Packwalk: The Bibbulmun Track – Walpole to Denmark

The Bibbulmun Track 18 – 24 September 2024 – Walpole to Denmark Walk Report

The Bibbulmun Track stretches 1000km from Kalamunda, a suburb in the hills on the outskirts of Perth, to the historic town of Albany on the south coast. The section we walked from Walpole to Denmark is touted as being one of the most interesting and includes some of the most difficult parts of the whole track.

After camping at Coalmine Beach, a short walk south of Walpole, we set off the next morning for two day and a half days walking through the Karri and giant Tingle forests.

As one walks through these amazing forests it’s difficult to not feel dwarfed and insignificant in the presence of these giant trees.

After sharing a pleasant lunch with some fellow walkers and visitors in the shelter near the Giant Tingle we set off for our next campsite at Frankland River. This was our first experience camping at the excellent Bibbulmun Track walkers’ huts. They all provided a dry, comfortable place to eat and relax and all have a few well-maintained flat tent sites, toilet and freshwater tank.

The river water was a very dark brown from the tannins which resulted in some very interesting foam patterns on its surface.

The next day we followed the river for a while then crossed it and made our way through the forest to the Valley of the Giants and the treetop walk. After enjoying the treetop walk and an ice cream we had a leisurely walk to the Valley of the Giants campsite. The following day we walked out of the forest after finding “The Skirted Lady”, a huge tingle tree with a wide skirt like trunk base.

The landscape gradually changed as we moved closer to the southern coast and our campsite at Rame Head. This day also rewarded us with probably the most diverse range of vegetation and wildflowers. This was also our first experience of the giant sand dunes that we would be traversing over the coming days. These ancient sand dunes, some over 200 metres high are colonised by vegetation but the surface is often of loose sand.

This was also the  start if many snake sightings. We had been told to be wary as they are usually a bit more aggressive at this time of year. However, all the snakes we encountered were more than happy to slither off into the undergrowth.

Rame Head to Peaceful Bay is only 12 km but the gusty winds increased the challenge. However, the abundance of wild flowers, raging surf and wild beach scenes and the thought of hot camp showers and fish and chips to celebrate Amanda’s birthday was more than enough to keep our spirits up.

We came upon a whale vertebrae on one of the beaches.

The last 3 days of the walk was along the south coast. They were long days, each day’s walking was over 20 kilometres. The 5^th and 6^th day featured the huge sand dunes along with spectacular coastal scenery and a fun inlet crossing by canoes. Luckily it was calm weather so it was a pleasant paddle.

On the last day we were spoilt to find a coffee van right on morning tea time in a beach side car park.

As is usually the case on packwalks, the lasting memories of this walk includes, not just the spectacular scenery, and adventures along the way, but also the  people you share the walk with, ones companions, fellow walkers along the track and locals that you meet along the way.

Greg