Day 462 | Carinyah Shelter: yeah, the last night on the Munda Biddi Trail

33 km | Heading west total: 16,654 km

Drew and Ross cruised in last night just as it was getting dark.

Drew is the Munda Biddi volunteer responsible for half a day’s trip on the track each side of the shelter.

What this actually involves is limited. Cleaning up the shelter, not much to do there as they have all been surprising clean, and dealing with the track I guess. His main task is to ride his section once a season, ie 4 times a year, and write a report on any official work needing to be done: a loose tap, trees across the track etc.

He is not allowed to use a chainsaw on the fallen trees or touch the track markers. That’s Calm’s responsibility, Western Australia’s Department of Conservation and Land Management.

Except, like your average adolescent, they shirk their duties. There’s a complete lack of follow through on the noted items. The tap here is still loose after 18 months and a number of his reports.

Drew has been issued with a pair of secateurs for clipping any single track overgrowth except his section doesn’t have any single track. Maybe he uses them to prune the roses but then again he seems dead keen on his mountain bike.

Both Drew and Ross have Bobs of different species from mine, bright and new. There’s an Ibex, more or less the same as mine but having rear wheel suspension and the other a collapsible knock off of the original Bob.

One thing that’s apparent is that they don’t have much gear aboard. No panniers and a half empty trailer bag.

For once in my life I’m self conscious of my baggage mountain, I must be dragging 4 times their luggage, but fortunately they don’t come around to examine my mess which is discreetly located out of sight out the back.

They intend speeding along the track in half my time, about 8 days.

Today the track was great once again. I’m over my nervy turn of a couple of days ago.

As expected, as it’s the weekend, a few trail bikes thrash past, well, 8 in a close packed convoy, with those noisy, smelly machines fish tailing as they spray some pea gravel around. My generally high tolerance levels to stupid youth behaviour doesn’t extend to this style of senseless hacking up of the environment.

I guess they are too dumb to follow their own trail on maps. There’s hundreds of old logging tracks to roar up and down in the forests. I categorise them as akin to the brainless types who grab the disabled driver car parks outside supermarkets to avoid having to walk another 20m.

The Munda Biddi Trail finale was a cosy night after 4 motorcyclists, initially making a dramatic entrance at the shelter whined off on their 125ccs and were almost immediately, and silently, replaced by 4 blokes on mountain bikes, wearing back packs, a method of travel not to be commended, for their solitary overnighter away from their wives and girl friends.

Last day on the trail tomorrow then just the roll down the hill.

As they say, it’s time. (Can I detect a certain level of weariness there?)