Day 1
I left the Southern Terminus at Albany this morning at 6:00am on the dot, with 1,000km ahead of me on my favourite trail in the world. Fresh legs and some road walking made for a quick start. This section of trail is unbelievable beautiful, along the coast with sweeping views constantly. I passed by the first of 49 track campsites, signing the logbook, and not stopping long. With my pack at its heaviest today, I was planning a modest 55km or so to West Cape Howe Campsit. I arrived before sunset and was tempted to push further on to get a jumpstart on a big detour that I would have to make tomorrow but decided to keep to the plan for now. Solid first day.
Day 2
Long day, longer than expected. A big detour around Wilson’s Inlet added 15km of road walking to my day. That sucked a lot. The trail I did walk was so beautiful though, especially Mount Hallowell, which I summited around sunset. I saw 5 snakes today, none caused me any issues. After my first couple of hours of night walking on this FKT, I arrived to camp late and the hut was almost full, so I squeezed in between 2 people and drifted off for a very average nights sleep. The legs were throbbing and feet quite sore, the heavy pack is tough but as the great Marley Butler once said, ‘tomorrow is a lighter day’.
Day 3
Walking the south coast first and heading NOBO was an intentional decision because I knew the softer, sandier trail would be easier on the feet and joints whilst my pack was heavy. But it’s also just harder walking, and much slower. My average pace was pretty slow today, following beaches and coastal dunes with 2 inlet crossings as well. My body is feeling okay but wish I could move faster, it will come… Another late finish, arriving at camp well after dark and straight to sleep(at least try to sleep).
Day 4
Into the old growth, giant tingle forests today, how exciting. It was nice to leave the coast briefly and walk some of the iconic forest trails the Bibbulmun is known for. My feet began to hurt quite early on today which sucked but I gritted my teeth and kept moving all day.
I arrived to camp late once again(a common theme for the rest of the FKT), waking up a few end-to-enders and settled in for the night.
Day 5
Alarm went off at 4:45am. Hiking by 5:00am. I made the trek down to Mandalay beach, the final coastal section of the Bibb, now I head inland and directly north until Perth. This next section is notorious for having lots of flooded trail and this season was no different. I got my first taste of wet feet early and the trail was puddle after puddle for most of the day. As a bonus it rained for about 4-5 hours all afternoon until I reached camp. I actually initially considered pushing an extra campsite tonight but I was so cold when reaching Mt Chance campsite, even with plenty of light left in the day, that I needed to get straight into my sleeping bag and I didn’t get out of it after that. A tough day today, but thats FKTs for you I guess.
Day 6
The long flat day through Maringup. I left Mt Chance hut at 5am, it was the hardest wake-up so far. Getting out of my somewhat warm sleeping bag and into my wet shoes took a mammoth effort. At least I was able to dry my shirt and briefs through body heat overnight. Today would be a good day for pace, despite more flood trail, there would be very minimal elevation change. Knowing that, I decided I wanted to get to camp tonight, almost 65km away, before sunset.
The day started well, moving fast through many flooded sections of trail and slowly warming up despite some more unforecasted rain. I passed by Dog Pool hut quickly, chatting to a couple other thru-hikers briefly. I had a good stretch of mostly dry trail for about 15km before getting very wet again towards Lake Maringup hut. This was my first time at Maringup, having to skip it due to a closure on my first end-to-end in 2021.
My hip flexors started to tighten and hurt for the last 20-25km which usually happens after flat fast walking, makes sense today. I cruised into Gardener Hut at sunset, managing to hold an almost 5km/ph average pace today, including breaks. Should have a good chance for some sleep tonight and then off towards the town of Northcliffe tomorrow morning.
Day 7
I was up early this morning and it was the coldest one yet. I warmed up pretty quickly though and walked through the town of Northcliffe within a few hours. Some easy farm track then took me into the karri forest, some of the most magical walking in Australia. It started to get hilly but I made good time all day and knew it was a shorter kilometre day today so I’d get into camp with some light.
I can’t push further even if I want to most of the time due to camping restrictions on the Bibbulmun Track. Tomorrow I’m planning a big day, I think the 50km ‘short’ days are now behind me as my pack is slowly lightening.
Day 8
Now it gets real…
My alarm dinged at 2:45am and I was moving by 3 this morning. With 80+km planned, I wanted as much of the day as possible. I cruised into the town of Pemberton, just over 20kms from my starting camp, without any breaks and making good time. A 20minute stop in town was tough as always, with cafes and bakeries opening up for the day.
Then back into the spectacular mare forests, passing by Big Brook Dam and then Beedelup Falls, cool as! By the time I had walked 60km today I had kept a great average pace and was still feeling quite strong but I knew the final slog would be the hardest.
Night fell and the trail got really challenging at the worst possible time. Big hills, countless fallen trees and blowdowns blocking the trail and a very annoying detour that added kilometres and way too much time to my day. Eventually I made it into camp, just after 10pm with 87km covered. The camping hut was empty, thankfully, and I struggled to get any sleep due to throbbing legs. We go again tomorrow.
Day 9
With very little sleep last night after a massive day on trail yesterday, I decided to take it a touch easier today with the goal of getting to camp around sunset. It was beautiful forest walking all day and I made good consistent progress with regular, longer breaks which was appreciated by the legs. It was the hottest day so far so that was a bit of an added challenge, mainly just needing to carry more water which adds weight to the pack. Tomorrow we go again
Day 10
A 3:45am wakeup after not much sleep wasn’t fun but I had a big day planned today. The goal was shorter breaks, good consistent pace and 80+km. It took a while to warm up but got going eventually. Besides the hills, it was very walkable trails all day and I felt pretty strong. I had a 45 minute stop in the town of Ballingup to charge my phone but other than that kept moving pretty consistently, my pack is significantly lighter now which makes a huge difference. It was close to midnight when I finished and I was very happy to get to camp, great progress today.
Day 11
The big days continue, and today was another very walkable day with not too much elevation change compared to the last few. There was a long water carry today between campsites due to the town of Collie in between and off track which added some weight but wasn’t too bad. The temperature was higher than it has been but I typically don’t struggle too much in the heat and was able to power through. The last few hours were pretty tough, mainly just feeling the effects of sleep deprivation and overall fatigue, arriving at camp very late once again.
Day 12
I had been expecting rain today for a few days now and had slowly been coming up with a plan to avoid it as much as possible. I hate walking in the rain and wet feet would be a major annoyance at this point in the trek. There was about 6 hours of heavy rain forecasted between 5pm and 11pm, which has been prime hiking hours for me over the last week. I decided to push for 60km today, finishing around 5pm and then sleep for 6 hours or so before heading off again around 1am after the rain. The impending doom of cold and wet motivated really great pace today and very minimal breaks, 60km done in about 12 hours. It was pretty relaxed walking and there was a bunch of new trail in this section that has obviously been built since my first Bibbulmun thru-hike in 2021. It was cool and also a little stranger because I’ve been used to recognising almost every kilometre of trail so far. The new trail cut old 4wd track and added single trail, a welcome change even if slightly more difficult.
Day 13
The beginning of the end… a 1am wakeup logically meant that I should just push for a 24 hour send seeing as I would have all day. So thats what I did. My goal was to cross Albany highway by end of day, about 100km away. I passed through the town of Dwellingup just after sunset and stayed in town for a while for my final phone charging opportunity and then marched hard for the remainder of the day. Beautiful forest, and some fun climbs up Mount Wells and White Horse Hills. The Bibbulmun is noticeable more quiet as I head further north as the season is coming to a close. I met a 79 women out for a 5 day solo adventure though which was a highlight of the day, I even stayed to chat for 10 minutes, a longer break than usual! I was absolutely exhausted and almost falling asleep on my feet as I crossed Albany highway around 11:30pm. It felt like a major milestone though and I was happy to even be able to walk this short section as it only reopened a few days prior after a prescribed burn. The hut was empty and I crashed hard just before midnight, alarm set for 4 hours later…145km to go.
Day 14 + 15
This morning was the probably the hardest wakeup of my entire life. It was 3 degrees celsius and I had 3 hours of broken sleep last night after a 101km day. Not to mention I’ve barely slept more than 5 hours in a night over the last 2 weeks. I was a literal zombie for the first 3-4 hours of the day and when I reach my first campsite stop this morning, I took a 10 minute nap and then took in 600mg of caffeine in the form of caffeine pills. That worked well enough and my goal was to power of til I reached the northern terminus, which I knew was well over a days walk away.
I made a wrong turn just before reaching Mt Cooke(the highest point on the Bibb) and that added a cool 2-3km to my day after backtracking to make sure I didn’t miss any official route. Frustrated, I climbed Cooke in record pace and the views were epic as always. I’ve walked this section onwards of the Bibbulmun 100 times before, so I mostly know it well(besides that missed turn, obviously…). Mt Vincent and then Mt Cuthbert quickly followed before a brief break at Monadnocks Campsite which is one of my favourites. A solid push to Brooklyn highway felt good and then the sun set for the last time on this FKT. I battled hard to reach Brooklyn campsite, the Mt Dale campsite and finally Beraking campsite before finally succumbing to my drowsiness at about 1:00am. I took a 2.5 hour power nap, and the final 45km was ahead of me after I woke.
I was determined, being so close, and kept moving faster and faster as I neared the end. Even fitting in a few kilometres of jogging where the trail allowed for it. I ate the last of my calories a the Perth Hills Discovery Centre, about 20km from the end and despite the heat kicking in, it was the hottest day of the trip so far today, I kept moving without stopping at all. I signed the final logbook at Hewitts Hill campsite and those last 10km into the northern terminus were completely surreal. It was hard to fathom what I had done over the last fortnight and I was so proud of myself. I arrived to cheers from a big group of friends and family and hugged my wife as I crossed the finish line. Bliss.
PS. Due to unavoidable diversions and reroutes due to various obstacles(closed inlet, prescribed burns, logging operations) I had to walk approximately an extra 20km over the full track. This was just an unlucky season to walk a Bibbulmun FKT, I guess. Most of the extra kilometres came when my pack was heaviest as well! Fun!
Day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/16206157226
Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/1621636905
Day 3: https://www.strava.com/activities/16226149481
Day 4: https://www.strava.com/activities/16231740400
Day 5: https://www.strava.com/activities/16256576505
Day 6: https://www.strava.com/activities/16256579559
Day 7: https://www.strava.com/activities/16259483447
Day 8: https://www.strava.com/activities/16286129822
Day 9: https://www.strava.com/activities/16286146786
Day 10: https://www.strava.com/activities/16296485274
Day 11: https://www.strava.com/activities/16316504593
Day 12: https://www.strava.com/activities/16316510940
Day 13: https://www.strava.com/activities/16325704097
Day 14 + 15: https://www.strava.com/activities/16338663170