
Blazing is a spot or mark made on a tree, as by painting or notching or by chipping away a piece of the bark, to indicate a trail or boundary. Also called grid reference trees because the blaze is based on the old imperial grid reference system. You can see the reference numbers on the Bibb track maps which come in handy if you haven't seen a waugal marker for a while!

Parrot Bush I Think
Banksia sessilis?

Lunch Stop
Gravel is not your friend

Dieback Sign
Phytophthora dieback is caused by the plant pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi, which kills susceptible plants, such as banksias, jarrah and grass trees, by attacking their root systems. It has affects about 40% of our native plant species

No Dieback Sign
As a hiker prevention measures should be observed- using cleaning stations to avoid transport of contaminated soil on your boots and poles