“There is no orthodoxy in walking. It is a land of many paths and no-paths,

where every one goes his own and is right.”

- G.M. Trevelyan

(1876-1962), British historian.

 “...'real' bushwalkers have developed a tenacious sense of their historical mission.

Some have been almost obsessive when it comes to positioning themselves as the inventors of a new recreation and the practitioners of the most authentic way of walking.”

- Melissa Harper

Australian researcher; from "The ways of the bushwalker: on foot in Australia", 2007.

“..people were walking in the bush for pleasure long before the first club had ever been thought of,

or before the first tourist track was ever laid.

..bushwalking can be traced back to 1788.” 

- Melissa Harper

Australian researcher; from "The ways of the bushwalker: on foot in Australia", 2007.

“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”

- John Muir

(1838-1914), Scottish-American wilderness preservationist & naturalist;

The Life and Letters of John Muir, 1924; (Letter to wife Louie, July 1888).

“The more that’s done for hikers in the forests and woods and mountains, in that far do they fail to get the most out of it... We must retain the challenging character of the wilderness.”

- Walter O'Kane 

American guidebook writer, 1935.

“The wisest men follow their own direction."

-  Euripides

(484-406BC), Greek tragic dramatist.

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien

(1892-1973), English philologist & writer; from Lord of the Rings; 1954-55.

  RELATED ACCESS ISSUES    - The State Government's Walking Strategy for Western Australia for 2007-2020  ("Walk WA") is intended to encourage all Western Australians to walk more and to develop environments in which the decision to walk is easier. Yet regulation in W.A. appears intent on decreasing rather than increasing access to bushwalking (and camping) opportunities across large areas of our Darling Range water catchments which contain 80% of the total of traditional bushwalking areas near Perth. (See upper inset map or pdf  map; 300KB)  These areas, covering 4500 sq km, not only contribute to Perth's drinking water supply, but also to intensive phased State Forestry harvesting operations across the region. They also include several National Parks. (See lower inset map and WalkGPS 'Parks, Reserves & State Forests' map; 61KB pdf.) While planning to block access, W.A.'s Department of Water (DoW) has contended "there is a vast array of National Parks, Reserves and State Forest in W.A. that people may traverse" (DoW, 3 Feb. 2006).

We live in an age when the community needs every encouragement and opportunity to pursue active, healthy, and stimulating lifestyles rather than risk being placed in ‘mothballs’ by its State servants and protectors.  The value to the community of access to water catchments must be assessed objectively and transparently and weighed against the potential costs to the community of any perceived risks such as to biosecurity and water quality.  Narrowly focused, regulatory zealotry should not supplant the broader community interest.

Enlightened wilderness and park managements in many areas around the world recognize that off-track walking has a low impact on the environment, is sustainable and has high recreational value. They provide for it in their park management policies. In less enlightened cases of park or land management, community access to recreational amenities may be barred as a result of over‑regulation, bureaucracy and misconceptions.

Aspiring walkers and all others interested in the promotion of healthy recreation in this State need to be aware of the following:

The DoW in 2007 recommended as a water quality protection strategy the prohibition of all traditional cross-country bushwalking opportunities across the full extent of drinking water catchment areas, far beyond the limits of  existing or proposed 2 km-wide Reservoir Protection Zones (RPZs). DoWs intention was to restrict bushwalking to “designated trails,  which are currently non-existent over most of the catchment (away from the Bibbulmun Track). The DoW evidently considered walking “off marked trails” as synonymous with walking in“undisturbed environments.  Such environments presumably do not include that majority of areas of the catchment where other ‘off-track’ human and animal activities are ongoing and often intensive e.g. forestry operations; recreational activities such as orienteering, rogaining and geocaching; and animal movements (kangaroos, emus and feral pigs).  The DoW recommendations were not justifiable“precautionary" measures and lacked objectivity and balance. (e.g. See "Mundaring Weir Catchment Area Drinking Water Source Protection Plan" (DWSPP), June 2007; Report # 69, Dept. of Water, Water Resource Protection Series; 3MB pdf version; Pages 41-42 are of particular relevance.)

If ratified, the DoW strategy and recommendations revealed in 2007 would in effect have prohibited walking (other than along the Bibbulmun Track) within most traditional bushwalking areas within the Perth region, including most of the walk areas featured on WalkGPS. By March 2008, the DoW had been persuaded to reconsider its published position. The new Policy of 2012 refrains from banning traditional bushwalking in the outer catchments. The community, including visitors to WalkGPS, need to remain vigilant to ensure that commonsense continues to prevail over regulatory zealotry.

Perhaps a recent more collaborative approach between representatives from various relevant Government bodies (DoW, DEC, DSR, DoH, Tourism WA, Water Corp.) will lead to more enlightened recreational outcomes for the community, including the removal or adjustment of any unnecessary regulatory barriers to bushwalking activities.  Such impediments have been inconsistent with the Government and community's aim of increasing the amount of walking in W.A.

(See WalkGPS  "Future Access?" for more on the issues and link to WalkGPS submission to the Inquiry. Also see WalkGPS "Related Land-Use Issues: The impact of bauxite mining in the Darling Range".)      - Dave Osborne

“Wilderness management is 80-90 percent education and information

 and 10 percent regulation.”

- Max Peterson 

(b. 1927), Chief of the U.S. Forest Service; 1979-1987.

“When all the dangerous cliffs are fenced off, all the trees that might fall on people are cut down, all of the insects that bite are poisoned... and all of the grizzlies are dead because they are occasionally dangerous, the wilderness will not be made safe. Rather, the safety will have destroyed the wilderness.”

- R. Yorke Edwards

Canadian biologist & environmentalist.

“Consider, for example, the question of "accessibility".  An area that cannot be reached is obviously not being put to use.  On the other hand, one reached too easily becomes a mere "resort" to which people flock for purposes just as well served by golf courses, swimming pools, and summer hotels.  Parks are often described as "recreation areas" and so they are.  But the term "recreation" as ordinarily used does not imply much stress upon the kind of experience which Grand Canyon, despite the flood of visitors that comes to it, still does provide  namely, the experience of being in the presence of nature's ways and nature's work.”

- Joseph Wood Krutch

(1893-1970), American writer, critic, naturalist.

“Preserving Our Natural Resources for the Public, Instead of from the Public. .”

–motto of the Blue Ribbon Coalition,1987; promoting responsible use of public land in California, USA.

 RELATED LAND-USE ISSUES :  THE IMPACT OF BAUXITE MINING IN THE DARLING RANGE 

Ironically the low impact of 'off-track' (or cross-country) bushwalking in W.A.'s conditions, including the absence of  worn “trails” in popular traditional bushwalking areas, and the lack of  published 'route' maps for most areas, can be mistakenly taken to suggest such areas are seldom visited and have no special recreational amenity value to the community and bushwalkers in particular.

Several cross-country walking areas on WalkGPS will eventually be affected by an expansion of a major bauxite surface strip-mining project within the southeastern headwaters of the Canning River and Mundaring Weir water catchments, along a corridor stretching 55 km from Albany Highway in the south to beyond Brookton Highway in the north (see map). These areas have high recreational value to the community for bushwalking. They are:  Bannister Hill Walk, Geddes Rock Walk, Gibbs Rocks Walk, Upper Dale River Walk, Qualen Road Walk and Christmas Tree Well Walk.  

See WalkGPS video, "Bannister Hill -once was a Conservation Park"  and WalkGPS photomovie, "Disappearing wandoo woodlands & laterite breakaways" for  examples of the current and future impacts of bauxite mining.

The Department of Water (DoW), in its "Mundaring Weir Catchment Area Drinking Water Source Protection Plan" (June 2007; 5.5Mb pdf) presents its views on the potential water quality risks of bushwalking and camping activities (Table 1, p.39-42) but makes no mention of future mining within that same catchment. The DoW's "Canning River Catchment...Plan" (WRP#77, June 2007; 5Mb pdf) notes that "bauxite mining does not currently occur in the catchment" but will be "acceptable if operated in compliance with conditions..." The mining expansion plans were known, and have since been approved, yet the DoW Plan mentions only ALCOA's separate mining lease and entirely ignores the more relevant, future Worsley operations; Table 1, p.25.  

In an  article "Bauxite Mining in Jarrah Forests" (8 August, 2007; blog) a former General Manager of CALM, Roger Underwood, noted that "Apart from the loss of native forest, there has been a significant loss of run-off into streams and dams in the mined-over catchment areas. Pits have been designed to retain rather than shed rainfall, so run-off to forest streams is close to zero, and in many cases old mine pits cover nearly 50% of each sub-catchment. This has obvious impacts on water resources and aquatic ecosystems."  However, it seems that the DoW remains more concerned with the impact of bushwalkers than with bauxite miners.

Worsley Alumina (*) bauxite mining expansion Environmental Review and Management Programme (ERMP), May 2005  stated there are only “a small number of recreational sites within and near the proposed mining areas” and “most of  the identified sites are in the area around the Bibbulmun Track” (from ERMP Executive Summary, p.23). The ERMP did acknowledge a number of the walk areas that are included on WalkGPS (refer ERMP Vol. 1, Chap. 3, Section 8.2.2). 

Worsley, in consultation with the State, has a right to expand the mining on its lease which was awarded in 1983. The State's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has in turn a responsibility to the community to ensure that “existing and planned recreational uses are not compromised” (refer ERMP Executive Summary, p.52). The EPA is an independent Authority with the broad objective of protecting the State's environment.

The EPA in February 2008 gave final approval for the Worsley expansion to proceed.  Interestingly in late 2009 the former Chairman and CEO of the EPA (1986-1993 and part 2007), Barry Carbon, was appointed Chairman of start-up company Bauxite Resources Limited (ASX-listed in late 2007) which is currently the largest holder of bauxite-prospective acreage in the Darling Range. Prior to his time with the EPA Mr Carbon also led environmental activities for bauxite miner and alumina producer ALCOA in W.A. Mr Carbon is (in 2010) an active spokesperson for Bauxite Resources and a champion for the bauxite miners' claims of globally unparalleled excellence in rehabilitation of mined forest areas.   

Despite claims to the contrary, post-mining rehabilitation of mined areas can never re-create the intrinsic aesthetic value and variety of the original ancient forested landscape, even in the long-term. The community can only hope that the new mine areas will be minimised so that as much as possible of that value is not lost forever but is preserved to benefit future generations; They will undoubtedly have an even greater need for the amenity and will more widely recognise its value.

Meanwhile, ALCOA is also expanding its operations in the northern Darling Range at a forest-clearing rate of over 900 ha/year to add to the 20,000 ha (200 sq km) of native forest already cleared, mined, 're-landscaped' and 'rehabilitated' . See WalkGPS short video, "Changing the Mt Solus landscape" for another example of the current and future impacts of bauxite mining. Also see Mt Solus Walk page on WalkGPS.

A WalkGPS submission of August 2005 to the EPA (5MB pdf) and a WalkGPS submission of Nov. 2009 (9MB pdf) to the W.A. State parliamentary inquiry into recreation activities in drinking water catchments included summaries of the future enduring impact of bauxite mining on walk areas.  (See also blog posting "Bauxite Mining in Jarrah Forests" of 8 August 2007 by Roger Underwood, a former General Manager of CALM).     - Dave Osborne, WalkGPS.com

(*) Note: Worsley Alumina is a joint venture operation, with BHP Billiton holding 86% interest).

Also see:    Why Walk?    Why Bushwalk?   Why Cross-country Walk?   Why WalkGPS?

·       Designated Camping policy – For many bushwalkers, the most satisfying walking involves backpacking over a number of days and camping out, to become immersed in the ‘wilderness’ experience. However, camping is currently banned within most of the forested walk areas within the Perth region of Western Australia. Around 80% of the total traditional bushwalking areas close to Perth lie within the extensive water catchments of the Darling Range where camping for walkers is restricted to 15 designated campsites along the Bibbulmun Track between the Kalamunda Terminus and Dwellingup townsite. Within a larger part of these forest areas totalling around 4500 sq km, bushwalkers are therefore limited to day walks only (see map). Unfortunately that will be the case for as long as current State regulations and policies remain unchanged (see related access issues and land-use issues, this page).

·       Time & Convenience – Many walkers today can’t make the time commitment needed for extended walks involving backpacking and camping whereas a day walk may be possible for them most weekends during the walking season.  By definition a day walk is completed within a single day including travel to and from the start point of the walk. For most walks detailed in WalkGPS, walkers can leave Perth at 8.00am and be back well before 5.00pm, having completed a fulfilling, but not exhausting day walk. Minimal advance preparation is required, whereas more extended overnight walks require more time on planning and provisioning. 

·       Light load – A very light day-pack is adequate to carry the day’s requirements (i.e. at least water, food, compass/GPS, map, first aid kit, sunscreen, hat, rain jacket).

·      Low cost  – Equipment requirements are quite modest. Car fuel costs to reach most walk areas are not excessive.

·       Comfort and suitability – Some may not have the enthusiasm or maybe the capability to carry the heavy backpack required for more extended, overnight walks; they may prefer to return to the comforts of their home after a bushwalk, to a hot shower, a home-cooked meal, and a comfortable bed. For their needs, day walks are an excellent compromise.

·       Variety – A stimulating change,  away from your regular exercise and walk routines close to home.

·       Sense of well being and accomplishment – The completion of a good day walk leaves most walkers feeling great!

·       Plus all the benefits of walking and  bushwalking as above.

• Join walking clubs/groups  -  See Clubs/Associations on WalkGPS;  Walking Group contacts (DPI);  and also

  “Walk there Today 2009-2010 Walking Guide” (DPI et al; 1.1MB pdf) which has an extensive list of about 60 organisations that conduct walking programmes and other walking activities in the Perth area.

• Build a sense of community & friendship and a supportive network through shared, relaxed activity.

“The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk.”

- Mark Twain  [Samuel Clemens]

 (1835–1910), American humorist, satirist, writer, lecturer; In A Tramp Abroad, Ch. 23 (1880).

“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844–1900), German philosopher

“I can only meditate when I am walking.  When I stop, 
I cease to think; my mind works only with my legs.”
-  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

 (1712-1778), Genevan philosopher; from Les Confessions.

“To find new things, take the path you took yesterday.”
- John Burroughs

(1837-1921), American naturalist.

“Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
- Henry David Thoreau

(1817–1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist.

“The rhythm of walking generates a kind of rhythm of thinking, and the passage through a landscape echoes or stimulates the passage through a series of thoughts.  This creates an odd consonance between internal and external passage, one that suggests that the mind is also a landscape of sorts and that walking is one way to traverse it. A new thought often seems like a feature of the landscape that was  there all along, as though thinking were traveling rather than making.” 

- Rebecca Solnit  

American writer, historian, environmental activist; from Wanderlust: A History of Walking, p. 5; 2000.

“I was the world in which I walked.”
- Wallace Stevens

 (1879-1955), American modernist poet; from Tea at the Palaz of Hoon, in Collected Poetry & Prose, p.51.

“Solvitur ambulando”
(Translation: "It is solved by walking.”)
- Latin proverb

“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along,

 listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”

- A.A. Milne

(1882-1956), Pooh's Little Instruction Book, publ. Methuen 1996.

“It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven."
- Matthew Henry

(1662-1714), English non-conformist clergyman.

“Walking meditation means to enjoy walking without any intention to arrive. We don't need to arrive anywhere.  We just walk. We enjoy walking.  .....  Usually in our daily life we walk because we want to go somewhere.  Walking is only a means to an end, and that is why we do not enjoy every step we take. Walking meditation is different.  Walking is only for walking. You enjoy every step you take.  So this is a kind of revolution in walking.  You allow yourself to enjoy every step you take.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

 (b. 1926), Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, peace activist; from Resting in the River

“One step at a time is good walking.”
- Chinese Proverb

“Tranquility:

Walking alone;

Happy alone.”

 - Masaoka Shiki

(1867-1902), Japanese author, poet, critic;  'Haiku' poem.

“Nature is shy and noncommittal in a crowd. To learn her secrets, visit her alone or with a single friend, at most. Everything evades you, everything hides, even your thoughts escape you, when you walk in a crowd.”

 – Edwin Way Teale

(1899-1980), American naturalist, photographer, writer;

Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist’s Year - May 4. (1987).

      Improve your knowledge of your local environment and feel a part of it.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, 

but in having new eyes.”

- Marcel Proust

(1871-1922), French intellectual, novelist, essayist & critic.

“The country was all wrong and I felt cheated.  This wasn't what I had come back for; where were the ferntree gullies, the high plains, the trout?  All the plants scratched your legs.  The jarrah was a grotesque parody of a tree, gaunt, misshapen, usually with a few dead limbs, fire-blackened trunk, and barely enough leaves to shade a small ant.  If you went camping in the summer, you carried water – you couldn't take a running stream for granted. It was slowly borne in on me that I wasn't an Australian at all, but a Victorian…. Slowly I came to understand the land better.” 

- George Seddon

(1927-2007), Australian academic; writing of Western Australia in the Foreword to his “Sense of Place”; 1972.

“One of the most interesting anomalies in Australian environmentalism is that the alumina industry is destroying the jarrah forest - and nobody seems to care. At least, nobody is complaining. ”  .......

“...there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when West Australians realise what has gone on, and the extent and cost of the ecological damage which has occurred. Then perhaps they will look back on the government, agency and NGO-supported destruction of the jarrah forest by bauxite mining as one of the greatest conservation blunders in our history.” 

- Roger Underwood

former General Manager of W.A. Dept. of Conservation & Land Management (CALM); from blog post, 8 August, 2007.

“There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country.  A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo.  Even a bicycle goes too fast.” 

- Paul Scott Mowrer

  (1887-1971), U.S. newspaper correspondent; from The House of Europe; 1945.

“If the day ever comes when they know who
They are, they may know better where they are.”
- Robert Frost

(1874-1963), American poet; from A Cabin in the Clearing; 1951.

“The beauty of nature includes all that is called beautiful, as its flower, and all that is not called beautiful, as its stalk and roots.  Indeed, when I go to the woods or the fields, or ascend to the hilltop, I do not seem to be gazing upon beauty at all, but to be breathing it like the air. I am not dazzled or astonished; I am in no hurry to look lest it be gone. I would not have the litter and debris removed, or at the bands trimmed, or the ground painted. What I enjoy is commensurate with the earth and sky itself. It clings to the rocks and trees; it is kindred to the roughness and savagery; it arises from every tangle and chasm; it perches on the dry oakstubs with the hawks and buzzards; the crows shed it from their wings and weave it in to their nests of coarse sticks; the fox barks it, the cattle low it, and every mountain path leads to its haunts. I am not a spectator of, but a participator in it. It is not an adornment; its roots strike to the centre of the earth.”

- John Burroughs

(1837-1921), American naturalist; from Birds and Poets, 1877.

“Go outside and walk a bit, long enough to take in and record new surroundings.  Enjoy the best-kept secret around - the ordinary, everyday landscape that touches any explorer with magic.”

- John R. Stilgoe

 Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places, 1998.

Tanka

for Naomi, aged three

‘Do Kookeeburras

eat cookies?’ she asks. The bird

laughs again, rattling

it out. We are bushwalking.

She holds my hand, my heart.

 - © Andrew Lansdown

 (b. 1954-), West Australian poet; from The Grasshopper Heart (Collins/Angus & Robertson, 1991).

Visit andrewlansdown.com

“After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value.”

- G.M. Trevelyan

(1876-1962), British historian.

·       Regular moderate to brisk walking decreases risk of :

-        Heart disease and stroke (by boosting ‘good’ blood cholesterol and lowering ‘bad’ cholesterol, and reducing blood pressure). Walking half an hour a day will reportedly reduce your risk of developing heart disease by around 30% compared to not exercising.

-        Type 2 Diabetes (by improving the body’s ability to produce insulin).

-        Osteoporosis (by increasing bone density).

-        Osteoarthritis (due to beneficial effects of weight loss).

-        Some cancers (e.g. colon & breast cancer).

·       Increases metabolic rate (therefore burns calories).

·       Reduces risk of falls and injuries (including leg or hand fractures) - because joints have a better range of motion, the muscles gain more flexibility, and the bones are strengthened.

·       Increases physical  fitness

-        Posture, muscle tone, strength, mobility, flexibility, and stamina.

·        Gets and keeps you looking good. 

·        Reduces excess body fat & weight naturally, without unrealistic dieting (provided that food intake also isn't increased!).

·      Build fitness comfortably and steadily as an alternative to more vigorous forms of activity.  

·      No need for a punishing exercise regime (the old "no pain, no gain" adage).  -  A "brisk but comfortable pace" is sufficient to raise the heart rate to recommended levels. Low impact but dynamic activities such as walking are also more effective in burning fat in the healthiest manner.  The fat-burning effect apparently kicks-in about 30-40 minutes after the start of walking.

·      No pressure to perform. 

·      Set your own goals.  

·      At your own pace, in your own time.  

Regular walking:

·        Reduces stress, anxiety, tension.

·        Enhances confidence and sense of well being. i.e. Helps you feel positive and lifts the spirits.

·        Combats depression.

·        Builds self-esteem.

Regular moderate-intensity exercise such as brisk walking can result in improved quality of sleep.

Steadily and naturally build up your fitness through increased walking distances and/or reduced times. 

·        Low risk of injuries. Not hard on joints. Low risk of muscle strains.

·        With basic fitness, simple skills and sensible preparation (including some essentials for bushwalking) , the risks are minimal.

·      Age, ability and  background not relevant.

·      No special athletic skills or training  required – just get started! 

·      Solitude or social interaction according to your personal choice. 

·      Easy to fit into a schedule.  

·      Walking opportunities are almost anywhere, anytime. 

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off.”

- Henry David Thoreau

(1817–1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist.

·        No expensive equipment or amenities required and no (or minimal) fees.

·        Key essential is a pair of proper, comfortable walking shoes (or boots, plus additional requirements for Bushwalking).   

Acknowledgement:

Many of the boxed quotations on this page are from secondary sources including : 

Quotegarden     American Trails