Bidjar Ngoulin to Lake Brockman

This is also your first up close experience with the environmental destruction leftover from bauxite mining as through the tunnel and across the road is the vacant land left after all the trees have been cleared and the top level of soil removed. Unfortunately for the northern Jarrah forests, the mining of bauxite involves pushing over all the trees and stripping the shallow top layer where it is found. Given the small depth to the mining operation, large tracts of land need to be cleared and the effects of this can be seen over time by either looking at a map in Satellite view or by visiting this WalkGPS page that has a time-lapse of the effect. The major players in bauxite mining around here (Alcoa and South32) negotiated the expansive leases back in the 1960s and as a result, the future of these forests were decided back when little care was given to environmental concerns. They still need EPA approvals to expand operations and public consultation will take place around Christmas of 2021 so to keep aware of this issue and to make your voice heard follow either the WA Forest Alliance or Save our Jarrah as they will announce when all the important milestones are happening. As far as the riding goes, you run parallel to Nanga Road for a while on single track that is actually a nice trail to follow if the cleared views to the right weren't super terrible.

Arriving at a turn that takes you off Nanga Road, Aron decided he would just follow Nanga Road and meet up with the track a bit further on. I wanted to experience this section for all it was worth, good or bad, so we agreed he would wait at the junction where our two paths would meet next. Following the King Jarrah Form again, it was pleasant riding through the relatively untouched sections of forest and a stark reminder of what the surrounding area could look like if it wasn't ripped up or slated to be ripped up in the future. I enjoyed the riding while it lasted until I reached a set of restricted access gates and things went slightly pear shaped. From a distance it looked like the sides were blocked off and upon reaching them, it seemed to me that all access was not allowed as the sign is poorly worded. To me it read that access to riders was restricted as it states "Access Restricted to Munda Biddi / Waterous Bike Track Users". In the heat of the day and not enjoying this section so much, I decided to follow Driver Road and avoid riding through this area as I knew it would get me back to Nanga Road and where Aron was headed. Unfortunately the paper maps are really outdated through here as the track keeps getting diverted due to mining but with a small amount of reception I loaded up Google Maps to confirm, along with messaging Donovan about the gates.

After faffing about trying to confirm my location and bearings, I eventually reached Aron, who had wondered what I was doing. Continuing on, we reached the first of two sections where they aren't even trying to hide the rampant destruction that is involved with bauxite mining. Right next to the road is just a very large cleared section of land with diggers roaming about and large piles of trees just left lying around to be burnt in what is an extremely wasteful process. I took a few photos of the devastation and left a little saddened at what I was seeing (may have also given the finger to the security cameras that are setup out there). We set off, following the Munda Biddi markers through a scrappy looking section that bordered yet more cleared land until we reached another gate where I explained to Aron that the sign could be a little clearer. Reaching another gravel road, we saw some Black Cockatoos that were probably wondering what was happening to their home and feeding areas. This road leads to the second blatant section of clearing and this one was much worse than the first. As far as the eye could see leading up the hill was just a wasteland and the front end loader moving the dirt around made for a scene reminiscent of Fern Tree Gully.

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Again, I took some photos, lamented the horrible situation WA is in with these mining leases and really just wanted this section to be over. Unfortunately from this point you head up a medium puppa hill on the wide road that in the blazing sun wasn't very fun, especially with mining utes cruising by. At the top was the last of the hauling road tunnels followed by a bridge over a conveyor belt and thankfully this would be the end of the visible mining impact for this section. On the edge of the forest we were about to head into were more Black Cockatoos and I hope their survival is not compromised by the mining expansion plans as they really are magnificent and cheeky birds. Heading away from the mining area, the soft sandy track wasn't ideal but soon changed to hardened gravel as you enter a scrappy bit of forest that looks as if it was or still is a hard wood plantation as sections contain perfectly lined rows of trees. Happy just to be anywhere else but bauxite boulevard, I reached the edge of a farm and waiting for Aron to catch up after a long and bumpy descent. From here the day transformed into a much more enjoyable experience with some really nice forest, some thick areas of swampy vegetation and eventually a cool granite platform on the edge of a hill.