Gringer Creek to White Horse Hills

The original plan was to finish my end to end by completing Walpole to Albany in two sections so it's a bit muddled having a section of the Darling Range splitting them but here we are.  I was beginning to wonder if there was a cosmic reason why this section was delayed so many time, only time would tell. The logistics for this section are a bit tricky if you're on your own as Dwellingup doesn't have a TransWA service so you either have to go with a friend and leave a car at each end or have someone willing to pick you up in Dwellingup when you finish. Luckily Caris once again agreed to pick me up so I booked my ticket on the TransWA service that departs the East Perth Terminal for Albany and stops at North Bannister. This handy access point to the track is a short spur trail from Gringer Creek so on a warm spring day I arrived at North Bannister ready for action. It was 11am by the time I reached Gringer Creek so with a tick under 18km to hike with a couple of hills in between I had to be mindful of the time. Having already done the first 10km of this section as a day hike back in 2017, I was familiar with what to expect so wasn't worried about time. After signing my name in the Gringer Creek log book, I immediately set off towards Albany Hwy on the short linking trail.

 

Having been in the area a month and a bit ago completing Sullivan Rock to Gringer Creek, I was impressed with the increased variety and quantity of wildflowers around. Yellow Buttercups were everywhere and looking resplendent in the bright midday sun. My favourite plant, the sundew, was also out in force and this would once again be a time where I would go crazy photographing almost every one I could see. The 2.5km section to the highway is a lot of open forest, intersecting various 4x4 tracks with the constant drone of traffic indicating that civilisation is not too far away. With headphones in this could be in the far reaches of a national park and so I pretended that was the case. Oddly, the track puts you out onto the highway where you must walk along it for 100m or so before joining up with a 4x4 track and heading back into the forest. Surely a better track alignment would simply move the track to where the crossing is but I think the added expense of a bridge over the small water course you cross while on the highway must be the reason. As the track continues along the 4x4 track I noticed an increase in wildflowers just in the area near the road, some I'm not entirely sure were native but the extra colour was very welcome.