bibbulmun?

[kaite]

can you recommend the most scenic or most interesting - most diverse, section of this long track? I love plants, but anything special that comes to mind.... Am thinking of visiting my son in Perth and also going for a bit of a walk. It will be my first time to the west, hope to fit it in before winter, otherwise it will be next spring. Also heard there are sections that are pushbikeable....?

[rogo]

What area can you get to. Northern half is great and full of flowers in spring. Southern part is tall timber country and completely different to the north.
If you are coming in 3 weeks, I'm off to do Donnelly River to Walpole with a group of friends. You are welcome to walk with us. Or just a few days or whatever. PM me if you want. Can't offer transport tho, sorry.

Near to perth there is plenty of day walks in the hills that are lovely.

Ro

[kaite]

that is a really nice offer rogo, thanks. Unfortunately at this stage i just don't know when i can get away here, was hoping all along for April but still busy... Have to google some more about transport. Even knowing that the flowers are in the north and the tall forests in the south helps! Thanks!

[Earthling]

Ive walked the whole track twice now and both times my fav section is from Northcliff to Walpole concentrating on the Pingurup Plains. If we get some good rains you will get some nice knee high water to wade through and see some big roos. Went through last Spring and the wildflowers were amazing. Awesome views from the top of the granite domes too! As far as diversity goes this is the section. You will get some coastal beach walking and even large Karri and Tingle trees. Lots of Jarrah. Wind blown trees as well near the coast. Joy part of the track. If you continue on to Denamrk or Albany it only gets better too

[rogo]

Really looking forward to the walk Earthling. Unfortunately time constraints mean Walpole to Albany is next spring. I have done some walking around Denmark and loved it.

Katie, I forgot to let you know the bike track is called the Munda Biddi track. Not sure how far south the track goes now as a new section has or is just about to be opened. I think it goes close to Northcliffe???

[Clusterpod]

I'm planning a Pemberton or Northcliffe to Walpole walk later this month for 10-12 days.

Last time I walked that section was early summer, so I'm looking forward to seeing the differences, and the recovery of the D'Entrecasteux burn early 2012.

I concur with Earthling, above. Its a fantastic section, with a bit of everything, short of the Jarrah/Marri/Yarri wonders of the Northern sections.

[kaite]

getting seriously excited now!

[roysta]

I'm planning a Pemberton or Northcliffe to Walpole walk later this month for 10-12 days.

Pemberton to Denmark is the best part of this walk.

[Clusterpod]

I agree! Thats why I'm doing it for now the third time

[rogo]

Hey Clusterpod. Enjoy the walk and here is hoping this heat wave breaks very soon. I really don't like carrying 15kgs in the heat.

[kaite]

in meanwhile i see that the trip west just can't fit into my life before it gets cold, so i have decided on September. Now at least i have time for good planing and maybe talk a couple of ppl into joining me. Still am thankful for all tips! k.

[Aushiker]

Also heard there are sections that are pushbikeable....?

None. The Bibbulmun Track is walking only. If you want to do some riding there is the Munda Biddi Trail for that. At least in the northern section the Munda Biddi travels through some similar areas.

Andrew

[kaite]

"wow!" i thought and quickly checked the Munda Biddi link above and googled some more and it all sounded even better than walking... till i got to Aushiker's bit "would i do it again - no" ????
Is it less beautiful than the Bibulman? -The tracks look nice.
Is a mountain bike essential or would a all purpose bike manage? (in the past, have tried an all-purpose bike with panniers on a couple of Swiss mountain bike tracks- unsucsessfully..)

[rogo]

Aushiker is the cycling dude, so I'm sure he will answer your questions on bikes.

The Bib is beautiful and very diverse. And spring is spectacular for flowers if you time it right.

ro

[Aushiker]

"wow!" i thought and quickly checked the Munda Biddi link above and googled some more and it all sounded even better than walking... till i got to Aushiker's bit "would i do it again - no" ????

Can't remember saying that but guess I did.

Edit: Ah found what I said which was ..

So ends our little sojourn on the Munda Trail from Mundaring to Collie. Would I do it again? No, limited time, other opportunities and I really don’t feel it warrants a second visit. I will however take on the next section for sure.

Having said that I have re-visited some sections and made use of the hut at Wungong since then but I wouldn't re-ride the whole Mundaring to Collie section again without good reason simply because I have so much more that I would like to do and so little time; lotto anyone? . That said, worth doing once for sure.

The above notwithstanding it is a nice ride, well the northern parts are for sure. Yet to try out the new sections further south (that is planned for July). In the north there is a lot of pea gravel which can be quite frustrating to ride and at the wrong time of the year (when it is dry and loose) can really take away from the ride. If you are big into single track, the Munda Biddi is probably not for you but if you can cope with a fair bit of forrestry roads and even bitumen (Denmark to Albany for example) then it is worth doing at least once.

Some of the huts are located in pretty nice spots too.

Is it less beautiful than the Bibulman? -The tracks look nice.

Probably much the same .... I do think they have probably learnt somewhat from the Bibbulmun Track in thinking about where they place the huts as some are in pretty nice places.

Is a mountain bike essential or would a all purpose bike manage? (in the past, have tried an all-purpose bike with panniers on a couple of Swiss mountain bike tracks- unsucsessfully..)

I actually recently comment on this over at the Australian Cycling Forums. This is what I said ...

Sounds like fun. I haven't ridden the Collie to Donnybrook section so really cannot comment on that aspect but for Donnybrook to Nannup I would be okay with taking my Surly Long Haul Trucker. For sure not the best choice of weapon but this is not an overly technical section and really the Munda Biddi is not a technical ride even though it has single track at times.

Looking at the map, it looks like there is a fair bit of "road" riding between Collie and Donnybrook and 52 km of the 73 km is marked easy. That said there is the fun part around River Road which is marked challenging. I suspect that is because of the hills there and I am sure there will be some single track as that is the home of one or two mountain bike circuits.

This video gives you a tate of the Munda Biddi around Collie:

Myself and rifraf rode the Waterous Trail which is a little further north and takes in some of the Munda Biddi and rifraf survived that fine on his Moulton.

So I would fit the best grippest tyres I could to your bike and go have fun and let us know how it goes

Rifaf on his Moulton ...



and the video I referred to can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYsb-l5FFek

Andrew

[kaite]

Thanks heaps Aushiker for your detailed reply! loved the video too, though i'll be going a bit slower.....
It is starting to look like i need to do a bit of both, the Munda Biddi and the Bibulman, since it will be flower season and hopping of the bike for every time i'd have to take a careful sniff or photo of a flower, would be tedious....