Jason Dombroski (Jason Dombroski)

Track Towns and Supplies

• How many days did you stay in Track Towns? 4
• Did you have any issues finding food/supplies? No
• I did not do food parcel drops or anything and relied on towns and the stores and supermarkets. Had no real issues at all. Plus the towns are small enough you can just walk everywhere also.

Particular Track Towns that you would return to:

• Dwellingup
• Collie
• Balingup
• Pemberton
• Denmark

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Your Story or Advice for Others

General Comments
I didn't really know what to expect when I started out on this walk, while I had done a lot of hiking in my younger days, this has all been in New Zealand and completely different to this hike. It was a lot tougher than I had expected and my gear could have been better, such as a warmer sleeping bag. I pushed it a bit too much early on and didn't really need to. It really was an amazing journey though, the sights at times take your breath away and send a chill up your spine. A great and satisfying achievement.

Your Best Equipment
My pack and walking poles. I purchased a new Osprey Aether Plus 70, really comfortable. Didn't need one this big in the end, but it was a great pack. Walking poles were great when you get a bit tired, especially on the steep downhills for extra stability.

Your Worst Equipment
My boots, probably the most essential part !! I thought i had worn them in pretty well, having done 3 walks between 25 to 27 km and found them really comfortable. However 3 days into the walk, I started getting blisters and they got pretty bad. Then they started feeling like I was walking in bare feet and could feel every stone, branch and tree nut on the track, they were very painful in the end. They were a Merrell Track Boot, After 10 days, I took out the inner sole, they were like cardboard, so replaced this with gel inner soles and were better from then on.

Advice for Others
Do your research properly, my pack weighed in at about 22 kgs when fully loaded, way to heavy, you don't really want to go over 15. I took a tent that weighed almost 2 kgs and only used it 6 times. Make sure you take sufficient food supplies, I stated off doing triple and double camps and was probably burning in excess of 8000 calories per day, but only putting back in about 1500 to 2000, this takes it's toll after a while. Footwear, do your research and jump onto the online forums, I was certain that boots would be better, but I believe good trail shoes/sneakers would have been way better, looking and taling to others on the track. Ensure you have a maps app, I had the paper maps also, but on one occasion I was running out of water and off the track badly, the maps are really no good in the bush as there are no bearings, but the app I had (AllTrails) can be used off line from satellites and put me back on the track.

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Trip Details

How you completed the Bibbulmun Track:

• All at once

• How many days did it take you to complete the Track? 36
• Who did you complete the Track with? Solo (primarily)
• Was undertaking your hike the PRIMARY/MAIN purpose of your TRAVEL from where you currently live? Yes
• What first prompted you to walk the Bibbulmun Track? Other
  

What did you use to navigate the Track?

• BT Maps
• App (please specify)
• - All Trails

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Your Experience

• Availability of information: Excellent - There is a lot of information on the website that assisted me in preparing for this. It really is everything you need to know. On top of that doing the workshop online and one on one with one of the members was really valuable.
• Amount of Wildlife Encountered: Excellent - I blue tongue lizard was pretty cool. Pretty sure I saw a whale breach and spout water after walking along Perkins beach and up on the lookout overlooking the bay, very cool. Bandicoots are very cute LOL and finally saw a snake, only saw one on the whole walk. Plus seeing all the kangaroos.

Favourite Section
The walk through the Valley of the Giants, seeing all the Giant red Tingle Trees was really spectacular. I had really been looking forward to this section of the walk and it didn't disappoint. Walking through this ancient forest was something very special.

Highlight of your trip
The unexpected sights, you would be walking along and come around a bend and just stare in wonder at what was in front of you. This might have been a spectacular sunrise, and there were a few, seeing the ocean after 660 odd kms, a giant tree or even chewing the fat with some fantastic people at the camps.

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