Bibbulmun Track – What is it and why am I doing it.

The Bibbulmun Track is the second longest dedicated hiking track in Australia. It is just over 1000km long and goes from Kalamunda, on the outskirts of Perth, to the historic town of Albany on the south coast. It passes through the heart of the scenic southwest of Western Australia which is one of worlds biodiversity hotspots. This region, known as the Southwest Botanical Province, is one of the world’s 34 terrestrial hotspots for conservation priority. The track links 9 towns and passes through 22 national parks and reserves.

The Track is for walkers only. Thru hikers are called end-to-enders and it takes between 5-8 weeks to complete with more than 100 people each year becoming end-to-enders.

The track is named after the Bibbulman Nyoongar people, an aboriginal group who journeyed on foot over long distances to celebrate their land. The distinctive trail markers depict the Waugal, a symbol of the rainbow serpent which is important to the aboriginal people and is seen as the creator of the universe and its people. To the Bibbulmun people the Waugal means soul, spirit or breath. The markers depict a black serpent on a fluorescent yellow background, and walkers should follow the direction of the serpent’s head.

History

The Bibbulmum Trail was first proposed in 1972 by Geoff Schafer. After a lot of effort from a lot of people it was officially opened in 1979. At that time it was 900 km going from Kalamunda to Northcliffe.

 In 1988 the track was extended to Walpol and the distinctive Waugal symbol was adopted as a trail marker.

In 1993 the trail underwent a major overhaul, moving from forestry roads to single track. The shelters were constructed, and the track extended to Albany to the current 1000km length. The track was officially reopened in September 1998.

The track is well marked and is largely on single track though there are sections which are on fire roads. The northern half of the track passes through Jarrah, Marri and Wandoo forests which are only found in western Australia. The southern half features ancient Karri and Tingle forests and coastal walking.

There are 49 campsites along the trail which include three-sided sleeping shelters, toilet, water tank and campsites. The distances between campsites range from 10 to 25 km.

The track is open all year, but it is not recommended during summer from mid November to April as it is too hot. Winter is cooler and wet. Autumn and spring are the bet times and spring also has the advantage of the wildflower season.

Why did I choose the Bibbulmun Track.

I wanted to go overseas for a thru hike but did not want to go to far with the whole covid thing. If my Mum got covid I wanted to be able to return quickly so I did not want to go too far which is why I chose Australia.

I have chosen to walk in spring, starting on 1 Sep 22, to take advantage of the wildflower season to see as much as I can. It is also the perfect time for weather with the temperatures not too hot and less rainfall than winter. It also works out nicely to complete this walk and have time to do the Heysen Trail before it is closed for the fire season.

There are several reasons I chose the Bibbulmun Track. The main one is it is a relatively easy track to get my trail legs on. I am extremely unfit at the moment so an earlier track will ease me into walking again. The track is well marked, well maintained and relatively gentle elevation. It is hard getting exact elevation statistics, but I have created the table below to show how much flatter Bibbulmun is than the other walks I have done and plan to do. Note these figures are not confirmed as accurate, just what I could find on the internet.  

The second reason is the uniqueness of the flora and fauna. Much of the flora on this track is only found in western Australia. I will also be on the lookout for some interesting mammals, snakes, spiders, lizards, geckos and birds. Western Australia is home to:

• 141 of Australia’s 207 mammal species, 25 unique to the state
• more than 400 reptile species, more than 40% unique to the state
• more than 1,600 fish species
• hundreds of thousands of invertebrate species
• one of the most diverse and unique floras in the world, with over 210 vascular plant families, and 50-80% of species being unique to the state in the largest of these families.

There are 9 species of venomous Snakes in WA

The third reason is that it is an easy track for logistics. The trail passes through 9 trail towns which all have small general stores and several have supermarkets. The longest section is the first section so I am able to have a well planned food supply. The remainder of resupplies will be varied depending on what the town stores have.

The things I am not looking forward to are the restrictions of only camping at the designated campsites. Because of the traffic on the track freedom camping is not allowed. This will remove the flexibility I am used to and will mean either easier or harder days than I would naturally be taking. However, all of the campsites are free so the only accommodation costs will be in towns and I am only planning on stopping at 4 or 5 towns. Also depending on how crowded the shelters are I will not have to use my tent every night.

Because I will be walking in the trail busy section, I am aware it may be crowded in the campsites.

I am also aware that there are long sections of backcountry or fire roads which I am not looking forward to.

And the final thing I am not looking forward to is the flies, sandflies, ticks, mosquitos and midges which look really annoying from watching peoples videos.

I am approaching this trail well aware it is nothing like my other trails. I am expecting it to be easier but will challenge myself by pushing the distances earlier than usual instead of my gentle warmup that I have done on my other hikes. For this trail the focus is on the fauna and flora I am fully expecting to have a great time.

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