Bibbulmun Track Planning - Spreadsheets and an obsession with weight

In May this year, Tim and I will be flying to Western Australia to take on our biggest challenge yet; we’ll be hiking the Bibbulmun track, 1,000 km through the remote Australian wilderness. Starting from just outside of Perth, it will take approximately 45 days to hike through the towering forests, quiet farmland and wild beaches until we reach Albany. We will be able to top up our food supplies (and replace our worn out shoes!) as we pass through the eight ‘track towns’ along the route, but other than that will be camping out in the specially designated campsites for Thru-hikers with only the snakes for company. 

We have been planning in earnest for a few weeks now and we have been using a huge excel spreadsheet to help us battle the logistics one step at a time. Here are the main points we are currently looking at: 

1. Kit

If left to my own devices I would happily stick with the full contingent of hiking kit I currently own - including a sleeping bag dating back well over 15 years and a hiking pack purchased for my Bronze D of E.  In my mind, if it’s not broken, why replace it? Some of this trusty kit does however weigh a hell of a lot more than some of the ultralight stuff on the market. If some of the forums are anything  to go by, people have hiked the APT and PCT - much longer trails than we are planning for - with as little as 5 kg base-packs (the weight of your bag before any food or drink is added). 

We won’t be reaching anywhere near that kind of weight but does make sense  to keep it down to the bare minimum with a combination of our existing kit and, where affordable or where it makes sense, new, super lightweight bits and pieces. So far, our base packs come to approx. 10 kg each. 

The majority of this comes from the ‘big four’: pack, sleeping bag, sleeping mat and tent - most of which we already had and are heavier than we might like. The rest includes a teeny, tiny cooker and gas canister,  down jacket, one change of clothes, basic hygiene kit, first aid kit and basic electronics. Every piece of kit I own has been weighed and weighed up for its usefulness vs. weight. It’s become an obsession. 

Weighing a down jacket...

2. Food and resupplies 

A training hike in the Peak District 

There are eight towns along the way, where we’ll be able to buy supplies, but other than that, we’ll be relying on what we carry to keep us going. Luckily, the huts along the way collect rainwater, so we’ll always have a supply of drinking water once we have purified it. We’ve bought a Sawyer Squeeze Filter  - apparently it gets rid of 99.9% of bacteria and only weighs 85 grams (I did say weight was now the only thing I think about!). 

Our current plan involves  only restocking at the towns, although we are  also exploring the option of calling upon the Track’s ‘Trail Angels’ to drop off food on some of the longer, 7+ day stints to reduce our pack weights. Track Angels are locals that support hikers on the track - whether they be end to enders like us, or just doing sections of it - with food drops, accommodation, advice and lifts. I love that people do that just for the love of helping.

We’ll be weighing out all our food and making decisions on menus based on the weight/calorie ratio ( and cost will have a small impact on decision-making), to ensure we’re carrying the most calorie efficient food. It won't be gourmet dining, but it will do the job. 

Testing out the Sawyer Filter in a murky Peak District stream

3. The route 

The route is clearly marked out, with signs all along and huts every 10-20 km for hikers to sleep in (we’ll be bringing a tent as a backup). As we’re planning on doing the entire 1,000 km in 45 days, we’ll need to skip some of the huts and plan carefully so we can resupply and rest where possible. Top-line results of the planning so far:

• Average of approx.  28-30 km per day 
• 8 resupply towns + two possible food drops 
• 5 rest days 
• Max number of days without a rest day: 8
• Longest day: 36.3 km
• Shortest day: 16.2 km 

Bibbulmun Track Markings 

4.  Shoes 

Having been brought up hiking in the bogs of Dartmoor, the Peak District’s moorlands and the soggy Scottish Highlands, I’ve always owned hardcore walking boots, with hard soles and waterproof casings. Although we’ll be walking in Australia’s winter and rain is a distinct possibility, we’ve opted for lightweight trail shoes which will offer the tread we need without the weight and (hopefully) the blisters and pressure points on the feet. I have opted for Inov-8 Roclites and Tim for the Altra Lone Peak 3.5.

We’ll be sending a second pair of each ahead to one of the Track towns in case they are so worn we need to replace them (gulp!). 

5. Getting there… and back

We are flying to Perth from London on Qantas’ new direct flights. From Perth, there are a couple of public buses that will take us straight to the ‘Northern Terminus’ of the Bibbulmun Track in Kalamunda. 

Once we reach Albany, it’s a long six hour bus back to Perth and then onwards. There are buses from all the main track towns to Perth or Albany in case we get injured and need to bail 

6. Training

Unfortunately, I’ve been nursing a small injury in my hip so our grand plans for training has gone out of the window, but we are now walking to and from work whenever possible, as well as planning longer walks in the Peaks and near London as well as the Lakes in the coming weeks to build up our strength and endurance. 

Let's see how we go...! More to come, I'm sure. 

S x 

Extract from our kit spreadsheet...