Jayde Baldock (Jayde ( and Otter))

Track Towns and Supplies

• Did you have any issues finding food/supplies? No
• Dehydrate my own meals and cold soak away : ) Also really enjoyed having a hashbrown pocket when leaving Collie past the Mcdonalds.

Particular Track Towns that you would return to:

• Kalamunda
• Dwellingup
• Balingup
• Donnelly River Village
• Pemberton
• Walpole
• Denmark
• Albany

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Your Story or Advice for Others

Your Best Equipment
XMID 2, my palace and the envy of others with how quick it goes up and down with my beloved Kakwa backpack, often described by others as the Felix the Cat bag. Large piece of EVA Foam I got cut from Clark Rubber. Beautiful and light, allows for yoga, napping anywhere and trying to minimise the sea to summit mat squeak. Much better than a traditional sit mat. I am truly a member of the Durston ultalight cult.

Your Worst Equipment
Hire gear which doesnt fit and so heavy! And the controversial choice of cooking stove. I am not a fan of nesting at camp and happy to cold soak grains away.

Advice for Others
Nothing tastes as good as a light backpack. Enjoy the community, what a joy to bond with others in such an environment. Remember to smile, especially up a brutal hill. Remember to tell others to remember to smile, especially up a brutal hill and a safe distance away from their walking poles aka weapons :~)

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Trip Details

How you completed the Bibbulmun Track:

• In sections

• How many days did it take you to complete the Track? 60
• Who did you complete the Track with? Other - Solo, friends, family, the foundation, strangers, the possums, my beloved soft toy named otter.
• 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? Local knowledge
  

What did you use to navigate the Track?

• BT Maps
• BT Guidebooks
• App (please specify)
• - Far Out

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Your Experience

• Availability of information: Excellent - A bit of a curly one here as I grew up in Paulls Valley, my childhood home only a few kms from Hewitts Hill and would walk and camp around the hills very frequently as a young kid. A few decades later and having the time to get back into hiking, got very distracted by DRV to Denmark and spent years in that segment back and forth. What can I say, I love the karri and tingles. Ended up finally closing my gaps after even more years. Finished my very distracted, long and probably an extra thousand km walk over the Easter with The Bib Track foundation trip. Steve said to note I might be the longest end to end attempt, which I would absolutely be delighted by aha, totally my personality. Can anyone confirm that? My data will be very off due to this, especially as I have hiked with many commercial operators during this such as Adventurous Women, Off The Beaten Track and The Foundation
• Amount of Wildlife Encountered: Excellent - Again where do I begin.... the biodiversity is so special and walking the track as a kid got me into conservation work and a naturalist and really shaped my ethics as an adult.

Favourite Section
Walpole to Rame Head

Highlight of your trip
Ongoing therapy across my entire life to always return to. I started off walking as a lonely weird young girl seeking comfort and quiet in the bush and ended with so many friends, passions and a true community.

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