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- Start date: 8 October 2011
- Age When Completed: 42
- Direction Walked: Sectional
- Others in Group:
Ben Miles
General Comments
Completed a sectional end-to-end over a 5 year period with my friend Ben Miles. Really enjoyed the journey and grew a lot as a hiker over that period. The Bibb Track is a great journey and a fantastic place to relax away from corporate life!
Food/Supplies Comments
I had a few towns such as Balingup where I mailed a resupply but most of the time either bought in town or prior to starting a section. The track towns are fine to resupply at in the majority of cases.
Favourite Section
Pemberton to Walpole through the Karri. The days on either side of Balingup were also really nice. Whilst I enjoyed the coastal sections with their amazing views, the walking was harder through that section and I personally preferred the forest sections.
Highlights
Wild camping in a huge thunderstorm with strong winds (in the middle of summer!) on the first day out of Peaceful Bay. Reaching Mandalay Beach. Staring up at the top of the Gloucester Tree and thinking no way! Reaching the half way mark. The extensive views from the Monadnocks section.
Personal Reactions
I am really grateful for the experience of walking the track. It was my first significant hiking outside the UK and the conditions were so different. I did grow a lot in experience as a hiker from the start to the finish both in terms of skills and equipment. Having embraced ultralight hiking, my base weight is now around the 5kg mark rather than the 15kg when I started!
Wildlife
There has been plenty of wildlife from the common to the more unusual. Plenty of kangaroos, wallabies and emus obviously. But there were some rarer experiences such as being startled by five wild piglets running out of the forest on the section down to Collie. I also enjoyed finally seeing a tiger snake on my last day on the Track in a sandy section walking down to Albany.
Your Best Equipment
My Gossamer Gear Mariposa Pack. This pack has faithfully carried my things many km on this Track and others overseas and is extremely comfortable. I also love my ZPacks cuben fibre tent (Duplex) which is 600g for a two person tent!
Your Worst Equipment
My Osprey Argon Pack. At just under 4kg, the pack itself weighed 80% of all of my current gear. It was sold very quickly.
Advice for Others
Lower the big three - tent, sleeping bag and pack. Research the US ultralight manufacturers and don’t let anyone scare you into taking heavier gear. It will only wear you down physically and mentally. The lower your weight, the more the kms will fly by!