Gill Goes... Trekking the Bibbulmun Track End to End... Noggerup Shelter

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Day 22

Yabberup Shelter to Noggerup Shelter (via the Mumby Pub)

20.2 km

Beautiful morning after a couple of overnight showers. The gear talk continues over breakfast (oats, chia seeds and dried blueberries- OMG delicious). Offload some trail mix to my hut buddy and am on the trail at 08:40. No hurry with a 20km sunny day.

The overwhelmingly crisp smell of pine forest at the 3.9km mark succumbs to smell of wood smoke. The smoke smell continues all the way to the Glen Mervyn Dam and my initially clear views of the dam become shrouded in smoke by the time I cross the wall. GMD is a "swimming allowed" site and you can tell- the place is strewn with trash, toilet paper and discarded clothing - such a shame. It's also a bit of a mudfest. Whilst the walking is actually easy in terms of flatness, it's slippery- I place my feet carefully- not keen on slipping and landing in a toilet paper zone! It's nice to get back into the forest.

At the 11.7km mark the perfect falling over storm ensues:


• steep descent
• hard mud track
• loads of rocks and tiny stones
• gumnuts
• sticks
• ... and if that's not enough, there's a glimpse of verdant green through the trees designed to take your eyes off the track, and then... a super fast flash of colour ... a grey wallaby. Despite all of this I stay upright (today at least).


Exiting the forest there are signs of civilisation again- the Preston Rd Bridge, traffic noise, speed signs, road signs and The Mumby Pub. Given that it is 12:45 and the pub is actually open, it'd be a shame to walk past. I enjoy meeting Jim, the barman (even though he hung on to my credit card until I left- clearly I must look like an eat and run sort), luxuriating in a toilet with lots of soap on tap and running water and 3 toilet rolls per toilet, and inhaling a superbly good massive BLT and chips- I actually only inhale half of the BLT (Jim wraps the other half up for me to go). Sit for an entire hour watching the comings and goings (busy place) before starting the last 8kms of the day. This is where it got a bit confusing- the BT guidebook said to cross the road and turn right behind the large BT sign... but there was no sign!! Odd, I thought. Then the large truck across the road pulled out- yep- there was the sign.

Very interesting section ahead- a walk along disused railway track with head high (if you are vertically challenged like me) fine, wispy weeds on either side- the sun was out and and it was a stark contrast to the forest. This went on for about another 1.5 km. Some interesting nails on the tracks- stamped with "74" and "C" (Fun Fact- having done some research, it seems that they were a specially made nail with a two digit date on the head that were driven into wood sleepers when they were laid, which enabled the gangers to determine when a sleeper was laid and hence when it would probably need to be replaced, I am not sure about the letter stamp though. Production ran from 1929- ?74).

From the railway I hit Hearle Rd- soooo green, a few houses, a cacophany of sounds and a lot of nature going on


• magpies
• 28's
• willy wag tails
• goats
• sheep
• horses
• shetland pony
• chooks (crossing the road)
• monarch butterflies
• oleanders
• pink flowers
• flowering gums
• a big tree shaking machine (really! this machine went yellow leafed tree by yellow leafed tree and shook the tree for about 20 seconds at a time.... well, I was entertained)
• swathes of green feilds
• the Preston Valley
• 4G (non-nature obviously)
• Preston National Park
• stone and moss formations



An "almost euphoria" propels me up the hill and on towards the campsite. Arrive at Noggerup at 16:00 having descended across a dry creek bed. The light at this time of the day was stunning, bathing the trees in the most beautiful muted glow. Not much time to bask though as it got cold really quickly. Had a quick wash, set up my tent and went foraging for wood and grass tree dead stalks (best thing for a quick lighting fire). Ate the other half of my BLT lunch and climbed into my sleeping bag at 19:30. Solo night in the hut, just me and a million stars.



Impressions of Noggerup Shelter - beautiful site, amazing tree vista to the front and rear of the hut

Body assessment- tired but happy, nailed a headache with about a litre of water and some Panadol (getting to use some at last!)

Total people seen for the day - a bunch at the pub, no walkers

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