Category: bibbulmun track

Day 5: Cruising into Donnelly River

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Tom Road campsite to Donnelly River

Mileage: 10.1 miles/16.2 km

Sectional total: 66.7 miles/106.8 km

I had a really good night’s sleep last night. The bush was pretty quiet as were the school group and the only thing to disturb my sleep was the waning moon rising later in the night and shining straight into the tent.

We had a good chat with the teachers and kids in the morning at the campsite. A lot of the kids had never stayed overnight in the wilds before and it was a big experience for them. It was great to speak to the teachers and it was clear the kids just needed some positive words of encouragement speaking into their lives. One of them asked us if we were professional hikers to which I responded ‘We wish!….’.

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Day 4: Back on the flats

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Boarding House to Tom Road campsite

Mileage: 13.9 miles/22.3 km

Sectional total: 56.6 miles/90.6 km

I ended up putting my tent up last night around 10pm as there was a fair bit of snoring going on in the shelter. I had a good night sleep in the end. The tent sites on the trail can be a bit hit and miss but the ones on this section are great as they have woodchips. This makes for a comfortable nights sleep rather than the hard rock common in the north.

We got going around 7.30 AM and it was clear that this was going to be a much easier day than the last two days. In many ways this was a bit of a transitional day with karri in the morning and jarrah in the afternoon.

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Day 3: Up and down and back up again

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Beavis campsite to Boarding House campsite

Mileage: 12 miles/19.2 km

Sectional total: 42.7 miles/68.3 km

Today’s section is notorious on the Bibbulmun as being one of the hardest sections on the entire trail. This is because of three very steep climbs and descents of which one, known as the ‘V’, is very unforgiving. This is particularly the case for southbounders as the climb for them has no switchbacks and goes straight up.

The trail started off in a benign way from Beavis and was pretty straightforward for the first couple of km. After that, it was the first big climb of the day. It certainly got the heart pumping and the calf muscles. Whilst tough, it is all great training. I can’t imagine how people with 30kg packs manage this section though as it’s pretty tough.

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Pemberton to Donnelly River – April 2018

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As part of my training hikes for my upcoming Tahoe Rim Trail/John Muir Trail hikes in the US, I will be doing a week on the Bibbulmun Track starting from tomorrow between Pemberton and Donnelly River.

Pemberton is a town in the South West of Western Australia and was named after the original settler Pemberton Walcott being founded in 1862. We will be walking north along the track towards Donnelly River, an old timber mill town.

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Days 10 to 20: Dwellingup to Donnelly River Village

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This is a lengthy section of 272km from Dwellingup through to the start of the karri forests around Donnelly River Village. The first part of the trail from Dwellingup heads past Swamp Oak campsite and alongside the Murray River to the campsite of the same name. This is a great spot although damaged by fire in recent years.

From Murray, the trail heads further south until it hits the trail town of Collie which is a welcome break and place to rest up. After Collie, the trail has a beautiful little section through to the trail town of Balingup. The walk into Balingup is quite special along a nice little brook through some pine forest.

After Balingup, the trail heads further south through farmland in parts and through the arboretum to Blackwood Campsite, which has a nice view but has also been hit by fires in recent years. After this, it is into one of the worst campsites on the track in my view at Gregory Brook before finally reaching the old timber town of Gregory Brook.

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Days 1 to 9: Kalamunda to Dwellingup

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This section is from the Northern Terminus in Kalmunda to Dwellingup which is a distance of around 200km. The track starts in jarrah forest through Piesse Brook and heads to Mundaring Weir crossing the wall and providing spectacular views. The track then heads towards Waalegh with extensive views across the valley and beautiful morning mists.

From here, the track heads due south past Mt Dale and the Monadnocks Conservation Area. After climbing Mt Vincent and Mt Cuthbert, the track crosses Albany Highway towards White Horse Hills. From here, there are further climbs up Mt Wells and then the track heads on to Dwellingup along old railway formations.

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