Nerang to Gringer Creek

Confirming the recent burn theory were a few scorched waugyls, large flower spikes on the grass trees and the aforementioned green jumpers. Judging by the lack of canopy left, this was another hot burn that I'm guessing got away from Sparks and Wildlife. A shame really because this area is really lovely to walk through so to have a large section unnecessarily exposed isn't the best to hike through. It will be several years now before the canopy starts to reform so we'll just have to live with it for now. A feature of this section is the presence of a water course to the east running parallel to the track. This is a tributary of a river you'll come across at the halfway point of the day and it would have been great to walk a little closer to it. Mercifully the forest returns to normal and there are some stunning examples of the golden Wandoo dotted around the place. I always love seeing the Wandoo trees as they have such a beautiful colour and are very photogenic trees. After covering half the kilometres for the day, I was on the lookout for a good lunch spot and not far up ahead was a river crossing that I was expecting to be much grander in person. The track crosses the Serpentine River and anyone who's driven down the freeway to Mandurah will know that it eventually turns into a wide body of water as it makes its way out to the ocean.

At this point though it was barely a trickle and if there wasn't a big sign alerting you to its presence, you might be forgiven for thinking it was just another small creek. As it flows out to the ocean and heads downhill it picks up water from various tributaries and carves up the landscape but at this point it is little more than a shallow valley providing a more reliable water source for thickets of plants. I found a log on the other side of the river and decided this would be an excellent place to stop for lunch. Enjoying a Clif bar and some leftover chocolate, I soaked in the sunshine and admired the excellent Wandoo woodlands in this area. With an eye on the time I packed up and continued on my journey, hoping the Wandoo would last for a while. It did continue for a time but then transitioned into mixed forest before becoming some of the best Jarrah forest of the entire day. A random granite platform appeared and provided a photo opportunity before the canopy closed up once again to herald a patch of walking that was very enjoyable.

Looking like it was long unburnt, the forest floor was settled and the trunks of the Jarrah were the really soft grey that makes me a very happy hiker. Add in a smattering of yellow buttercup dotting the ground and I was loving this section, reminding me very much of the walking in Preston National Park just before Noggerup. I really slowed down my pace through here as the partly cloudy conditions were providing me with some really nice lighting that I didn't want to end. More sundews appeared, a little bit of purple Hovea and the occasional thicket of Parrot Bush, giving a little variety to the landscape (although I would never complain about the lack of variety if the lighting and forest are this good). Even with my slower pace I was still well ahead of schedule so when I saw a log that was shaped like a really comfortable day bed I couldn't resist having a 20 minute lie down. It was just as enjoyable as I'd imagined and so I stopped thinking and was just being. I love these moments where you just forget about distances, time, scheduling etc and just exist in the moment. It also helped that the temperature was just so and there was a stillness to the air. Unfortunately I couldn't stay there all day as North Bannister was just up ahead. Some more excellent Jarrah forest greeted me leading up to the Gringer Creek Campsite and there was one last delight in store for me. After crossing Wearne Rd you enter a section of forest that had a really mature understorey complete with some beautiful examples of the Couch Honeypot (small banksia like flowers that rest on the ground).

After taking a small half loop through this excellent stretch of forest you arrive at Gringer Creek Campsite. Nestled on the edge of a very small hill, the shelter overlooks a lovely patch of Wandoo and grass trees. It's a really nice campsite but being so close to Albany Hwy, you can't escape the noise of the passing traffic, which is really unfortunate given how picturesque it is. I heard some noises from the shelter as I approached and found Jim and Ollie there signing the book and planning their next move. There is a spur trail leading to the North Bannister service station and Threeways Roadhouse, which at the time of writing was still closed (an ongoing issue) so there is only snack food and soft drinks available from the service station if you decide to make the trip. Given this was the end of my two day trip I headed off along the spur trail after offering Jim and Ollie a lift back to their car at Sullivan Rock (they said they would hitchhike). Caris had just pulled in when I arrived so that was perfect timing but what wasn't perfect was my car not starting when I got to Sullivan Rock, something that would plague me for the rest of my sectional end to end. After an RAC visit I was on the road again and happy there was a benefit to making this spot so popular for hikers over the years.