Lake Maringup to Dog Pool
Bibbulmun Track
Start
Lake Maringup
Time
5-9 Hours
Finish
Dog Pool
Date Hiked
3rd June 2018
Length
25.9km
Campsite Style
Nornalup
Elevation
540m
Traditional Custodians
Bibbulman People
The Hike - A beautiful afternoon and evening at the Lake Maringup continued into the morning with another comfortable sleep thanks to my upgraded sleeping mat and new socks. With a late sunrise I found myself awake before dawn and kept an eye out of my tent at the dark skies to make sure I was up and about for the pre-dawn light show and eventually the sunrise. Noticing a change in the light I extracted myself from the warmth of my sleeping bag and put the thongs on to go inspect the changing light from the edge of Lake Maringup. It was a beautiful spectacle as a tiny sliver of cloud added just enough for the light to bounce off it and settle in all kinds of lovely warm tones. Initially a deep orange and yellow, as the sun edged ever closer to the horizon the sky changed to a purple and then finally a blue hue.
The actual sunrise was a bit muted with a tiny section of orange largely masked by the large amounts of blue now filling the sky. I returned to the shelter to find Brett up and about, getting his gear together for a morning beverage. I thought that seemed like a good idea so got out my new coffee system and fired up my stove. I was expecting the Swiss couple that had walked in at 7pm the previous night to be up and about but Brett said they had left before dawn. We were both perplexed as to why you would walk the track and not at least make time to spend some daylight hours at some of the campsite along the way given that is what the Bibbulmun is highly praised for. I mulled over their potential reasoning while I drank my coffee and ate my dry granola, coming to the conclusion that while you miss out on seeing some of the campsites at night, they would at least be spending lunch at every other campsite along this section (although they would have missed two of the best in Mt Chance and Lake Maringup given their schedule). Even though I had my longest day of the trip at 26km ahead of me, I was in no rush this morning. This section looked pretty flat on the map elevation chart (although my GPS clocked 540m of vertical ascent for the day) and I wanted to enjoy the loveliness of the campsite for as long as I could.
Eventually though I packed away my gear and said my goodbyes to Brett before heading off and passing the lake for one last farewell. The bright blue of the morning sky was reflecting off the surface so I took a couple of quick snaps and headed into the Karri forest, ready to tackle another day of walking in this amazing part of the state. With the area surrounding Lake Maringup being a lush heaven of tall trees and thick undergrowth I expected that to continue as I started the day and was not disappointed with the scenery. With the track initially heading east, it meant that I was shooting directly into the low morning sun, making it hard to truly capture the extent of the Karri trunks poking out from the tunnel of thick undergrowth. Reminding me very much of the Karri forest leaving Boarding House, the tall canopy and the enclosed feeling of the ground plants was a welcome relief from the mostly burnt forest I had been seeing since leaving Northcliffe. Now well into my trail groove I was just enjoying soaking it all in as I meandered along the track admiring the shredded Karri bark lying everywhere and the various fungi dotting the forest floor (managed to get a few non-blurry shots). I had a laugh at the small sections of boardwalk that had been installed at various points. While very much appreciated when things are a little wet, they are more of a token gesture as Ben and Donovan pointed out in the podcast episode of this section.
After opening up into a brief section of sandy soiled forest full of sundews and banksias it was back into the thick Karri forest as the track started to head east towards the finishing point for the day, Dog Pool Campsite. While I was vary of getting through the kilometres at a good pace I also couldn't stop photographing the beauty of the forest as the sun streamed through the wide trunks and tall canopy. These larger "islands" of Karri would become less and less as the day wore on so I was more than happy to slow down here and experience them while I could. The lushness of the unburnt forest allowed for a good variety of fungi and some different wildflowers to the purple trigger plants I'd seen on the first couple of days. Yellow Flags were starting to come into bloom and while they are a bit basic in their shape along with being temperamental in how well they open up, I was just happy to photograph something different. Exiting the Karri forest you come across the first of the open plains between the islands that really gives you an appreciation for how this landscape works. While you usually think that the best forest with the tallest trees exists in the valleys near the water sources, out here it is the opposite with the almost barren land existing in the lower elevations while the thick forest is confined to the higher ground.
Given the flooding this area experiences each year I'm not surprised that the large trees wouldn't like it in the swampy areas and this area was once all underwater so it makes sense that it clings to what would have been actual islands. Having visited Mount Chudalup in late 2017 and seeing this area from high above I was certainly keen to see what it would be like at ground level and the experience was every bit of what I had hoped for. The good thing about leaving the forest behind, albeit briefly, is the return of the Swamp Bottlebrush and all the red glory that entails. As I said in the previous day I really enjoyed seeing them in the open plains as they add a splash of colour to a wash of green and blue. The open section didn't last long here and soon I was in the coolness of the forest for some more excellent walking. The Karri trees here were slightly thinner than the previous island but there were some older Marri or possibly Yarri trees dotted around the place to provide some old world charm. The excellent fungi continued with some coral type varieties popping up out of nowhere and I finally got my shot of the red Super Mario mushrooms although it is slightly blurry. At one point through here I was happy to see a short patch of sword grass mixed in with some Warren River Cedar, not something I was expecting this far from where they are typically located around Pemberton.